The United States is most commonly known as the Land of the Free. When most people think of the Red, White, and Blue, tantalizing images of Mickey Mouse, baseball, McDonald’s and Coca-Cola come to mind. For decades, America has also shined as a beacon for the oppressed, destitute and generally anyone seeking a better life. While its true that freedom of expression and cunning individualism are our most endearing exports, America also has a deep fascination and entanglement with carnage. We aren’t talking about heart-stopping Hollywood movies or controversial violent video games either. As Americans have prided themselves with the ‘pull yourself up by your bootstraps’ mentality to forge a better life, a devastatingly equal powerful force has loomed on the horizon: tornadoes. These killer storms have become an omnipresent force on the rich and diverse American cultural landscape. At any time, tornadoes have posed as a continuous threat to the hard work and livelihood of millions of Americans.
Steel panelized safe room kits can be retrofitted into any residence to provide quick, affordable protection from killer tornadoes
Did you know that the United States averages more than 1,150 tornadoes per year? Obviously, that number is unrivaled compared to any other nation in the world. But why? Why has every state in our great country experienced at least one tornado (others as many as 12 annually) while most areas of the world have never seen these torturous and foreboding whirlwinds? Altogether, the United States also experiences 73 deaths as a result from tornadoes annually. Again, the perplexing question to all this death and misery. Why does this happen in the United States. The answer, of course, is deeply rooted in science. No, we aren’t talking about Bill Nye either although the logic is just as unflappable. As you could imagine, ideal conditions for tornadoes typically prevail in the southern states where warm and humid conditions are complemented by cooler winds from the Rock Mountains, creating the a bubbling cauldron of severe weather and tornadic activity.
“Tornadoes in the Southeast tend to be more dangerous than their Great Plains counterparts,” says Brandon Miller, CNN Meteorologist. “There are a number of reasons for this, some weather and some geographic. Southeastern tornadoes often travel faster, moved by a faster jet stream.”
Texas sees more than 140 tornadoes every year – by far the most of any state. Now is the time to invest in superior steel protection for vulnerable storm prone areas.
Alabama leads the nation for tornado related fatalities
The southern United States has become America’s new ‘Tornado Alley.’ More of these killer storms are also occurring at night when many victims are sound asleep.
“The basic ingredients for severe thunderstorms that can make tornadoes are warm, moist air near the ground, relatively dry, cool air aloft (about 10,000 to 30,000 feet), and horizontal winds in the environment the storm forms in that increase as you go from the ground up and change direction with height, blowing from the equator near the ground and from the west aloft,” says Dr. Harold Brooks, senior scientist with the NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory.
Topography also plays a contributing part in the deadly nature of tornadoes in the south. Rolling hills inundated with towering trees can conceal approaching twisters from season tornado spotters. Unlike the plain states where tornadoes can be spotted far off in the distance, southerners are typically unaware of fast approaching tornadoes until it’s far too late. Most southern states also see more overnight tornadoes which compounds an already dire situation. Countless victims are already in their deeper cycle of REM sleep when these storms pay an unexpected visit in their neighborhood. Many of these people don’t have a chance to seek cover from these nighttime killers. But the news surrounding killer tornadoes isn’t all the bad. U.S. Safe Room has engineered a revolutionary line of affordable safe room kits that can be fitted into almost any home or office.
Panelized kits can be discretely delivered and installed in your home with little disturbance to your existing floor plan. And don’t let the terminology fool you. These kits can offer the same level of protection as our standard above ground tornado shelters. Unlike our solid-weld above-ground safe room models, our panelized safe kits can be quickly reassembled and broken down, so you can easily and discretely install them into any room. And don’t let the terminology mislead you. Our panelized safe room kits offer the same level of protection and security as our solid weld units with an added touch of convenience. These light-weight panels can be easily reloaded and transported upon project completion without the commitment of purchasing.
Above-ground safe rooms are F5 Tornado Rated – Wind Impact Test Certified by National Wind Institute
Don’t rely on inferior protection.
We’ve subjected all safe rooms and above-ground shelters to a battery of tests to ensure superior onsite protection. Outfitted with 1/4″ steel plates, our safe rooms and tornado survival shelters are up to the task to protecting personnel and equipment under extreme duress and pressure. Our shelters can withstand debris impact from ground level wind speeds of up to F5 Tornado strength—250-miles-per-hour winds—and damaging debris.
Rigorously-Tested Above-Ground Shelters and Safe Rooms to Weather any Storm
We know you don’t want to hear another drab sales pitch, so we will let the results of third-party product testing do the talking. Our storm shelters were tested and certified by Texas Tech National Wind Institute in strict accordance to FEMA 320 (2014), FEMA 361 (2015), and ICC-500 (2014) standards for wind-rated impact of 250 mph ground speed tornado events. As evident from the above demonstration, our safe rooms withstood devastating blows from projectiles to simulate dangerous life-threatening scenarios.
