Redthies wrote: ↑Wed Nov 06, 2024 12:05 pm
Do you have the shelter set up “luxurious”? Beer fridge, lounge chairs etc? I guess you don’t have to be down there for more than a few hours to a half day type thing? We don’t have tornadoes here, but we have fires. Biiiig fires. At least we usually get a bit of notice and you can see them coming. We can’t use a shelter like yours as the heat and lack of breathable air would take you out. You’d have to go very deep and have a closed ventilation system.
The thing is meant to save us in an emergency, but Miss T had to make it pretty (er)
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Then, every time she thought about it, she decided there was something she needed to add, to make it less like an isolation cell. She ordered:
Two folding chairs after we had to sit on the cooler we used for dry storage the first time. After sitting in those for over an hour the next time, she ordered very NICE loungers. Both are stored on either side of the steps. That, along with the Bucket. Um....
Five Gallon Bucket with screw on top. (In case of emergency, you can't leave for any reason when the winds are 100 mph sideways.) Paired with that, baby wipes and paper towels and TP.
Yeah, that kind of Emergency.
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We have blankets (for winter) with pillows (We have been down in the hole for as much as four hours when we had long lines of storms.) The Dog has a bed down there too. Small Westie so her bed doesn't take up much room.
This stuff is stored in the cooler as dry storage, and to keep the mice and bugs out. Along with Towels. Towels? the Tornadoes usually come during Thunderstorms.
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In the dry box you'll also find A couple battery powered lights and fans for air circulation (temps stay pretty constant since it's buried) There is also a snack box, with bottled water, Rice Crispy Treats and a few other small snacks. Again, in most cases, we are down there for an hour or so.
Whenever I work in the shelter, Fiona Supervises...
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Here is the view down the stairs for a feel for the size inside.
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It's not that small for just a couple people but if we had company, and there were four or five. We'd fit, but it would feel close pretty quick. Luckily, Tornadoes pass pretty quickly in most cases. The warnings usually come and go unless they stall, or like that one time, we got a line of them.
When we go on Tornado watch, I have a Jump kit that goes out the door contains our phones, the NOAA radio which will run on the batteries for six hours or so and DOES get a signal in the hole if we put it UNDER the corner where the intake air vent is. Don't want to stick the antenna in the turbine vent, that thing is MOVING during high winds.
Have a tool set in there in case I have to disassemble the door, and always take a firearm in case looters are outside when we emerge. (Not likely in our area, but.... )
BoyScout, Marine, Former LE... I take more than ONE.
I have my stone Marine Corps Bulldog Gargoyle Guarding the Place. He doesn't mind. He's made of concrete.
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I usually take my Kindle to have something to read, Tina plays with the dog and they keep one another calm.
