The nightmares are back.
I had lunch with a life-long friend today. Our mothers were pregnant with us at the same time. That’s how long we’ve known one another.
My friend got caught in the storm last week and she confided that she’s had tornado nightmares since then. I don’t think I have. I sort of remember some kind of storm dream, but I don’t think it was a full-bore tornado nightmare. It may be have been, but I don’t think so.
I have decided that I’m putting in a shelter of some kind. Not now. Everybody and his dog is probably ordering a shelter right now. If I ordered one this afternoon, it would take weeks before they got around to installing it, and tornado season would be over by then. I’m hoping that if I wait a few months, the prices will drop and I can get a good deal.
Safe Room Shelter
Besides, I can’t decide what I want. I could get an in-ground cubby hole, the kind people put in their garages. Or, I could get a safe room that might go anywhere in my house. I’ve been reading about them, and safe rooms are only guaranteed for winds up to 250 mph. The tornado last Friday had winds that were almost 300 and the May 3, 1999 tornado had winds over 300.
So, the question is, will a safe room stand up to one of those things?
Cubby Hole Shelter
On the other hand, how, if I’m alone with her, would I ever get my almost 88 year-old mother down into a cubby hole shelter? If my kids were around, no problem. They can pick her up like she’s a potato chip and hand her down, no problem. But I can’t do that. What am I supposed to do if a tornado comes at us and I’m here alone with my mother, put a mattress on the floor of the shelter and throw her down there?
There’s also the question of cost. Safe rooms cost more than cubby holes. On the other hand, you can put one in a closet and use it for other things when you’re not ducking from a storm.
These questions aren’t a hypothetical to me. We lost two extended family members in the May 3 tornado. I know a number of people, including close friends, who lost their homes in both that tornado and the May 20 storm. I also know people who were grievously injured. My mother’s old house, which she still owns, lost its roof to a tornado that killed a number of people a couple of years ago. I went to a wedding a couple of weeks ago and many of the people there had attended a funeral for a tornado victim earlier in the day.
As I said, it’s not a hypothetical. It’s real. Whatever our family gets, we’re going to have to take out a loan to do it, which means we need to make the right decision.
Safe room, or cubby hole? I can’t decide. I think a cubby hole is the most likely to get us through a tornado alive. It also costs less. But if I can’t get my mother into it, it’s not worth much to me. If she can’t go down, I won’t go down. We’ll just live or die together in a closet.
I’m wondering if any of you have experience with these things and can give advice. The real question, much more than the money, is whether or not a safe room can take a direct hit from one of these big monster tornados. If they can, that’s probably how I’ll go. If not, I guess I’m going to have to rig up a hoist or something so I can get Mama into a cubby hole when the winds blow.
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