do you use public shelter? (tornado shelter)

I was wandering how many of you use public shelter vs. private shelter? I don't have a cellar at my house. Sometimes we find it uncomfortable to use public shelters. That doesn't mean I'm not willing to use them, but the crowded people filled rooms never feel as safe as they should. Growing up I always had shelter at my house and I've found it extremely difficult to adapt to not having one. Does anyone feel the same?
How do you feel about bringing your pets into a public shelter?

 

This reminds me of the evacuation center in our village. When there is a calamity, particularly storm and typhoons that cause floods, the basketball court is being used as evacuation center. Families that are affected by the calamity would be staying in the covered basketball court that can accommodate maybe 2 hundred families (in a crowded manner). That temporary evacuation center is just 3 blocks away from our house so it is convenient to drop by to offer assistance sometimes.

I cannot imagine myself staying in that evacuation center. Filled with people, children playing, adults talking, men drinking (in secret), and some other activities like playing cards. From my observation, those people in the basketball court seemed to be enjoying their vacation because food is supplied by the local government aside from the donations of private citizens and civic groups. They also get towels and blankets. Some organizations donate new clothes particularly t-shirts and shorts. After some 2 or 3 days of accommodating the flood victims, the evacuation center is turned back to a basketball court. The evacuees go home happily with money in their pockets and goods to bring home as well. For them, it was like having a holiday off... for free.

 

I know that after the May 20th, 2013 tornado Oklahoma County did away with public shelters. Now there are signs outside almost every business saying it's not a storm shelter. So, I see a lot more people dying in the next long track EF-5. I know a few people that live in the city who have been turned away during recent tornados. Personally, I think it should be against the law to turn people seeking shelter away.

We have a private shelter and call me awful but we don't let pets in. Why? Because our neighbors use our shelter too and when everyone comes it's pretty crowded mostly with children. Their pets don't come either. If we let the animals in they go crazy, whining and howling jumping over people and using the bathroom #1 and #2 everywhere. They start fighting with other, it just becomes a dangerous situation for everyone. I guess it's the storm and being stuffed in small place.

We had to choose who to save our neighbors or our pets, we picked our neighbors.

 

I have never had to utilize either luckily. Come to think about it there isn't a public shelter that I know of nearby as we live quite a ways outside of the city. We also don't have a cellar on the property. Time to start planning a proper shelter just in case...

 

Wow, that still doesn't sound very safe. Our public shelters are the schools, but they are always crowded with students. When you add all the town members that don't have shelf into the mix its even more packed.

 

That's just ridiculous that people are turning others away. It does sound like it should be a law. When we had a shelter we would offer it to the neighbors if they ever needed it. We always brought our pets down, but it was always just family. We lived in the country and the neighbors didn't ever need shelter with us. I understand where you are coming from though. Dogs fighting would be a hassle during a storm. That's a kind thing for you to share your space. The place we go for shelter in our town is the school. Its so packed you can hardly move around or even breathe in there! (I'm exaggerating about the breathing )

 

It's better to be safe than sorry I've always heard. I hope you can get you a good plan figured out though. Its really hard to do it last minute when a tornado is in your back yard.

 

Schools in our town are also used for temporary shelters by the evacuees. However, the plight in the school is worse than in the covered basketball court. The classroom in schools are like an oven at daytime and when crowded at night, children cannot sleep unlike in the basketball court which is quite airy. In 2009, when a great flood hit our town, the evacuees stayed in the nearby school for a temporary shelter. The storm hit us on a Saturday and on the following Monday is a school day. The teachers were confused because the school children arrived but the evacuees were still occupying all the classroom. Those evacuees are mostly living in the estero (stream like a big canal) and their houses were ruined by the storm so they preferred to stay in the school for the meantime. Well, the confusion led to a fight - the teachers on one side and the evacuees on the other side. By the way, the evacuation is an activity by the local government and not by the school. It was really a problem and all the government could do was to find some other place for the evacuees.

 

I can only imagine how bad the humidity was with all that water and heat. It is sad when government doesn't provide enough shelter for their people. It seems to be a problem all over.

 

Our small town definitely needs a bigger shelter. We live right in the center of town, about a block from the shelter. Whenever we get a tornado watch alert, cars fill up the streets around our house.

Which also means that if a tornado hits, our house would probably be demolished by 150 trucks and cars flying at it.

 

I never lived in a house with a shelter, since tornadoes aren't a thing here, thankfully, so I don't have expertise on this. However, it feels like it's a matter of circusmtances? If you have a shelter in your home and it's accessible, it seems logical to always use it, since even if the public one was as good, you would be taking space from less prepared people. But if you don't have a shelter or can't get get home when disaster strikes, it's not really possible to avoid going to a public shelter.

 

I am willing to stay in shelters, but I prefer to be on my own in the great outdoors. It can be much more dangerous outdoors, but I am usually traveling with a group of people, so it makes it less scary. The thing that I don't enjoy about shelters is the massive amount of separation. I do not like being separated from the people I'm traveling with and do not want to be surrounded by people I don't know in a room. It's hard to trust people when you're so used to being on your own and trying to get by. Something as simple as sleeping next to someone you don't know can make you weary. My worry would be staying in a shelter with someone that was willing to steal my things.

 

@lexinonomous The point, however, is that sometimes a shelter is a must. Try surviving a hurricane or - in case of war - an aerial/artillery bombardment 'in the open'. If you're able to take shelter at your house, you won't need to be afraid of strangers - but soemtimes, there is no such option.

 

Like lonewolf, I live in the UK and I don't have any public shelters near to where I live. I also don't have a basement or cellar, they're not that common here either, and we don't own the house so we can't modify it either. My long term goal is to have a house with an underground shelter though. We rarely have emergency weather conditions (yet), so our country wouldn't be prepared for one at all.

 

I live where there in no public shelter. In case of a tornado, I have always been taught to hide in the bathtub and put a mattress over me. I a tornado or earthquake hits our area, we have to rely on the Red Cross to take over the gym at the local high school (if it is still standing) to provide public shelter. I would participate in this type of public shelter should my home no longer be standing.

 

If it's for public use, then it is definitely the safer course, since the government would be in deep trouble if their community shelters get torn down by calamities. You can use your own shelter, but then again, it's just going to be you against the world, and you have to trust the foundations of your house and the quality of the shelter is good enough to be actually of help in dangerous times. You also have to stock your own supplies, whereas you can get government provided aid when you are in these public shelters.