> -> EH> We don' got no esteenking basements in OUR part of the worl'.
 > -> After seeing the video of cyclones in TX and OK, I'd seriously
 > -> consider one!
 >
 > Just goes to show what YOU know!  You go in a basement the freaking
 > HOUSE falls on you.  We dig our storm cellars way out in the yard,
 > away from EVERYTHING.
 JD> A friend's wife was so scared of tornados that he bought a
 JD> new concrete septic tank of at least 1000 gallon size, dug
 JD> a hole, lined it with plastic, and buried the tank. He
 JD> might have coated the outside of the tank with some sort
 JD> of waterproofing, too. The entrance was above-ground, in
 JD> fact the tank was only a bit more than half-buried, there
 JD> was a mound over it.
In this part of the country, you can buy prefabricated storm cellars (we 
called them "hidey holes") and the contractor will bring a back hoe and 
install it for you.  Some of them get pretty sophisticated, with battery 
powered forced ventilation and lights, etc.  They're quite comforting during 
the Oklahoma spring time.
 JD> This could be made into a "root cellar", thus serving a
 JD> dual purpose, especially for Home Power folks who depend
 JD> on this sort of food preservation in lieu of
 JD> refrigeration.
Ours was always used to store canned fruits and vegetables (actually home 
preserved in glass jars).  We kept a kerosine lantern or two and a supply of 
kerosine down there to provide light and also kept a chopping axe and crow 
bar just in case the tornado blew something over on top of the door.  That 
way you could chop or pry your way out.  The door was always facing north or 
north east because tornados usually move in from the south west and you had 
less chance of having the door torn off or being trapped inside.
Regards.  Cloyce.
--- EZPoint V2.2
---------------