Oklahoma (Tornado Alley) - Keep Your Family Safe With Storm Shelters

An average of 1,224 tornadoes touch down each year across the United States.

From the years (1991-2015) Oklahoma has been one of the top three states for tornados succeeded only by the state of Texas and Kansas. Oklahoma has had some of the deadliest tornadoes in recent history. However, tornadoes strike Oklahoma City, Oklahoma’s capital more than any other city in the United States.

Oklahoma sits right smack in a region known as Tornado Alley. Tornado Alley occurs when the cold air from the Rockies meets the moist air from the Gulf and the dry air from the desert. Tornado alley is responsible for more than 700 deaths each year.

Tornadoes are not huge, they can be 200 yards wide or they can be two miles wide. But they can strike a neighborhood with laser precision. What was once a beautiful neighborhood can be ravished in just a few minutes and many lives are lost.

Tornadoes are ranked F0 to F6. An F0 Tornado is characterized by superficial damage but an F0 can still be deadly. Less than .1% of Tornadoes are F5. You may remember the Tornado that touched down in Moore, Ok back on May 20th, 2013. That tornado was an F5. An F5 has winds reaching as high as 250 MPH. It's strong enough to move cars, lift homes and even bend steel.

An F6 or more appropriately termed an "inconceivable tornado" has yet to happen on this planet. On average, tornadoes are on the ground for less than 10 minutes. However, the Moore, OK tornado touched down for 50 minutes covering more than 17 miles. It was one of the most destructive tornadoes in history.

There are some obvious signs that a tornado may be forming such as a wall cloud, strong and gusty winds, a wall cloud and a loud roaring noise. When a tornado forms, people in the area should seek cover indoors or in a storm shelter immediately.

Storm Shelters OKC can really save lives and there are some key things you should keep in mind when you’re shopping for one. The most common place for a storm shelter to be installed in an existing home is inside of the garage. It’s simply bolted down to the garage floor once it’s taken inside. One of the advantages of placing it in the garage is that if you ever move it can be cut out and moved to your new home.

If you have a new home that is being newly constructed the storm shelter is put in during the building process. It can be installed in the kitchen's pantry, a hall closet, in the back quarter of a master closet or hidden behind a panel or anything else.

The tubular steel framing of storm shelters helps support over one hundred thousand pounds from falling down on it. The steel doors all by itself can weigh over 400 pounds and are built to withstand F4 and F5 tornadoes. Look for storm shelters that allow for proper ventilation because you can never know how long you might be there.