by Blake Lee | Jan 5, 2017 | Uncategorized
At F5 Storm Shelters, we have seen garage flat storm shelters surge in
popularity for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, they offer the
convenience of not having to run into a storm during foul-weather. The
last thing people want to do is run into a driving rain storm as tornado
sirens are going off.
Most neighborhoods and HOA’s now ban the use of outdoor concrete
storm cellars in front yards. Many times, with limited access, front yard
placement is the only viable option for these large outdoor concrete
cellars. With HOA’s restricting them the options narrow down to garage
floor models, or above ground steel safe rooms that also go in the
garage.
Garage tornado shelters that are virtually flush to the concrete don’t
take up valuable room like their counterpart steel safe rooms. For those
with limited garage space, this allows people to drive into their garage
with their vehicles and still access their storm shelter.
These garage models also allow the homeowner to bug spray and keep
pests to a minimum. Also, since these shelters are protected from the
elements, they carry a lifetime warranty to the original purchaser.
Whereas, the traditional concrete cellars only offer a 10 year warranty
to the original purchaser. For these reasons, many homeowners are
now choosing the garage flush model to protect their family. However,
like most products in life, we carry a variety of storm shelter products
to fit every situation.
Come see us at our Tulsa Store location at 10846 S Memorial Drive
Suite #112 Tulsa, OK 74133. Or come visit us at our Oklahoma City
location at 16524 N Pennsylvania Edmond OK 73012.
Storm shelter installed in back of garage
by Blake Lee | Sep 28, 2015 | Uncategorized
Tulsa and Oklahoma City State Fair Every year we make the trek to the Oklahoma City and Tulsa State Fair. This represents the best time to get a storm shelter for price consideration and for scheduling availability. We offer every type of storm shelter imaginable. From our popular garage floor models, to the above ground safe room, for those who can’t or don’t want to navigate
stairs. Additionally, we offer our outdoor storm cellars that offer superior room for the price. Whatever your needs are, we can accommodate you. Unlike many booth operators, we have physical locations in both the Tulsa and
Oklahoma City markets. That means you are dealing with a company you can trust and count on to be there tomorrow. A guarantee is as only as good as those who back it. Our stellar BBB rating shows how hard we work to go the extra mile. Come see us at the state fair and secure the best deal for a storm shelter.
In case you are interested in purchasing a storm shelter, but don’t have the time to make it out to either fair this year, don’t worry. We are offering our State Fair rates to all customers until the conclusion of the Tulsa State Fair on Sunday, October 11th. Call us if you have any questions about installations or if you want to know our State Fair rates.
F5 Storm Shelters OKC (405) 824-7209
Tulsa (918) 970-4770 Stay Alive, Call F5!
by Blake Lee | Sep 15, 2015 | Uncategorized
F5 Storm Shelters is again partnering with AAA and The Sports Animal to give one lucky winner a free above ground safe room. Registration is easy, just follow the link below and enter some basic information like Name, Address, Email, and Date of Birth for your chance to win. Want to better your odds at winning? You can register for the drawing once a day for the next month! The more you enter, the better chance you have at winning! It’s that simple.
This giveaway is for one of out 4×4 size above ground safe rooms. This specific storm shelter can hold 4-6 people easily. These are really good options for elderly people who maybe can’t get down steps very easily or people in wheelchairs. Think of them like steel closets. All you have to do is open the door and walk inside. How easy is that?
Our above ground storm shelters are the best in Oklahoma. We don’t just do the bare minimum like most companies. We try to exceed FEMA guidelines by 50% during every aspect of the fabrication process. This means thicker steel, more ventilation cut outs, more anchor bolts anchoring the shelter into your slab, more bolts securing the door, and an interior designed skeleton support system for more protection from flying debri. Our safe rooms have also received a passing grade from Texas Tech University’s Wind Institute in Lubbock, Texas. Nobody has ever been injured or killed in an above ground unit that has received a passing grade from this institution and either meets or exceeds FEMA guidelines, which ours easily exceeds.
Hurry up and register for your chance to win the best above ground storm shelter on the market! Don’t forget to come back daily. One vote per day per person. Contest ends on October 12th, 2015. Good luck!
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER!
Above ground storm shelter
by Blake Lee | Jul 30, 2015 | Uncategorized
Tornadoes are one of Mother Nature’s mysterious creations. Over the last 50 years, we have learned a lot about how they form and when they are likely to occur, but there are still a lot of misconceptions out there. We wanted to try and help separate the facts from all the fiction. Let’s start:
Fact or Fiction? When the sirens start going off signaling a tornado warning in your area, the first thing you should do is open all the windows in your house to help equalize the pressure?
This sounds good in theory and I’m sure we were all taught this growing up but it is completely fiction. The first thing you should do when sirens are going off in your area is round up your family and take cover inside a storm shelter. If you don’t have a storm shelter (We know a pretty good place where you can purchase one ; ) then find an area in the middle of the house and cover yourselves with blankets. Opening windows only wastes time and in these situations, time is of the essence.
Fact or Fiction? Rivers located around a city offer protection from tornadoes?
This is a common belief in the NE part of Oklahoma, especially the Tulsa area. However, it is pure fiction. A significant sized tornado has passed through pretty much every major river located East of the Rocky Mountains. The tornado that touched down in Sand Springs, just outside of Tulsa, on March 25th, 2015, crossed the Arkansas river twice!
Fact or Fiction? Tornadoes can form in the middle of the night?
As scary as this is, it is a fact. There is no set time of the day or even year when tornadoes can form. Many tornadoes have wrecked havoc during the night time hours, however the likelihood is lower then during the day. In Oklahoma, you need to always remember that we can have tornadoes anytime. Statistically, we have had them touch down every month of the year and all times of the day. It is always smart to be weather cautious.
Fact or Fiction? Tornadoes can pick up items at one location and set them down miles away undamaged?
This is technically Fact, however, the chances of it happening are very unlikely. There have been several occurrences where people have documented items or even other people as being picked up by a tornado, only to be released a great distance away without harm. You have to remember that during a tornado there is going to be a heavy amount of debris and with that comes increased chances of collision. It can and has happened, but it definitely isn’t common.
Fact or Fiction? It is impossible for tornadoes to form in the mountains!
Similar to the myth that tornadoes can’t cross riverbeds, this is total fiction! Tornadoes have been documented in Appalachians, Rockies, and Sierra Nevadas. Tornado destruction has also been reported in areas above 10,000 feet. In 1987, a tornado rated as an F-4 crossed the Continental Divide in Yellowstone National Park. This area can reach heights of 13,000 feet above sea level!
Fact or Fiction? My car can outrace a tornado.
Fiction. Tornadoes can move over 70 mph on the ground and they are extremely unpredictable. It is not uncommon for a tornado to all of a sudden shift directions. You do not want to be on the roads during a severe tornado. Seek cover in your storm shelter or safe room.
Fact or Fiction? The SW corner of a building offers more protection from tornadoes?
Fiction. The safest area of your home will always be inside your storm shelter. If you don’t have one, then get as many walls between you and the storm as you can. Generally, you want to be inside a small room or closet towards the middle of the house on the lowest floor.
Fact or Fiction? Most tornadoes that form are really big and destructive.
Fiction. Most tornadoes that for are only 50-100 feet in width, travel less then a mile, and stay on the ground only a few minutes or less. However, these types of tornadoes can still be deadly if they hit the right area. The highly feared EF4 and EF5 sized tornadoes are less then 5% of all reported touchdowns.
Fact or Fiction? Tornadic thunderstorms typically produce a lot more lightning and hail?
This is fact and the reason for it is because tornadic thunderstorms have more intense updrafts that can quickly amplify charge separation and electrical build up. The increased amount of lifting during these storms also tends to freeze layers of supercooled water drops.
Fact or Fiction? The United States is a tornado breeding ground and produces more of these storms then the rest of the world combined?
Even though it’s scary to think about, this is fact. Three out of every four tornadoes that form throughout the world, touchdown in the United States. That means that 75% of all tornadoes are American. We average over 800 tornadoes a year. The state of Oklahoma alone averages 55 a year with 2015 giving us 98!!! Still think you don’t need a storm shelter??
Tornado: Fact vs. Fiction
by Blake Lee | Jan 13, 2015 | Uncategorized
F5 Storm Shelters opened our Tulsa location in June of 2014. It comes up quite a bit, but many people in the city have a feeling that Tulsa is a safe haven from tornadoes because a lot of the terrain in the NE region of Oklahoma is a bit more hilly. On the flip side, Oklahoma City, is in a much more flat area of the state and this leaves it more prone to tornadic activity. Is this information accurate? Does rougher terrain make it more difficult for severe weather to form? Is Tulsa protected against tornadoes? We wanted to find out.
A little bit of research and we discovered that tornadoes have been observed on terrain as high as 12,000 ft above sea level! There is also documentation of a tornado traveling up a 3,000 ft ridge unaffected.In 1944, a violent tornado cut a continuous path at least 60 miles through heavily mountainous territory in West Virginia, killing at least 100 people. Here are just a few examples of tornadoes we found that formed in rougher terrain:
A hill known as Burnett’s Mound on the southwest end of Topeka, Kansas was purported to protect the city from tornadoes, according to an old legend. However, in 1966, an F5 tornado passed directly over the hill through downtown, killing 18 people and causing $100 million in damage.
During the Super Outbreak, violent tornadoes crossed dozens of rivers, including the Ohio, Detroit River as well as crossing over mountains and ridges hundreds of feet high.
Another example of tornadoes hitting mountainous regions of the United States is the April 25–28, 2011 tornado outbreak, which hit mountainous parts of East Tennessee, Northeast Alabama, Southwest Virginia and North Georgia, killing many people, including an entire family of 4 in Ringgold, Georgia.
We are still figuring out how it is tornadoes form, but we do know that they can form anywhere. No terrain feature can prevent this from happening. Tulsa, like all of Oklahoma, is at extreme risk of having a tornado touch down at anytime of the year. Statistically, since 1950, Tulsa county and Oklahoma county have experienced almost the same amount of tornadoes. However, Tulsa has not gotten the giant F5 that has devastated OKC numerous times over the last decade. OKC has reported at least 2 F5 torandoes over the last 5 years. Joplin, Missouri has gotten one. Tulsa is located almost directly in the middle of both cities. It is not a matter of ‘If Tulsa can get hit by a tornado,’ it’s a matter of ‘when will Tulsa get hit by a tornado?’ Everybody in the state needs to be prepared for severe weather. We are here to help.
F5 Storm Shelters OKC (405) 824-7209
Tulsa (918) 970-4770 Stay Alive, Call F5!
by Blake Lee | Nov 14, 2014 | Uncategorized
We have all seen the Hollywood movies or heard the myths about being able to take shelter under a bridge or overpass during a tornado. The question is, is this really something that could save your life? Is it really safe to seek shelter under a bridge during a tornado? In reality, the answer to this question is pretty easy, NO. Seeking shelter under a bridge is extremely dangerous for numerous reasons.
1. You are still very vulnerable to being hit with all kinds of flying debris. The number one way people are killed during tornadoes is by going outside to seek shelter and eventually being hit with debris traveling hundreds of miles an hour. Being under a bridge does little to protect you from being hit.
2. Even if there is some type of barrier to hold on to, wind speeds can be in the excess of 200 miles per hour. This isn’t the movie ‘Twister.’ Not many people would be able to hold themselves against a barrier while fighting off wind speeds of that force for possibly multiple minutes. If you were pulled out from under the bridge, survival would not be likely.
3. Many people are aware that roads, and bridges for that matter, in this state are some times very old and dated. The structural integrity of many bridges during tornadoes is not known and many could fall apart due to excessive wind speeds crushing people below. Even if the bridge doesn’t completely fall apart it could still crack or chip causing debris that could still fall down on to people seeking shelter.
These are a few reasons why a person should not seek shelter from a tornado underneath a bridge. If your on the highway during a tornado, then what should you do? Definitely don’t stay in your car. Being in a parked vehicle is just as deadly as being under a bridge. Your only option in this scenario is to try and park your vehicle off of the highway and seek shelter inside some type of sturdy structure or lie flat on the ground as far away from the highway as you can get (to avoid being hit by cars that could be thrown by the tornado). Neither of these options are great and will still take luck in order to survive. In a prefect world, everybody would be able to get inside of a storm shelter. Being underground is your best bet of survival.
F5 STORM SHELTERS
Storm Shelters, Tornado Shelters, Safe Rooms
Tulsa – (918) 970-4770
Oklahoma City – (405) 824-7209
