2021 Tornado Season Could Be One for The Record Books

The 2020 tornado season was unlike any other in recent history. Storms and F5 tornados rampaged the southeast and plain states with regularity. Complications from the ongoing pandemic exacerbated an already dire situation as rescue workers were hindered by supply shortages and able bodies. Hospitals already pushed to the brink by a shortage of hospital beds were forced to setup makeshift triage units to handle the influx of tornado victims. A virtual apocalypse had descended upon the southeast and Mother Nature wasn’t taking any sick days. And as we look ahead, the 2021 tornado season could be even worse.

Without any warning, Tornado Alley had widened to a freeway as the path of destruction followed suit. Middle Tennessee saw 21 tornados alone last spring, including a series of twisters that claimed the lives of 25 people, including five small children, in early March. Mother Nature’s reign of terror on the Volunteer State wasn’t over, however, as a rare derecho knocked out power for 130,000 Nashville residents in May. (Derechos are straight line wind events that can move across entire states and regions. They’ve often been called ‘Land Hurricanes’). It was ultimately one of the largest power outages on record for the city. Wind speeds exceeded 70 miles per hour as the shearing winds toppled trees and powerlines, claiming the live of an off-duty firefighter.

Invest in bolt-together safe room tornado shelter to ride out a bumpy 2021 tornado season

While some states were harder hit than others, the tornado season has a whole was particularly demoralizing in April. That month brought the deadliest tornado outbreak in the United States since 2014. Unfortunately, the forecast doesn’t bode well for the storm prone area in 2021. Meteorologists expect a developing La Nina system to heavily impact the upcoming storm season.

“Right now, we are going into a La Niña. So, I suspect that late winter, early spring, we’re probably going to be looking at a more active severe weather season for 2021.”
Krissy Hurley, the Weather Coordination Meteorologist at the National Weather Service.

According to Hurley, anytime La Nina makes her presence known, above-average severe weather events could be on the horizon as this never-ending storm season will likely gain even more momentum in the coming months. Regardless of which side of the Global Warming debate you fall on, it’s hard to ignore the ever-changing nature and growing frequency of severe weather, including tornadoes. Scientists now believe that Global Warming is a direct catalyst to climate change, which often results in an increase of extreme weather. While tornadoes and twisters are short-lived compared to other catastrophic weather events, such as hurricanes, the damage can be just as intense in a contained area. The sporadic and changing nature of tornadoes, unfortunately, makes them harder to track and predict within the greater climate change paradigm. What we do know is that tornadoes thrive within unstable environments, which is a direct byproduct of shifting weather patterns.

Below-ground Tornado Shelters Offer Superior Protection in the eye of the storm

We live in dangerous and chaotic times. It seems as soon as the damage from one threat is alleviated we immediately must shift our attention to the next storm looming on the horizon. Mother Nature is also changing course as a whole. The southeast is now emerging as the top priority target for killer storms in the United States. Tornadoes in the south are now twice as deadly as tornadoes anywhere else in the Unite States. And with an active 2021 tornado season on the horizon, now is the time to considering investing in a steel tornado shelter from U.S. Safe Room.

NOAA records dating to 1950 show that tornado activity has increased in the Southeast since the late 1990s and that the trend—and death toll—has accelerated in recent years. Since January 2019, 99 of the nation’s 120 tornado-related deaths occurred in the Southeast, NOAA records show. That’s 83%.

We’re not trying to be the harbingers of bad news or use fear mongering tactics to scare you into buying our product. But the reality remains that tornadoes are growing in frequency and becoming deadlier every year. Fortunately, U.S. Safe Room has heeded the call to superior protection in engineering a line of steel plated above and below-ground tornado shelters to help you weather any storm. Underground storm shelters and survival bunkers provide superior protection. These fully welded units come with below-ground staircase entry or optional overhead hatch with ladder. For additional security, a secondary escape hatch can be added as an alternate entry point.

Our storm shelters and tornado safe rooms are fully customizable, and the floor plans shown here are just one variation of what you can do with your storm room. In truth, you can create anything with your storm safe room, such as a media room or home gym. Even the dimensions of the floor plan are up to you and what fits your lifestyle. However, since the primary function of a storm shelter is to keep you safe, we have designed these floor plans with longevity, economy, and comfort in mind.