Everyone has seen footage of a tornado ripping through vulnerable communities and desolate Midwestern farmland. Countless grainy dashboard camera footage has given American viewers a front seat to the visceral carnage and the uprooting of afflicted lives. Although real time tornado videos – thanks to the intrepid tenacity of storm chasers – have become common, only the most invested viewers hang around to see the aftermath. While helicopters give wide-sweeping angles of flattened communities, few news stations allot enough air time to see the scope of a tornado’s damage. Drones are changing how we see tornadoes. Recently, a drone operator in Iowa uploaded close-up footage from a community leveled by a tornado. Drones aren’t the only technology impacting weather observation and tornado response. Noticing the uptick in communities impacted by tornadoes, U.S. Hazmat Rentals has engineered a community tornado shelter line to protect schools, churches, and other community centers.
Check out the video above. Using a remote-controlled drone, the operator captured detailed footage of the storm-stricken Iowa town. Unlike the janky and bobbing storm destruction shots we’ve all become accustomed to, the drone moved seamlessly through the air, documenting the destruction below. By panning in and out, the drone gave unfettered access to the wide breadth of the damage while underscoring tornados’ capricious nature. Looking closely at the initial frames, you can follow the twister’s trek across the now-abandoned town. While the tornado demolished several homes, it left residences relatively unscathed a few yards away. These still-shots will likely change how surviving residents see storms. We wouldn’t be surprised if the residents of this Iowa town begin researching affordable tornado shelters unless they decide, yet again, to test the whims of fate.
Commercial Tornado Shelters Save Lives, Relieves Storm Anxieties
We’ve all seen what a tornado can do. Mother Nature is as fickle as she is unpredictable. While confirmed tornado touchdowns are rising nationwide, meteorology can only provide scant details in the moments leading up to a tornado. County-wide tornado warnings can be misleading. While tornadoes operate with drill-like precision, their scope is narrow, damaging a minimal slice of land. Still, woe is to anyone in a tornado’s sights. Anyone who lives in a community frequented by severe weather and tornadoes is taking an undue risk by not seeking shelter when they hear the tornado sirens begin to wail. Sure, the odds of survival are in your favor, but why take the chance of not investing in superior storm protection?
Our community tornado shelters are changing storm protection. Unlike smaller residential storm shelters, our community shelters can accommodate larger populations, including churches, schools, businesses, community centers, and recreational venues. Community tornado shelters can also protect workers at temporary jobsites and construction zones. While severe weather can occur anytime, most tornadoes strike during the early afternoon, leaving unsuspecting workers with nowhere to seek cover. U.S. Hazmat mobile tornado shelters can be easily positioned on any jobsite without interrupting workflow operations. We can quickly deliver a shelter to your jobsite before picking it up when the job is done. Comprised of quarter-inch steel plating, our community tornado shelters meet all federal specifications and are certified by Texas Tech National Wind Institute in strict accordance to FEMA 320 (2014), FEMA 361 (2015), and ICC-500 (2014) standards for wind-rated impact of 250 mph ground speed tornado events.
