Going to build a storm cellar. All the cellars I know of are made of cement. Is there a kit, like fiberglass or similar material, I can buy to build the cellar. May not be such an item but exploring the idea.
Here in Texas you can buy pre-made shelters from around $2,500 up just dig a hole.
On the other, hand my brother built his above ground, 4x8 8" thick concrete with water and elec, steel door and phone jack. We call it the "pill box". His thoughts for above ground where, possible flooding, or debri falling on underground shelter making the location obscure for searchers or extraction.
speaking of cellars, what would it take to convert a portion of a basement to be like a "fruit cellar" of old, i.e. able to store vegetables and fruits to keep them from spoiling like in the "old days"?
You can also get a steel cellar. Be sure that they pour concrete on top of it to keep it from floating when it gets extremely wet. We have had ours about 15 years now. So far so good. I have seen models of the steel and concrete that are made to be installed above ground. A friend of mines neighbor terraced the dirt around his and uses it as a strawberry patch/tomato garden. It looks pretty neat.
Here is the company that did ours.
In 1958, Dallas had a pretty severe tornado and a couple of years later I was working in the Post Office with a guy who lost his house in that tornado. He said he, his wife, their 2 little boys, and the dog were all under the bed with him and the dog trying to dig a foxhole in the floor with their fingernails. Anyway, the house blew away, but left them and that bed untouched. So when they rebuilt, they had one of the storm cellars installed in the backyard and he stocked it with food, water, blankets, etc. But then he didn't go in it for several months and when he did finally open it one day, it was full of water that had destroyed all the supplies he had put in it. His two little boys had decided it would be fun to fill it up with the garden hose, and of course hadn't told anyone when they got through playing in it.