How safe are you in a basement during a tornado?
by admin on Tuesday, December 13th, 2011 | 3 Comments
If a category EF5 tornado were to directly hit your home, how safe would you actually be in the basement?
Could a storm that strong suck you out of your basement?
What are the chances the house could collapse on top of you?
I am asking these questions because I will be relocating to Amarillo, Texas, which is right inside tornado alley, and I want to know where I should go should an EF5 tornado hit us.
A basement is one of the safest places in a tornado. Contrary to popular belief tornadoes do not contain much if any suction power, but just very high wind power. The key is simply to get out of the way of the wind, which a basement serves nicely. You still want to get under a sturdy piece of furniture or a stairwell to best protect you from any debris that might fall into the basement.
You would be safe because you are underground. Chances of the house collapsing on you – very unlikely – a tornado would blow the house away.
Well, the basement would be the safest choice, unless you have a storm cellar in your backyard. The tornado’s winds probably wouldn’t pick you up if you were underground, think of how fast they move, they have to get through your house first, and by then (generally) the tornado would be almost through. The chances of the house collapsing on you is very slim, it would more likely get destroyed or flip on its side. Amarillo isn’t that bad tornado wise. It’s mostly eastern Oklahoma that get hammered, but it’s still possible for a tornado to hit Amarillo.