Posted on 07/15/2011 9:02:15 PM PDT by ruralvoter
They mocked the Wright Brothers, too.
So if Laura Nell Britton’s latest invention, the Trash Can Storm Shelter, catches on, she’ll stand in good company.
Britton recently sunk two large plastic trash cans into the ground outside her Rolling Greens home, then installed rebar and poured cement around it and, voila! — instant, inexpensive shelter against the power of a tornado.
Now she’s hoping the idea will gain momentum and that the trash can manufacturer, Toter, will help her market this novel use for their product.
(Excerpt) Read more at ocala.com ...
Huh...when the house collapses on top of them how do they get out? Or is that a problem with all shelters?
Any port in a storm.
Pray there isn’t a flash flood at the same time.
Well I’m no engineer, but it would seem to me, one would want the level of the concrete to be level not with the (bottom) of the bin cover - but with the top?
Nice idea though. Bet it does catch on, actually. Heck, seems you could pull of a DIY version over a weekend with a trip to Home Depot.
“when the house collapses on top of them how do they get out?”
That’s the beauty of it... it doubles as a coffin.
I agree. Easy to throw stones at...until you ask people to come up with a better idea for that situation.
Excellent idea. Three cheers for the gal!
It's a problem with all shelters. I've got a buddy that put in a tornado shelter and spent big bucks for it.
He put a tractor jack in it to open the door in case a house landed on the door.
Family uses it for storing canned goods and as a root cellar when not required by the weather.
Pretty good to have in tornado country, but yep, think about how you are going to get out.
/johnny
It would be easy to make a metal lid with diamond plate and have it sunk into the concrete as well. Throw on a couple of gate latches with pushrods on the inside to open them and you are all set.
I believe in going whole hog so I’m installing a dumpster instead ;-)
Email this to your brother-in-law.
LOL!
Aside from the house falling onto it, how do you keep the lid shut down tight against the wind and any wind pulling you out? Sure, it’d make for a weekend diy project but there’s some major tweeking to be done. Most people got for a septic tank but those need to be dug out and placed in with someone with equipment larger than a hand shovel.
I should have read down the thread for the lid. Yours makes more sense than the original flimsy plastic ones.
Great idea for hiding things too.....if you know what I mean....just plant grass on top....or a garden....and do what the Japanese did during WWII...use RICE around whatever you put in there...
If you don't have some sort of solid, lockable lid aren't these just launch tubes?
That would be the case of any underground shelter. It’s important that neighbors know where to find each others’ shelter entries.
Those lids will be no protection at all in a direct hit. You’d just be another morsel of debris
You could make a nice little pad in a dumpster.
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