Another Quiet Night in the Texas Panhandle

[slgrieb]

As I type this, my city is under a tornado advisory. So far tonight, Pampa, TX (about 28 miles east) has suffered damage from 2 separate tornadoes, and the small town of Matador suffered damage as well. Supposedly, at about the time I started this post, there was a confirmed funnel formation just south of us, but it didn't touch down and wasn't moving toward us.

My wife tends to get overexcited about these events, and she said, "You know, we used to have emergency bags packed, but we haven't updated our tornado protocols in a long time now." My response was "How about this if the Tornado Alert Sirens sound, we drop what we are doing, run across the street, and get in our neighbor's shelter." Well, obviously, I'm not running for the shelter.

[JaxSon]

Just checked radar and looks like a really strong line of storms up there. Having a place to run to sounds like a good idea.

[slgrieb]

Just checked radar and looks like a really strong line of storms up there. Having a place to run to sounds like a good idea.

We had high winds (like 60 mph), a ton of rain, and bunches of hail. None of the hail was bigger than the end of my thumb; most was pea size to dime size. The power was off for about 3 hours, but I just curled up with the Kindle at bed time.

[Cleetus]

Hitting here right now. I'm safely 31 stories up

[slgrieb]

Hitting here right now. I'm safely 31 stories up

Just further to fall when the foundations of the building collapse.

[Pinnacle-Project]

How much does it cost to have a shelter installed in th backyard? I'm surprised more people do not have them in the south central United States. We have basements here. No guarantees but it certainly does help a lot.

[JaxSon]

Very few homes have basements in this part of the country. And I'm guessing at least $15,000 to install a below ground shelter. Hell, it cost me $5000 just to have a septic tank installed and that was 15 years ago.

[slgrieb]

There are a bunch of prefab fiberglass shelters available for about what a septic tank costs. You just rent a backhoe, dig a hole and bury the thing. That's what my neighbors have. Theirs is good for up to six, if you don't mind being crowded. No amenities of course, but it's not like you are going to spend much time in it anyway.

[CeeBee]

How much does it cost to have a shelter installed in th backyard? I'm surprised more people do not have them in the south central United States.

On average 60 people are killed every year by tornadoes.
On average 1500 people are killed every year in hit-and-run accidents.

[northbayteky]

On average 60 people are killed every year by tornadoes.
On average 1500 people are killed every year in hit-and-run accidents.

More than 30,000 people are killed by firearms each year in this country

More than 30 people are shot and murdered each day

I'd say it's better to invest in bullet proof clothing.

If you want to live.