Where Are The Storm Cellars?
I hesitate to even write this column, because the disaster in Oklahoma is so fresh. And I will start by admitting my own complete ignorance on the subject at hand. This isn't a political column out to score points, and it should not be read in any way as insensitive to the victims of natural disaster.
But when viewing the wreckage of the Oklahoma tornado I am struck by the same question that always comes to mind when seeing post-tornado footage on the news: Where are the storm cellars? This question, in slightly different form, also springs to mind when watching people board up their windows with plywood in anticipation of a hurricane: Where are the storm shutters? Why, in places prone to such disasters, don't the building codes specify such things, as prudent preparation for Mother Nature's wrath?
Now, I realize that any modern building code can't possibly cover all existing structures. Bad (and dangerous) design almost always gets "grandfathered in" to any new requirement. But I'm not talking about 100-year-old houses, I'm talking about houses which were obviously built in the last couple of decades. Pictures of suburban developments which are quite obviously recent, to put it another way.
So why aren't storm cellars (either under the house or out in the yard) an absolute requirement for any new house built in Oklahoma? After all, even Dorothy Gale's family had a storm cellar (even though she didn't make it, and hence went to Oz for a while).
As I admitted, I know little-to-nothing about building codes and the construction industry, and (perhaps more important) the dynamic between developers and local city and county politics. Perhaps I'm wrong and those houses I see with every modern appliance built in are actually older than they look. Maybe, in other words, the media isn't showing the newer and safer houses, because of the sensationalist aspect of showing more-complete destruction. It's certainly possible.
Where I live, in California, earthquake-proofing (a lie, really, more like "small earthquake abatement") is part of any new house's construction. But I have no idea how many houses don't have it -- probably a large majority in my neck of the woods. Any house anywhere built in the 1960s is almost by definition going to be less safe than one built five years ago, in some way. And you certainly can't make any building completely and utterly "safe" (unless you build a concrete bunker, really), no matter how much you spend on it.
But how much, really, would a small storm cellar cost? I admit I don't know the answer. How much would it cost to have every new house in Florida have strong "up to code" storm shutters which could be closed over the windows when the wind rises? Again, I don't know. But it does seem to me to be a question worth asking -- even though I never hear it brought up in any of the news reports I watch.
-- Chris Weigant
Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant
Early housing was erected on the ground, not on excavated foundations. That made them particularly vulnerable to storms, since they weren't actually attached to the ground, just like mobile homes today. So, later, cellars, mainly to act as food pantries, but doubling as storm shelters, were added away from the house, since retrofitting a house with a basement isn't very practical, replacing small cellars sometimes dug beneath existing structures.
Eventually much stronger buildings began to be erected on excavated foundations, with integral cellars. Modern housing routinely uses excavated foundations and includes basements. Names simply reflect primary use and change accordingly over time. Storm cellar until excavated foundations. Pantry until refrigeration. Coal bin until gas or electric service. Basements when use became more general.
Storm shutters were the result of having unglazed windows. Now our windows are shuttered with glass panes. No small above-ground structure has any great chance of survival if in the direct path of a tornado or hurricane.
Also, rigid structures and below-ground housing is safer in tornadoes, flexible above-ground in earthquakes, and, obviously, above-ground on strong foundations (which underground cellars weaken) in floods. The Midwest is subject to all three.
This isn't a political column out to score points,
Oh crap, NOW what am I supposed to do.. :D
Seriously, though, you raise good points..
But, we're Americans. We never think that tragedy or disaster will every visit us.
It's the same reason why the shops along Boston's Boylston St never took out Terrorism Insurance.
Hurricanes, terrorism, floods, earthquakes, blizzards, tornadoes....
Those are things that happen to other people. Never to us...
Surely the odds are against such things happening and most people play the odds and win..
But, sometimes.. The House wins...
Michale
Michael,
As I'm sure you're well aware your logic is what's used to hawk overpriced "warrantee extensions" on consumer electronics and appliances. Extensions that, cumulatively, and over time, cost more than the replacement cost for unextended goods. "Playing the odds" is known as "risk assessment." Unless you can predict the future there is no way to guarantee security. Attempting to purchase every kind of insurance there is is counter-productive, and guarantees you the financial hits you may, possibly, though unlikely, suffer through disaster. As I said building codes require both cellars and shutters. We just don't call them storm cellars or storm shutters anymore because we now use both for a lot more than storms.
I think there are structural reasons, CW. One that may play a role is the level of the water table in a state. If it's high, your basement is going to be prone to flooding and/or excessive dampness. The water pressure also can put a stress on basement (foundational) walls (which if the foundation gives way is not a good thing).
-David
LD,
As I'm sure you're well aware your logic is what's used to hawk overpriced "warrantee extensions" on consumer electronics and appliances. Extensions that, cumulatively, and over time, cost more than the replacement cost for unextended goods. "Playing the odds" is known as "risk assessment." Unless you can predict the future there is no way to guarantee security. Attempting to purchase every kind of insurance there is is counter-productive, and guarantees you the financial hits you may, possibly, though unlikely, suffer through disaster. As I said building codes require both cellars and shutters. We just don't call them storm cellars or storm shutters anymore because we now use both for a lot more than storms.
Yer preachin' to the choir here. :D
Out of all the afore things listed (hurricanes, terrorism, floods, earthquakes, blizzards, tornadoes ) myself and/or my family have been thru all except for a tornado...
I am simply commenting that, Americans being the way we are (by and large cup-is-half-full mentality) most people don't think things like that will ever happen to them..
David,
I think there are structural reasons, CW. One that may play a role is the level of the water table in a state.
Which is why ya don't see many basements in FL.. :D
Conversely, we do have some pretty awesome catacombs in and around St Augustine, FL :D
Michale
The building code is just more Big Guvment trying to run my life. If I don't want to build a house with a basement/storm cellar I'm not going to let the Guvment tell me to do it.
There. I politicized it ;)
There. I politicized it ;)
I am shocked! Shocked I tell you!!
:D
Michale
Didn't anyone notice that the town in Oklahoma decide to REJECT the new building code as it would further the "AGENDA 21".
A couple of things about codes: Building Codes are usually adopted from model codes and they govern how things are built how many nails, size of members etc. Although they do provide for local conditions such as winds and earthquakes they are generally pretty uniform from place to place. Planning codes govern what may be built on a specific site, a single family house or a high rise. Planning codes (AKA zoning codes)are very local and differ enormously from place to place. They are rarely revised in their entirety and thus can become incredibly complicated, the San Francisco code (at last count) has 21 pages governing the shape and appearances of rear yard decks. So the local planning code would require shutters or shelter and the building code would govern how they are built.
I understand that the State of Oklahoma has an annual lottery where 500 residents "win" assistance in constructing a shelter.
Didn't anyone notice that the town in Oklahoma decide to REJECT the new building code as it would further the "AGENDA 21".
Well, I can't speak for anyone but myself, but I was too busy recoiling at the horrible destruction and loss of life.. :^/
Michale
You probably didn't deserve that, SF....
But I know that I get beat up a lot about reducing things down to a Right v Left issue..
So, I figured I would just share the wealth.. :D
Michale
Here CW:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-22630185
Just more damn Guvment regulation. When will they learn that the free market will take care of these things (LOL)...
OK, like I started with, I know little to nothing about the subject. But a storm cellar isn't a full basement or a bomb shelter -- it's small, and designed for a few hours' use (for tornados) or possibly a day or so (hurricanes, maybe, I dunno). I saw one estimate of $3-4K for a storm cellar. That doesn't sound like a whole lot when building a new house. Maybe the figure's inaccurate, I have no way of knowing.
And I do think Michale's right -- there is a deep-seated human penchant for saying "stuff like that happens to other people, not here." Which is why building codes force people to add design features they might not want to pay for.
I think the real story is probably "small town becomes big suburb as big developers buy up a bunch of land... developers talk city/county council out of strict building codes, because they cost more money to build." Maybe I'm just a cynic...
In any case, good discussion today, just had to say that. And, having drawn many a beer from kegs on various back porches in SF, I'm glad there's a few regulations -- some of those things are pretty shaky!!
Heh.
-CW
Oh, one last item --
My wife informs me that CBS did a segment on the lack of shelters this morning, I'll have to dig it out...
-CW
CW,
I don't doubt what you describe is marketed as storm shelters. But as a child I grew up on a farm in Michigan that had been in the family over 100 years. The storm shelters and storm shutters I was talking about are those like the ones that'd been in my family for a century or so. Modern steel security shutters make outstanding storm shutters, but they bear no resemblance to storm shutters of the past.
The answer to the question of why there're no storm shelters, if you're talking about what you describe, CW, is that they're a recent development, and a luxury item. One of countless highly desirable features available to modern homeowners--if you can afford it.
There was a piece on NBC today by an engineer stating that "safe rooms" constructed in a new or existing house can save 85% of all tornado injuries or deaths. While no wooden structure can withstand a direct hit by an F-5 storm most injuries and deaths are caused buy lessor winds, and a "safe room" can offer protection from those. They cost $2,000 or less.
As a Californian who has first hand experience witnessing just how effective prophylactic measures are in staving off property damage and personal injury I am a big fan of strong building codes.