Anybody have a Flat Safe?

[257WbyMag]

http://www.flatsafe.com/

We have really been looking hard into a shelter and thus far, are most impressed with this one. They are not cheap at roughly $5000 to $7000, but the good thing about it is that there are grants available that would help offset the cost substantially. Seems like a obviously life saving thing if needed and it would certainly add value to the home later if we chose to sell.

 

[Shane1]

Thats pretty cool! I couldnt imagine the not having something like that if we were located in a tornado zone. I would not even want the possibilty of a car being parked near it though.

 

[texasdad]

Think about access.

1. It is the middle of the night and pouring rain out. The Tornado Sirens in the neighborhood go off! Do you really want to move the car outside and then go wake the kids and get everybody in there?

2. If the worst were to happen and the house collapses on that thing how are you getting out? Buried alive? I'd rather take my chance on the surface.

3. There are many tornado's - but only the most extreme will knock down a properly constructed home. Shed like structures and mobile homes get destroyed and permeant structures usually get damaged. Of course a big enough Tornado can destroy any building. But again, most aren't that big.

4. A safe room with quick access and locking doors could also be used for protecting the family during home invasion, riot, or etc. Easy access is critical if you are going to get in in time.

 

[Flippy]

We rarely get big tornadoes down here in SE Texas so very few people have anything like that. Honestly in the 35+ years I have lived here in SE Texas I have only seen 1 tornado bad enough to cause enough damage to warrant a safe room and that only damaged 3 houses. However If I lived anywhere N of Dallas I would seriously consider having something like that. I think it is a good idea and a great resale point in the future. Stay safe in the alley.

 

[257WbyMag]

In the video, it shows how you are able to enter and exit with a vehicle parked over it. I'm also not to worried about entrapment under heavy items since they stacked 4000 lbs of bricks on top of it and opened it from the inside with ease. Additionally, you are required to register it with the fire department (so they know you have it) and they can know where you might be.

As a paramedic, my first week on the job was with the EMS service north of Austin that responded to the Jarrell, TX F5 tornado that killed 27 people. No safe room (above ground) would have remotely stood a chance. The only thing that one could do was go underground in a designated tornado shelter or run via an automobile. Even those in basements were killed. It peeled the asphalt off of the highway. There was nobody to take to the hospital. Instead, we went out into the fields with those little sprinkler system flags and every time we saw a piece of flesh (we didn't know if it was cow, horse, or person) we stuck a flag down there. The slabs were clean like they were just poured. That kind of stuff leaves an impression on you that you never forget.

My wife wanted one that they bury in the yard. I talked her out of that by asking her if she really wanted to go outside, at night, into baseball hail, and fish around in the dark for your bunker lid? I like not having to go outside to get into shelter.

 

[BigJD]

Seems like it might be interesting to build a safe room under the garage slab with an entrance from the basement.

 

[257WbyMag]

Seems like it might be interesting to build a safe room under the garage slab with an entrance from the basement.

I'd be willing to bet that somebody has done that somewhere. Even in the capacity of something like a saferoom for firearms. You could even put a microwave and a flatscreen in there and lock your self in there with the wife and kids on the outside. Heh heh!

 

[BigJD]

Nice. If I lived in tornado alley I would have something like this. Works for zombie apocalypse type situations too

 

[duraleigh]

Not what you are looking for, but I saw a video clip or neighbors emerging from a neighborhood shelter they had built......looked like it held at least 30 or so people.

I don't know how practical that is (maybe having to go a block) but it sure would be cost effective.

 

[257WbyMag]

Not what you are looking for, but I saw a video clip or neighbors emerging from a neighborhood shelter they had built......looked like it held at least 30 or so people.

I don't know how practical that is (maybe having to go a block) but it sure would be cost effective.

Yeah, I think there are more than a few "communal" type shelters out there in KS and OK. I think they are fairly commonplace in mobile home parks and apartment complexes and I would imagine that some neighborhoods have them too.