Our New Storm Shelter!!
Hey y’all! I hope you had a wonderful weekend! We sure did. We did some cowboy boot shopping on Saturday morning, checked out an antique car show, ate lunch in a darling, small-town restaurant, touched a lot of trucks at Touch-A-Truck day and bought plants for flower beds. We had such a great day Saturday as a family.
If you follow me on Instagram and Facebook, you probably already know about this, but I just had to share here on the blog. We now have a storm shelter!!!!!!!! I can’t even tell you what extreme gratefulness I have for this blessing.
Growing up and living in North Alabama meant that we always sought shelter when severe storms came through. Anxiety used to overcome me. I’m totally not kidding. Then we survived April 27, 2011. I really didn’t think we were going to. You can read about that here.
Last Thursday, Supercell Storm Shelters from Madison, Alabama came and started the digging process. They have this process down to a science. It was amazing!
Then they placed the shelter. It’s a steel box with ventilation, a battery operated fan, hydraulics and battery operated lights.
On Friday, the concrete truck came and they poured concrete all around the shelter.
And now it’s done and ready for whenever we need it. Maybe today and tomorrow with the severe storms predicted. This shelter seats 12 adults and all the kiddos we can squish in. I am so thankful to have this place for my family, my parents, siblings, aunt and uncle and all the kids.
Having the shelter right outside my back door brings me a lot of peace of mind. Read A LOT. Obviously God is our protector, but we have to be smart about safety in. It’s so exciting for the first time in my life to not have to run for shelter. I can’t even type words sufficient to express my thankfulness.
I might have ugly cried to the guys putting it in about how truly thankful I am for the shelter. I’m such a weirdo!
This is the tornado track map from April 27, 2011. See that purpley pink line from the southwest to the northeast? The really long one? That EF-5 was on the ground for 90 miles and came just 2 miles from our house. I could have lost my husband that day. The tornado was 200 yards away from him.
I haven’t been asked to write this post about Supercell Storm Shelters, but if you are in North Alabama and you’re interested in a shelter, I would highly recommend them! They did a great job for us!
So, I’m curious…do you have a shelter? Or a basement? What do you do when it storms?
Oh, and here are my 10 Severe Weather Prep Tips for you too! 🙂
xoxo
Myra
I am so excited for you, trying not to be jealous. 🙂 We do not have a storm shelter or basement, and here in SW Missouri we get our fair share of twisters. In the past we have lived in homes with a basement but our new place is a manufactured home, so we have to drive about a mile to the nearest shelter, I am praying one day we can get one of these, would be a true blessing
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Yes I live in Minnesota and most houses have a full basement.
Mainly it is because of the cold but thankful during tornado season that we have a place to go for shelter.
I can’t even imagine living in tornado alley without one, I remember learning most houses in the south do not have basements and my skin started to itch from anxiety even thinking about it.
Myra, I am so excited for you and your storm shelter and for the fact that you were saved in the April 27,2011 tornado just as my family was saved from the May 22, 2011 Joplin tornado. We (my husband and I) are getting a shelter in place too. We could have used it last night but blessed enough it all went around. Also thank you for being an encouragment to me through your blog from sept 2012 til now, it blesses me. You needed to know it.
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I just wanted to say thank you for your kind and sweet words. God bless you RICHLY today and always! xoxo
I am so happy for you and your family! That is such a blessing. My husband and I, along with my parents and siblings, were in that same tornado, but in Tuscaloosa. We know with out a doubt that God is our protector and he brought us through. We’re in the process of purchasing a new home, so hopefully we can begin this process soon, also. I’m sure it’s very comforting to be able to seek shelter at home now. 🙂 Blessings to you and your family!
Glad you got a shelter. I really want one. Tanner is a prime target spot for tornados. Were you guys in Athens at the car show? I was there for just a very short time with my daughter in law. Husband and son went. Where did you eat? Was it LuVici’s? Ate there with Christy Jordan before. You guys be safe!
How timely! I remember the horrific tornado that hit AL 3 yrs. ago- My sister lives in Tuscaloosa, but thankfully her home was not hit and she does have a basement. Our state (Arkansas) was hit last night. The Christian family who lived down the country road from where my daughter used to live suffered a terrible loss. This homeschooling family had 9 children, the youngest just a few months old. The father and two teenage daughters lost their lives last night when their home was directly hit and demolished. The two girls kept the church nursery where my little granddaughters stay on Sun. mornings and my daughter is devastated. They were supposed to work last night, but stayed home because of the storm. The rest of the family is in the hospital. Please pray for the Rob Tittle family.
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I’m so sorry. This is a tragic loss!! I’ll be praying!!
I’m so sorry to hear. 🙁 We will keep the family in our prayers. We just moved from Arkansas back to Alabama a month ago, but we heard from family about the severity of last night’s storms.
I’m so excited for your storm shelter and now you can have peace of mind when a storm hits. We can’t have basements here in Houston, TX, but we really don’t get tornados. We get the hurricanes.
this is exactly what I’m hoping to get. what is the approx cost of one of these? (if you don’t mind me asking) : )
I live in Cleveland, OH and almost every home has a basement, it is very rare to find a home without one. I find peace of mind knowing that I have that protection for the few Tornado Warnings we get!!! Why is that basements are not common down south? Is it like Charlotte?- I have friends in that area, and they don’t have basements due to the soil- i believe its clay.
In TN you can have a basement if your home is built in a hill or have an extra 10k to start the dig for a basement in new construction (the cost will go up depending on the difficulty of the dig. LIMESTONE…is your enemy in TN. Many times the car size stone has to be blasted & jackhammered then hauled away.
Praying you are all safe! Whaching the news thinking of all the folks in harms way.
So happy for you, what a blessing for your family tonight. It was installed with perfect timing!
We moved from the east coast to OK last year. I insisted to live here I HAD to have a shelter. It turned out being a pain in the butt with the bank and the realtors, but the day we moved in (had not even slept here one night) a storm passed over our house and turned into a small tornado just east of us and two days later (45 minutes to our south) the Moore tornado happened. Needless to say, it was completely worth it!! And I’m always happy to see neighbors having shelters installed. It’s surprising how many people do NOT have shelters! But I’m way too wimpy!!
OH and almost every home has a basement, it is very rare to find a home without one. I find peace of mind knowing that I have that protection for the few Tornado Warnings we get!!! Why is that basements are not common down south? Is it like Charlotte?- I have friends in that area, and they don’t have basements due to the soil- i believe its clay.
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