Best place to be in my walkout basement in a tornado

[jmvizanko]

So I am new to a house, and I have an interesting basement, specifically regarding where I should go in it in the off chance of a tornado.

 

To start with, I live in Saukville, WI, close to Lake Michigan and north of Milwaukee like 25 miles.  I know I probably don't have to worry about any EF5's any time soon, but I'm a bit neurotic about severe weather....

 

I modeled up the basement for future finishing ideas.  What you see in the picture is pretty self explanatory.  The long wall at the top is the north wall.  All of the brown is a rough approximation of the ground.  All of the basement walls are concrete block.  The area to the right is a shop, with a metal garage door.  The area to the left is all unfinished.  There are two windows and a glass sliding door in the other spots.  The stairs does not have a door under it, it is open straight to the windows.

 

Now, where would you go in this basement during an oncoming tornado?  I have read that garage doors can fail, and even though the shop has no windows, that seems sort of dangerous.  My completely ignorant hypothesis would be the westmost corner, just around the corner from the area with the sliding door.  Unfortunately the pipe there is PVC, but am I right in assuming tying yourself to anything super heavy (ala Twister) is stupid?  Second would maybe be by the utilties to the north and adjacent to the shop, but there is still a direct line of sight from the windows.

 

I don't know much about strong wind dynamics vs. a house, and how tornados work.  If the entire house were ripped off (is that more likely with this basement considering that it is a walkout basement in the places it is), I would imagine it wouldn't matter where I was in this basement.  Is there even an intelligent spot to go in this basement?  Should I consider buildling a safe room somewhere?  Should I get in my car and outrun the damn thing or plan on a different address for a shelter?

 

Thanks for any insight.  I am interested in the dynamics, let alone how to protect my family in the new house.

[JC-CT]

So I am new to a house, and I have an interesting basement, specifically regarding where I should go in it in the off chance of a tornado.

To start with, I live in Saukville, WI, close to Lake Michigan and north of Milwaukee like 25 miles. I know I probably don't have to worry about any EF5's any time soon, but I'm a bit neurotic about severe weather....

I modeled up the basement for future finishing ideas. What you see in the picture is pretty self explanatory. The long wall at the top is the north wall. All of the brown is a rough approximation of the ground. All of the basement walls are concrete block. The area to the right is a shop, with a metal garage door. The area to the left is all unfinished. There are two windows and a glass sliding door in the other spots. The stairs does not have a door under it, it is open straight to the windows.

Now, where would you go in this basement during an oncoming tornado? I have read that garage doors can fail, and even though the shop has no windows, that seems sort of dangerous. My completely ignorant hypothesis would be the westmost corner, just around the corner from the area with the sliding door. Unfortunately the pipe there is PVC, but am I right in assuming tying yourself to anything super heavy (ala Twister) is stupid? Second would maybe be by the utilties to the north and adjacent to the shop, but there is still a direct line of sight from the windows.

I don't know much about strong wind dynamics vs. a house, and how tornados work. If the entire house were ripped off (is that more likely with this basement considering that it is a walkout basement in the places it is), I would imagine it wouldn't matter where I was in this basement. Is there even an intelligent spot to go in this basement? Should I consider buildling a safe room somewhere? Should I get in my car and outrun the damn thing or plan on a different address for a shelter?

Thanks for any insight. I am interested in the dynamics, let alone how to protect my family in the new house.

I'd be in the NE corner of the unfinished basement. It looks like you have a bit of recess from the door to protect from the windows. Tornados on average move from SW to NE, so if your house is going to be blown off it's foundation, you don't want to be in the SW corner where the second level falls onto the first.

A table or something sturdy to take cover under would probably be helpful in the case of a tornado emergency.

Here is a link that may interest you http://docs.lib.noaa.gov/rescue/mwr/095/mwr-095-06-0370.pdf

[jmvizanko]

Unfortunately, the very niche you are speaking of (I believe) has a utility sink in it (blocked by the particular view I gave you).  Here is another shot from nearly the opposite vantage.

 

I have heard of the SW corner being bad for the collapsing reason.  I guess the main reason I picked it was least direct line of sight to windows (or the garage door).

 

There is also a very heavy work bench at the north end of the shop.  Me and my wife could probably crawl under it, but not any kids (but we don't have any yet).  But once again, what are the chances of the garage door failing (I can only imagine in EF3 and above or something like that), and not only opening the room to the tornado but making it worse in that room? (a room full of nasty sharp wood and metal objects/tools)

 

If the whole first floor were to actually get ripped off, would it matter where you were in this basement?  My assumption is, it was your time to go.... Especially where I am geographically.

 

All that being said, I have a tightly packed neighborhood very close with basements that are completely below ground level.  Should I just plan on heading over to one of their places instead?

[JC-CT]

Unfortunately, the very niche you are speaking of (I believe) has a utility sink in it (blocked by the particular view I gave you). Here is another shot from nearly the opposite vantage.

I have heard of the SW corner being bad for the collapsing reason. I guess the main reason I picked it was least direct line of sight to windows (or the garage door).

There is also a very heavy work bench at the north end of the shop. Me and my wife could probably crawl under it, but not any kids (but we don't have any yet). But once again, what are the chances of the garage door failing (I can only imagine in EF3 and above or something like that), and not only opening the room to the tornado but making it worse in that room? (a room full of nasty sharp wood and metal objects/tools)

If the whole first floor were to actually get ripped off, would it matter where you were in this basement? My assumption is, it was your time to go.... Especially where I am geographically.

All that being said, I have a tightly packed neighborhood very close with basements that are completely below ground level. Should I just plan on heading over to one of their places instead?

If you can get to a full basement in time, then yes. If you can get the heck out of town, than do that instead.

If not, go NE corner and protect yourself from debris and falling objects the best you can. I do think it matters whether a subfloor falls on you vs. a weight-bearing wall + roof edge bearing down on you. Or for that matter, falls on the table you are taking cover under.