Should underground storm shelters be mandatory for trailer parks?

[catmandu57]

Given the number of people killed when tornado's hit these places, it seems that someone should mandate construction of storm shelters. How hard is it to take a backhoe and scoop out a hole that could be reinforced so that people would have somewhere to go when storms come?

It was standard construction years ago, people built storm cellars before they built basements. It seems like big nanny interference, but at least with new construction a shelter should be mandatory.

[Walt Starr]

1. Yep, in states prone to tornadoes, they should be. n/t

[soothsayer]

2. Hmm. Sounds good, as long as it doesn't interfere with the septic

systems. Or vice versa. Ewww.

[RebelOne]

5. I live in a trailer park and fortunately, we have city sewage.

It sure would be nice to have an underground shelter nearby, as I live in a section of Georgia known as Tornado Alley.

[lonestarnot]

3. Yes.

[The Backlash Cometh]

4. Basements are an oddity in Florida.

If there was construction material that could make an airtight basement, you'd end up with a house that pops up whenever the ground water level rises.

[catmandu57]

7. Well then

How about a concrete reinforced above ground shelter?

[The Backlash Cometh]

9. Sheds are forbidden in most homeowner's associations.

And homeowner associations are the big thing in Florida because it transfers the responsibility of roads and infrastructure to the homeowners.

I like a good shed, too. There's something, sheddy, about a house with a shed. Go to uk.rec.sheds so you can see what we're going to lose in the future.

[thinkingwoman]

14. I think I read once

that you could build an aboveground shelter within a house...like reinforcing an interior room or closet maybe?

I dunno. I may have dreamed that. :shrug:

Meanwhile, I live in S. Indiana and we have no basement. Couldn't afford a house that had one. Thankful we stuck it out for a stick-built though...realtor was trying to get us to buy a high end "manufactured" home (trailer) because they are built so much better now than they were in the 70s. Sure they are.

[The Backlash Cometh]

17. Yup. That's the best option.

Reinforce an interior room which has no access to windows.

If you live in a mobile home, the best option is to go to a shelter.

[ewagner]

18. True

"saferooms" can be built into the design of the house...simply one room with reinforced concrete walls and ceiling....cheaper than a separate shelter.

[hippiechick]

6. And basements ...

.... I was shocked when I first moved to Indy from WI and saw that most houses do NOT have basements.

In Tornado Alley ? No basements ? WTF ?? :wtf:

[elehhhhna]

13. No basements in most of TX, either--due to soil conditions.

[Inland]

16. Same with Illinois flatlands.

They exist in some houses, but there's something about the water tables and flooding that makes them difficult.

[malaise]

8. I've often wondered why

there are so many trailer parks in the US? Does anyone know the history of trailer parks? Why are the poor allowed to remain so vulnerable to nature's wrath? I'm not aware of trailer parks being viewed as a housing solution anywhere else on the planet?

[Bridget Burke]

20. Not all trailer dwellers are "poor"

They prefer to have a tiny patch of land--with no neighbors on the other side of the wall. And their budgets might not allow purchase of a nice Craftsman. Or a mini-mansion.

Some trailer dwells don't live in parks, either. Years ago, my uncle & his family lived in a trailer on a rented lot, overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. No neighbors except the javelinas. But a hurricane threatened, he took the family to San Antonio for a visit--& they came back to find an upside-down trailer.

In other parts of the world, the poor may live in flimsy shacks on the sides of hills--until tropical storms bring flooding. Or in houses that have NOT been seismically retrofitted--in earthquake country.

Canada has trailer parks--just watch the series Trailer Park Boys. (Hilarious--BBCamerica has shown some episodes.)

www.showcase.ca/trailerparkboys/

[malaise]

23. We have lotsof those shacks

and what's more they facilitate mudslides since people destroy the trees to build.
Thanks for the info.

[Dogmudgeon]

26. Nearly all of them are poor in my area

They are like mobile ghettos in southern Bucks County, PA -- just a few miles from the Philadelphia city limit. The local police, politicians, and homeowners treat them like lepers. It's a sad situation, but fortunately, Pennsylvania isn't quire Tornado Alley.

--p!

[HereSince1628]

10. Shelters of some kind should be in every park trailer park

And tornado sirens in the park. The other thing about the deaths in Indiana...the storm struck when people were asleep. Even if there are shelters, you need a warning to get you there.

[bloom]

11. It's like what's the point

of having building codes and then you have trailers made out of 2x2s - that don't hold up to anything.

It seems like there could be minimum wind standards - esp. in wind prone areas. And - as you say - underground storm shelters - or even above ground something - depending on the location.

[Little Star]

12. All trailer parks should have shelters IMHO n/t

[benburch]

15. In some places underground is not an option!

Trailer parks are often built on land that is unsuitable for other uses.

In many places the water table precludes basements, in others solid rock is only covered by a foot or so of soil, necessitating blasting to excavate any sort of cellar.

[Norquist Nemesis]

19. I'm not sure it would have helped much with the Indiana situation

I would agree that storm shelters are an idea that should be seriously considered. We live in a condo with four units in the building. There are probably at least 150-200 in my immediate area. None of these have any shelter (basement or underground) should a tornado hit.

But the thing is, the tornado in Indiana hit in the dark hours of the morning while most people were asleep. There was not sufficient warning to rouse a large group of people and get them into shelter. Same with hurricane Katrina...the flooding came during the night time hours while people were sleeping.

I'm not tying to shoot the idea down, but there's a lot to consider with it. :)

[catmandu57]

24. No, it wouldn't have helped in Indiana

Given the time, but there are thousands of Tonados every year, and if underground isn't an option there should be some form of reinforced shelter available.
My father isn't poor, he's not rich either but he likes trailers, probably because of the size and having neighbors to gab with, I'd like to think that he had somewhere to get to in case of a storm.
I would like to see shelters adopted as part of the code for new construction, and encourage existing parks to provide some form of safety net.

[ret5hd]

21. my idea for a REALLY cheap shelter:

(cheap for the trailer park developer, probably not so much so for an individual)

bore a 3 ft or so diameteer hole in the ground about 10 ft deep, using one of those giant auger things that they use when they are putting up a billboard or sign.

drop into the hole a 10 ft section of 3 ft dia corrugated pipe that they use in culverts.

pump about a foot of concrete into the bottom of the pipe to seal and secure the bottom end of it.

weld "steps" onto the inside of the pipe using re-bar or whatever.

weld a hinged lid onto the top. the lid should have some kind of security device to keep kids out, and should have a latch that can be secured from the inside, and should be waterproof.

voila! you now have a storm shelter for 2.

[leftofthedial]

22. not only that

they should be required by law to have swimming pools, tennis courts, and a golf course.

And all the trailers should be made out of brick, with a solid foundation and tornado-proof windows.

There is a reason people live in trailer parks and it's not because they can afford tornado shelters.

[Dogmudgeon]

25. Naah ... po' folks is expendable

Most of the trailer dwellers are declasse, anyway, so why go to the trouble?

They have mullets, they don't know Merlot from Zinfandel, and they're fat. Let them die.

:sarcasm:

--p!

[MercutioATC]

27. No, and not "mandatory" for houses without basements, either.

A trailer is just a flimsy house without a basement. Are you planning to require tornado shelters for ALL houses without basements?