Everything was west of us last night. I knew we'd be okay but I was sure concerned for everyone else. With reports of over 100 tornadoes yesterday, its just really scary. The weather radio came on twice for us in the middle of the night. Both times it was for severe thunderstorms though. They were saying to take cover because of the winds involved but spotters were saying max of 1" tree limbs down and 60mph winds. I decided then to just roll over and go back to sleep. In the end, we didn't get anything other than a tiny bit of rain.
Basements - I told DH that our next house WILL have a basement. The problem is, we get a lot of water around here and its hard to keep basements dry. Very few houses have them for that reason and a lot of those with basements are having to constantly pump water. In the houses we looked at with basements, none had finished basements and, truth be told, they weren't worth finishing. They were strictly for storage or storms. My grandma's neighbor did (well the house still does, she moved) have a basement that wasn't too bad. We spent a few hours in there one afternoon when the sirens started blaring while we were at my grandma's house. I was pregnant with my littlest at the time. Anyway, around here it seems best to opt for an above the ground storm shelter. They can be pricey but we saw evidence of how well they work after the Joplin tornado. They would be sitting there with not a thing around them, but there they stood, showing how well they were constructed. I need to go over sometime soon and see my friend's so we can start figuring out what size we want and what features we're looking for. I don't even know for sure the price on these things, I'm thinking she said around $5K. I told Sean that our next big purchase will be a storm shelter. I want one installed in our (attached) garage so that we can get to it quickly and easily.