It looks like we completed this tornado shelter just in time—The National Weather Service has north Texas under a severe storm warning tonight and tomorrow morning. Hopefully the client won’t need it, but what a comfortable feeling they must have, knowing they have someplace safe to go if a tornado does bear down on them.

This is a well-designed shelter which is surprisingly big. You can get a lot of people and stuff in one of these. Installation is a couple-of-days process, and here is how it went:

The shelter, installation equipment and installation team showed up bright and early…

Unloaded the shelter from the trailer. Can you imagine what the neighbors thought when they saw that in the street?

Cut the garage floor where the shelter will be installed…

Started digging the hole. This one had surprisingly thick concrete and surprisingly easy digging after that. I accused this guy of having toys, not equipment as he loves what he’s doing…

The shelter is in the hole, ready for city inspection and then concrete…

Concrete is poured around it, and finished nicely…

The steps are comfortable to walk down. Michael did the first test run—he’s a big guy and yet fit comfortably…

Here is Storm Dorm’s web site (www.stormdormsusa.com/) if you want more technical information about the shelters. If you are interested in an above- or below-ground storm room for your home, I’d be happy to come to your home and discuss the different options and help you figure out what works best for you.

Be safe,
Mike