MEMPHIS, TN (abc24.com) - The Mid-South is one of the deadliest areas in the U.S. for tornadoes. Many Mid-South homes are not built with basements and with recent severe weather claiming lives across the Ohio Valley, Mid-South residents are scrambling to install tornado shelters at home.
TSW Storm Shelters, Inc. was the first company to bring underground tornado shelters east of the Mississippi River. It’s the ultimate protection from deadly tornadoes. Business has picked up dramatically since 2010 when the company was averaging 70-100 shelter installations a year. After the deadly tornadoes in Tuscaloosa, AL and Joplin, MO, the company has been installing at least one shelter a day in the Mid-South.
Bill Arbeiter, Owner of TSW Storm Shelters, Inc., says, “We have two units that are made of steel. We come into your existing garage and sit the unit underground. The whole process takes less than a day. When it's all said and done, the shelter is flush to the ground.”
Small shelters will cost around $5,400 and can fit between 6 and 8 people. The larger shelters cost $6,200 and can fit 10 to 12 people. The company also offers above ground safe rooms that are bolted into cement inside your garage. Both types of shelters are proven to withstand winds from an EF-5 tornado, the most powerful of storms.
Each tornado shelter comes with GPS coordinates. Once the unit is registered, homeowners can give the coordinates to local emergency officials. In the event a tornado collapses your home on top of the shelter, the coordinates will allow emergency responders to find the tornado shelter underneath debris.
