

Man Sticks His Camera Out Storm Shelter Hole, Captures View of Tornado [video] - merah
http://petapixel.com/2013/05/22/man-sticks-his-camera-out-storm-shelter-hole-captures-view-of-tornado-up-close/

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nitrogen
As this video and the dashcam videos of the meteorite over Russia show, while
ubiquitous video recording can erode our privacy, at least we'll be able to
watch cool videos of natural disasters.

Props to the two for risking their phone(s?) to film this.

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tripzilch
I'm loving the comments under the article arguing about "NO VERTICAL VIDEO!!",
hahaha :)

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jrockway
Based on his neighbor's houses, I'm pretty sure the tornado was not EF5 at the
time it was being recorded. Here's what Wikipedia shows for an EF1 tornado:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:EF1_tornado_damage_example...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:EF1_tornado_damage_example.jpg)

The houses in the video don't even look that badly damaged.

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brazzy
He was not directly on the path of it. According to the article, areas some
streets away were "completely wiped out ".

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Ecio78
Check this video
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=d...](http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=dCbhnPfEvF8)

Incredible..

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dredmorbius
And if you're wondering why the car they're in doesn't go flying or get
penetrated by windblown debris, well, it's not your typical car, but a highly
customized 7 ton vehicle with armor and hydraulic ground spikes.

[http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/watch-storm-
chase...](http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/watch-storm-chasers-
capture-fo/13452801)

[http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-
gang/wp/...](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-
gang/wp/2013/05/28/incredible-video-what-its-like-inside-a-violent-tornado/)

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tornado_Intercept_Vehicle>

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da_n
"Please turn your device sideways to begin recording (press record again to
override)"

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marcosscriven
I'm not sure if that's brave or stupid, but as this is HN, I'll go for brave.

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androidb
Well it was neither, as shown in the video he just pushed up the phone through
the small hole, in the worst case scenario the phone would've been pulled out.

To me it seems that type of shelter to be more dangerous as if the roof was
destroyed it could've trapped them in there. I don't live in a country with
tornadoes so I'm no expert on shelters, but shouldn't it have been few meters
away from houses?

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ghshephard
99%+ of the safety comes from just having a quality Tornado shelter. It can be
beside the house, in the garage, or even an aboveground "Safe Room" - and
you're fine.

The odds of (A) you being in a Tornado, and (B) you being in a Tornado
Shelter, and (C) The house landing on your shelter and (D) nobody coming to
dig you out - is close enough to 0 to not matter.

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jordan0day
Are basements not common in Oklahoma? This is the first time I can recall
there being a lot of discussion around these sorts of purpose-built shelters.
I was surprised when the video showed the photographer inside a purpose-built
shelter, with a nice-looking house across the street -- I would presume a home
like that (and others in that neighborhood) would have a basement?

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ghshephard
From: [http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2013/05/28/tornado-storm-
shel...](http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2013/05/28/tornado-storm-shelters/)

== SNIP ==

Fewer than one percent of newly-constructed homes in Moore and surrounding
towns extend underground, largely due to the high water table and the red clay
that most of the area's homes stand on, which absorbs moisture easily.

In the heat, the clay tends to dry out, causing a cycle of contraction and
expansion that adds pressure to concrete-reinforced basement walls, causing
leaks. But NPR noted that even after improvements in building technology
mostly solved this problem, people avoid basements largely because of a
"psychological hangover for people that are used to seeing houses from the
'40s and '50s, when the technology wasn't quite as good for waterproofing."

== SNIP ==

