So we dropped a car on one of our tornado shelters. So what? Do cars even fall on shelters?
Well, no. The chances of an automobile being lifted high and dropped squarely onto your shelter are slim to none. Even though tornados as low as an EF2 rating can lift cars and move them.
Looking at the Enhanced Fujita Tornado Damage Scale, a tornado with as low as an EF0 shows damage to chimneys, branches, and sign board, all of which can, at the very least, become falling debris. And as the rating increases, dangers like large trees, construction materials, and a million small items become a significant danger.
So while a car falling on a shelter may not be realistic, we know things get crazy during a tornado (see photos below). So we found something crazy to test our shelter’s limits.
For even more photos, check out this collage.
We see the images of cars wrapped around poles, boards sticking out of refrigerators, forks that have impaled trees, and even pavement ripped from the ground, leaving behind only dirt. But what our minds have difficulty fathoming is those objects in flight, hurtling toward you. You can’t dodge. You can’t run. You can’t hide.
Unless you hide in a secure, thoroughly tested shelter like Atlas Safe Rooms, of course.
And that is why we tested our shelter by dropping a car on it. Because those things can and do happen.
So what does it prove?
Well, excuse us while we get a little nerdy up in here.
Remember Newton? You know, that guy who discovered gravity after an apple fell on his head. That’s not quite the way it happened, but he is the founder of everything we know about gravity.
Let’s look at our science experiment in the scope of Newton’s Third Law. Why did the shelter remain in tact instead of crumpling up like a ball of tin foil?
Simple answer: Because Atlas shelters push back.
When object A pushes against object B (force), object B pushes back. If the force of object A is stronger than object B, object B will be moved. If it isn’t, it won’t.
Think about your seatbelt. When you slam on the brakes because the guy in front of you slams his, you continue to move forward, but the seat belt pushes you back.
Think about it. Our shelter pushes back on several tons of falling car! Falling trees and brick don’t stand a chance. And the National Wind Institute made sure projectiles won’t penetrate the shell.
Atlas Safe Rooms is the kind of shelter you want standing between you and the bullets and missiles and bombs a tornado creates out of debris. .
For all the crazy things tornadoes can do, for all the debris and forks impossibly wedged six inches into that tree trunk, you need an Atlas Safe Room pushing back.