Above-ground tornado shelter

With a chunk of the proceeds from the sale of a house (thankfully, not all of it), I'm planning on installing new septic AND building an above-ground tornado shelter.

My plan is to face the entry to the shelter to the northeast, as most severe storms here come out of the southwest --- and the *earth mound* the shelter. I do not want to go underground with it because we have such a high water table and because it will be easier to keep track of all the snakes and whatnot (which will move into the shelter, believe me) if the shelter's above ground.

I haven't yet decided on the actual structure of the shelter itself --- whether it will be rebar and cinderblock or ???

I'm curious to know if anyone else here has ever built an above-ground tornado shelter or a small earth mounded structure.

 

So maybe pour a slab and use steel framing, with the framing going deep into not just the slab, but the ground --- maybe pour slab around the framing after doing deep footers on the framing? And extra framing because it's a shelter, then cinderblock and rebar? Then mound it?

Or ... ?

I don't want to do metal because I want to earthmound it and we're humid enough here that everything rusts anyway.

 

d00d! :yeeha:

*off now to check this out!* :yeeha:

 

BCR, that's why I'm going to earthmound it --- the biggest dangers here are wind and lightening. All my life, though, I've seen earth mounded structures in this area --- and many are still up, despite age.

I also plan for it to double as root cellar, so yes. And someplace to hang out when it's 110 out and I'm too cheap to turn on the air conditioner. :haha: Yet more reason to keep it above ground, as below surface structures here flood very easily and are hard to rid of our omnipresent snake and critter population. Although it's fine with me if the skinks and frogs move in.

Kim, I don't think I can do the ferrocement, as from the little I saw, it's intended to be below ground --- ? Bear in mind, I hit water here very, very quickly --- also we're very rocky here and hit boulders very fast --- I'm in no mood to blast out boulders for this. However, geodesic above ground would work and be cool looking!

 

Great link, Kim! It certainly has some great ideas and good explanations.

Hmmmm, now I need to sit down and weigh the risks and benefits of each type of construction. About all I know right now is, come next tornado season, I WILL have a good shelter and it WILL be an earth mounded structure! :yeeha:

 

OMG! What fun!

 

I've considered the concrete septic tank route.

For some reason, though, I keep coming back to a block house mounded with dirt.

Although Cyngbaeld's suggestions are VERY tempting. I'm now also contemplating some kind of buried geodesic dome structure. With built in benches and shelves, and a door high enough that the neighbor's horses can come in to visit (considering my barn they now spend half their time in will be all the way gone, as soon as I get all the old straw and manure out of it).

You know, I've worried over this for two years now and still have come to no absolute decisions, other than it must be earth-mounded, its door must face northeast and it must be above ground.