Community Shelters for Mobile Home Parks, Apartment Buildings, Businesses or Offices.

It is widely known that the most likely time of the day for tornadoes is in the afternoon and evening. The afternoon of course is when most people are at work. Do you have a storm shelter to get into if a tornado strikes while you are still at work?

It is also widely known that a mobile home is the worst place you can be during a tornado. What is not mentioned nearly enough is that a mobile home is the worst place you can be during any severe weather. The reason? A mobile home is not designed to withstand any kind of high wind. If you are in a mobile home and a tornadic storm is nearby, you could miss a direct tornado hit but still be effected by winds produced by the rear flank downdraft winds which can be upwards of 100 mph. Or, the inflow winds which can also be quite high. A mobile home is simply no match for these type of winds, especially tornadic winds. And then there are the winds produced by a severe storm that is not even tornadic. These winds are called micro-bursts, which can be winds of 60 to over 100 mph.

Recently, while storm chasing with KFOR-TV, they sent me northeast of Guthrie to survey reported damage in that area. We were somewhat astonished when we found a frame home with most of it’s roof gone. The damage was caused by a micro-burst, not a tornado. If I did not know for a fact that the storm was not tornadic, I would have thought it was tornado damage.

I remember many years ago of a tornado that struck the Nescatunga area by the Great Salt Plains Lake. There was a family I knew growing up that was at home in a mobile home when the tornado hit. It obliterated their mobile home and the kids, as memory serves me, were scattered across a field. I don’t believe they were seriously injured however. Mobile homes are a dangerous place to be.

Another dangerous place to be is in an apartment building. Especially on the 2nd floor. Anytime you see photographs of damage to an apartment building, it is at least the 2nd floor that takes the brunt.

If you live or work in any one of these places, do you have a plan,  or a place to go during a severe storm or a tornadic storm? Enid Storm Shelters can help provide a shelter for you. Mention it to your landlord or employer. We would like to talk with them about many options that could be available, above ground or below ground. I have had some inquiries in the past year from a couple of mobile home park managers or owners. The off season is a good time to begin the process to insure the shelters are in place and ready to go before the next severe weather season. If you are interested in exploring the options or have any questions call us at 580-554-1900.

Mike Bennett

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