Shipping Containers and Tornadoes

greasemonkeyok · Apr 27, 2012

Footage taken from a news helicopter of the last tornado in this neck of the woods showed the house blown away, and the family coming out of their underground shelter with a propane tank spewing it's contents just a few feet away. Something to think about.

Sledgie · Apr 27, 2012

I have had a 20 ft. container sitting on 12" of concrete pavers in each corner (to keep the critters from digging underneath) that doesn't have any tie downs on it. In the last 20 years here in Kansas it has been through many storms, including a straight line wind of 105 mph which brought down a 16" cottonwood limb across the top of it. It has never budged an inch and still looks pretty good. I probably have 2-3 tons of stuff in it. We have a basement but if I was ever caught out needing a place to get to it would be the first place I would go. With an inside latching system like others have mentioned, it should be pretty safe for the money.

Groo · Apr 27, 2012

Shipping containers and semi trailers aren't even in the same neighborhood as far as strength. Since we are talking Tornadoes, the biggest difference is one is sitting flush on the ground and the other is elevated 3' to make it easy for the wind to get under it. The steel in the walls of a container is much thicker than the aluminum in the walls of a 53' van trailer.Shipping containers are meant to be abused and be stacked 12 high. Semi trailers are intended to be a light as possible without buckling when they hit a pot-hole.

That said, I'd feel much better about my family riding out a F5 in a shipping container if dirt was mounded up and around it.

Redneck in training · Apr 28, 2012

Shipping container is strong enough to take the wind but it can be penetrated by flying objects. The sheetmetal is quite thin.

Gary Fowler · Apr 28, 2012

The sheet metal is about 2 mm thick on a shipping container, not the 5mm recommended for flying object protection but not roofing tin either. You do need to have at least 6 feet of the 8 foot height below ground so flying objects is not that big a deal since if anything did come thru it would be above head height. I would not trust one anchored above ground for complete tornado protection, although if cable strapped down with earth augers for anchors it would be better than being inside a house . I dont believe the walls would collapse but large objects hitting at 200 mph could damage the walls for sure. Bury it with a good bitumastic (tar) coating on the outside for corrosion protection would make it last many years and you would be as safe as any other shelter.
PS. The do make them in aluminum also.

Jim Shooz · Apr 28, 2012

If you're burying these containers in the ground wouldn't you also have to be cautious of the sides collapsing from the weight if the earth piled up along each side??
ISTR a while ago seeing a TV program, might have been Mythbusters, where they got the container half buried and the sides, or was it the roof, collapsed. Just how much pressure can the sides sustain?

tcartwri · Apr 28, 2012

I'm thinking a largish concrete culvert buried in a mound would be what I would do, over a shipping container. Lower profile, no maintenance, penetration improbable.

bcp · Apr 28, 2012

I wonder why tornado country is not filed with underground homes.

Bruce

greasemonkeyok · Apr 28, 2012

Bruce, the answer to your question is one of the many enigma's of Tornado Alley. We are in the heart of the Bible Belt with one the highest unwed teenage mother rates in the nation. Then there is the old adage:

Know what an Oklahoma tornado and Oklahoma divorce have in common? You know somebody is going to lose a trailer house.