Getting shelter from a Georgia tornado

LEESBURG, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) — We’re very fortunate in Middle Georgia the tornado you see in the video is rare to nonexistent here.

As a matter of fact, the Mother’s Day tornado outbreak in 2008 produced mostly EF1 and EF2 tornadoes, with one EF3 tornado in Wheeler County. Still dangerous, of course, but not like what you would see in tornado alley.

However, with tornadoes still being a concern during our severe weather season, storm shelters are in business. Billie Geck owns LifeSaver Storm Shelters in Leesburg Georgia.

“We’re actually installing shelters here in South Georgia, Southwest Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, all the way up to [the] Tennessee line,” Geck says.

The shelters are made of fiberglass, not metal or steel, which allows for cell phone reception when it’s placed underground. And while it looks small from the outside, you can walk inside the shelter and see how much more spacing it actually has.

“I do my own installation,” Geck says, “when I install it underground, we’re gonna be best friends; you can call me anytime if you have any issues. And these shelters right here, they ain’t going nowhere. They’re just bad to the bone.”

To install it, Life Saver storm shelters digs the hole and pours four tons of concrete in it. Then they set the storm shelter down. 30 tons of dirt then goes on to the shelter. So once the project is complete, all you’ll see is a three foot by five foot lid. Everything else is below ground.

The shelters come with lights so it’s not dark underground. Vents are also set up to allow oxygen to flow into the shelter.

The bottom line, says Geck, is when “everything’s gone, you are prepared for a bad situation.”

The shelters are designed to withstand up to an EF5 tornado.

For more information, go on their website.