Storm Shelter – Rising S Bunkers – American made All Steel Bunkers and Bomb Shelters

Many homeowners seek ways to protect their loved ones and property from the dangers of severe storms. Safe rooms and storm shelters are two common solutions for dealing with unpredictable weather. While many people often use these terms interchangeably, they have some significant differences.

Storms, tornadoes, hurricanes and other severe weather events are becoming more common. By October 2023, the United States had already experienced 24 extreme weather events, costing the government over $1 billion in repairs. This figure surpasses the record of 22 in 2020. Because of this rise in dangerous circumstances, it’s best to prepare so you can protect yourself and your family.

Safe Rooms: A Closer Look

Safe rooms are fortified areas within a house to protect against severe weather events, such as tornadoes or hurricanes. These rooms can withstand powerful winds and debris, ensuring the safety of those inside. You can retrofit safe rooms into existing homes or integrate them into new constructions.

Safe rooms are typically part of the house’s existing layout, often resembling a closet, bathroom or basement. Their positioning within the home ensures easy accessibility during an emergency. Safe rooms are constructed using heavy-duty materials, such as concrete or steel. Walls, ceilings and doors can endure high winds, flying debris and even minor structural damage.

Safe rooms often feature ventilation systems, lighting and communication tools and are sometimes stocked with non-perishables, ensuring safety and comfort during a storm.

Benefits of Safe Rooms

Safe rooms have the following benefits:

Protection from flying debris: Their solid construction helps shield occupants from potentially deadly projectiles during storms.
Convenience: Safe rooms offer the primary benefit of being readily accessible within the home. This accessibility is ideal for families seeking a swift and secure refuge during severe weather.
Comfort: Safe rooms often include ventilation, lighting and communication systems, offering a more comfortable environment for occupants during extended periods of sheltering.
Customization: You can tailor your safe room to suit your family’s needs and preferences, allowing for design elements that align with your home’s aesthetics. You can upgrade them to include additional features like storage shelving, generators, bunk beds, air filtration systems and even toilets. You can also get concealed built-in gun vaults for added protection.
Year-round use: Safe rooms can also double as storage spaces or functional rooms in your home when not needed for storm protection.
Affordability: Integrating a safe room into an existing structure may be more cost-effective since you can utilize the building’s structural elements. Costs can vary based on size, location and features.
Protection during break-ins: A significant advantage of a safe room is its ability to provide protection from potential intruders. They have reinforced walls and locks, making them a secure refuge during home invasions or other security threats. In 2019, approximately 1 million burglaries occurred in the U.S. In times of danger, occupants can seek safety in these rooms, knowing they have a secure space to protect themselves and their valuables.
Increased property value: Safe rooms are valuable additions to residences, and their presence can be an attractive selling point for future buyers. Homebuyers often view safe rooms as an investment in their family’s safety and security, making the property more appealing. Some homeowners may even qualify for insurance discounts or incentives, further enhancing the economic value.
Security for valuables: Safe rooms offer a secure location to house valuable belongings, documents and cherished items. This added layer of protection can be particularly beneficial for homeowners with assets they want to keep safe from natural disasters and theft.

Storm Shelters: A Closer Look

Storm shelters are standalone structures designed solely for protection during severe weather. Unlike safe rooms, they are typically located outside the house or as a separate building on the property.

Storm shelters are above-ground or below-ground. Above-ground storm shelters are often pre-fabricated and installed near the home. Below-ground shelters are dug into the ground, offering protection from wind and flying debris.

Storm shelters consist of robust materials and thick walls capable of withstanding strong winds and debris impact. These shelters generally feature reinforced doors and ventilation systems. Some models may serve other functions, such as storage space or even an additional living area.

Benefits of Storm Shelters

Storm shelters offer the following benefits:

Accessibility: Storm shelters extend their benefits to individuals who may not have a safe room within their homes, providing a dedicated space for protection.
Multipurpose use: Some storm shelters offer more than a secure space for safety, serving as an additional living area or storage space.
Independence from home structure: Storm shelters are less dependent on the structural integrity of your home, which can be crucial in situations where your home may not be safe to remain in due to damage or flooding.
Location flexibility: You can position storm shelters strategically to minimize flooding risks, as they’re not confined to the layout of your home. They’re adaptable to a variety of terrains and property sizes.
Easy to install: Storm shelters are relatively simple to install. You can place standalone storm shelters in a yard, offering convenient and quick access without requiring major structural modifications to an existing building. This advantage makes them a suitable option for homeowners who want to avoid making changes to their homes.
Peace of mind: Knowing you have a dedicated and specialized structure for storm protection provides a sense of security, especially in disaster-prone areas.
Financial incentives: In some regions, governments offer financial incentives or rebates to encourage the installation of storm shelters. These incentives can help offset the initial costs, making them a more cost-effective choice.
Easy relocation: You can move above-ground storm shelters, offering flexibility if you decide to change the shelter’s location or take it with you if you move to a new property. This portability can be an advantage, especially for those in rental homes or planning to move in the future.
Protection from windborne objects: Windborne objects cause the most tornado damage, and while most above-ground shelters are sturdy, below-ground shelters offer extra protection.
Low maintenance requirements: Storm shelters usually require minimal maintenance. They can endure harsh weather conditions, and their materials ensure their durability. This durability means that once installed, there’s little upkeep necessary to keep the shelter in good working condition.
Scalability: If you have a growing family or need to accommodate more people during an emergency, upgrading your storm shelter or adding additional units to meet your needs is relatively easy.
Community safety initiatives: Community storm shelters contribute to a broader safety network in regions prone to disasters. They offer protection for individuals who may not have access to private shelters and can be a vital resource during emergencies.

Choosing the Right Option for You

Choosing between a safe room and a storm shelter depends on your specific needs and circumstances.

A safe room integrated into your home may be the better choice if you’re looking for versatile protection that can serve in various emergencies. It offers the convenience of easy access during emergencies, potentially lower costs and can also provide peace of mind against weather-related threats and intruders.

If your primary concern is protecting your family during extreme weather events, a dedicated storm shelter may be preferable. While it may involve higher initial costs and require going outside to access, it’s specifically engineered to withstand storms, ensuring maximum protection when tornadoes or hurricanes strike.

Choosing between a safe room and a storm shelter should be based on your unique circumstances and the hazards most prevalent in your area.

Prioritize Your Safety

While both safe rooms and storm shelters provide valuable protection from extreme weather events, their differences lie in their intended purpose, construction standards, cost and accessibility. Understanding these distinctions can help individuals and communities make informed choices about the type of protection that best suits their needs. Either way, your safety should be a top priority.

Storm shelters are designed to protect their occupants from all kinds of catastrophic weather events, including blizzards, tropical storms, tornadoes and hurricanes. All these storms have one thing in common: strong winds. Here’s an in-depth explanation of how different types of shelters stand up to extreme winds.

How Common Are High-Wind Events?

High-wind events are more common than most people realize — especially tornadoes. A surprising amount of the United States faces a moderate to high risk of a tornado strike, including most of the Midwest and Southeast. Some states get hundreds of these storms every year. Tornadoes only take a few hours to develop, leaving communities little time to react.

Communities within a few hundred miles of the East Coast and the Gulf of Mexico face a constant risk of hurricane and tropical storm damage. These events can take just a few days to develop, so evacuation might not be an option. States farther north that get lots of snowfall can experience a handful of debilitating blizzards every winter.

It’s also worth noting that extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and severe due to the growing effects of climate change. The country is at a greater risk of high-wind weather, which continues to increase.

Lucky individuals will only experience minor exterior damage to their homes. In the worst-case scenario, entire houses can get carried away by strong winds, never to be seen again. Nobody wants to be trapped inside if that happens. A storm shelter prevents such a disaster, keeping everyone and everything inside safe from the outside world.

Storm Shelter Building Regulations

The International Code Council and American National Standards Institute are the main governing bodies that set global standards for storm shelter construction. The 2020 ICC-500 is the latest criteria, including design requirements for the main wind-resisting structural system, lighting, sanitation, ventilation, fire safety and floor space.

An ICC-approved shelter must meet the following criteria when it comes to wind resistance:

Walls and roofs must have adequate anchorage to resist overturning and uplift.
Walls, ceilings, doors and windows must withstand design wind pressures and resist penetration by windborne objects and falling debris.
Connections between building elements must withstand design wind pressures.

The term “design wind pressures” refers to the strongest potential winds the shelter might face, which depends on its location. Homeowners who want to build a storm shelter must know their local wind zone. All residential properties in the U.S. must have a data plate indicating the building’s wind zone.

Most residences fall into Zone 1, requiring homes to resist wind speeds up to 70 mph that often occur in severe storms. Zone 2 houses must withstand up to 100 mph and typically lie within a high-risk hurricane or tornado zone. Zone 3 applies to residential properties that must resist wind speeds up to 110 mph.

Homeowners should also take their local geographic features into account. Some landmarks are more exposed to strong winds than others. Cities and woodlands are the least vulnerable because of their tightly packed obstructions, while grasslands and areas near large bodies of water are much more exposed.

Every storm shelter in the U.S. must also meet all requirements set forth by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to ensure its structural integrity. The American Society of Civil Engineers provides additional documentation for wind loads and other structural guidelines. These organizations work together to enforce specially engineered shelter designs.

Wind-Resistant Storm Shelter Materials

Concrete masonry is the ICC and FEMA’s preferred material for storm shelters because it provides a continuous load path from roof to foundation. Connecting concrete roof slabs to the shelter’s walls with reinforcing bars is simple construction. It’s the strongest material against winds, withstanding up to 250 mph in tests conducted at Texas Tech University.

Although the ICC and FEMA prefer concrete masonry, other viable materials exist. For example, quarter-inch carbon plate steel is popular for many U.S. shelters because it’s two times thicker than federal requirements. Builders can easily adapt steel plates to projects, including small residential bunkers and large community shelters.

Steel plates also provide the opportunity to apply an industrial exterior coating that improves the shelter’s longevity. The coating protects against corrosion, cracks, moisture and mold, helping the inner shell last for generations. This feature is a huge advantage for storm shelters, bomb shelters and survival bunkers designed for long-term residency.

Types of Storm Shelters

Storm shelters come in many shapes and sizes, but they all fall under two categories — underground and aboveground. Both types offer adequate protection against extreme winds but have some advantages and disadvantages.

Underground Storm Shelters

Underground storm shelters provide the greatest protection from outside elements as long as they can remain dry when surrounded by moist soil. Soil is another protective layer from strong winds and flying debris, but it can also get oversaturated with moisture and damage the shelter. This factor is another reason nonporous steel is a better alternative to porous concrete.

Of course, underground shelters are also more effective against high-wind events because the wind can’t carry them away. An aboveground shelter connected to the house could get carried away with the rest of the structure. Moreover, subterranean structures face a lower risk of getting hit with flying debris. Storms glide right over them with minimal disturbance.

However, although underground shelters can’t get carried away by winds, occupants can get trapped inside if the entrance is blocked during the storm. That’s why they are usually designed for long-term residency. They include emergency phones, food storage compartments, and complete bathrooms and kitchens.

Versatility is a huge advantage of underground shelters. They allow for numerous upgrades and customizations to the interior, including secondary exits and wheelchair accessibility. Floor plans are also completely customizable, allowing designers to maximize the shelter’s structural integrity within its unique environment.

Aboveground Storm Shelters

Aboveground shelters might not offer as much protection as their underground counterparts, but they’re still effective against strong winds. FEMA suggests staging residential storm shelters in a basement or interior room on the ﬁrst ﬂoor. The location must have a floor extending to the ground or sit on top of a concrete slab-on-grade foundation.

Aboveground shelters with a solid foundation can be as strong as underground ones. They consist of the same primary material — concrete masonry or plate steel — and are easier to access than subterranean bunkers. Everyone inside the building can reach the shelter at a moment’s notice if a tornado suddenly strikes.

Building an aboveground shelter for communal areas, such as schools and large office complexes, is more practical and cost-effective. These buildings need a centralized location that everyone can quickly access during an active storm. Aboveground shelters are more accessible and can fit into more places than underground bunkers.

Although aboveground shelters are naturally more vulnerable and have some design limitations, they’re still viable options for wind protection. Their accessibility, affordability and flexible location sites make them even better than subterranean bunkers in some scenarios. Still, both options will serve well when people need emergency shelter from extreme weather.

Strong Winds Don’t Stand a Chance

Strong winds won’t stand a chance against an underground or aboveground shelter. As long as the bunker meets all federal building requirements and utilizes durable materials, it will withstand the heaviest winds from tornadoes, hurricanes and other extreme weather events.

Tag: Storm Shelter

What’s the Difference Between a Safe Room and a Storm Shelter?