Basements replaced the actual storm cellars? We have nothing here in SWFL even resembling a storm shelter [...]
That's just weird to me. You're betting on whether a he-acaine is gonna come along and rub your shit off - right down to the concrete pad. There ain't nothing for it. And the chances are that you will live through at least a near-miss at least once in your life...
Nope. I cannot make that make sense. I'd have that safe room, built right into my property, whatever that means... Yeah, you can't go underground if flooding is an issue - then you build it hell-for-stout above flood level... The whole damn house can blow away around it, but there it is...
Then, at least if you're tore down to nothing, you're OK... and you have a shelter to start from... and live in through the cleanup and restoration. I would have that, sure enough.
I feel so bad for folks that wind up with that - maybe they lived through it alright, thank God for that! But now you start from dead-on nothing... What, a scrap of canvas for a tent, and scrounging for canned goods and water in what's left of your house?
Nah... I'd have that storm shelter... self contained, jenny for power... Stuffed full of Mountain House... A dry place to sleep... All the things you know you need to start over from. I don't care what that costs. I would have that ready.