A storm cellar is a type of underground bunker designed to protect the occupants from violent severe weather, particularly tornadoes. They are most commonly seen in the US Midwest ("Tornado Alley") where tornadoes are particularly frequent and the low water table permits underground structures.
Our Storm Cellar was just to the north of the back porch. Close enough to the home to allow quick access in an emergency, but not so close that the house could collapse on the door during a storm, trapping us. This is also why the main door on most storm cellars is mounted at an angle rather than flush with the ground; an angled door allows for debris to blow up and over the door without blocking it and also decreases the force necessary to open the door if rubble has settled on top.
This cellar would have been eight by twelve feet, if I remember correctly, and had an arched roof —but it was entirely underground. This one was built of rock. It had no windows in it and it was very dark inside. The only light came in from the open door and you had to have a flashlight or lantern with you to see well in there. There was no air ventilation as some cellars had that I had been in before.
Shelves lined the walls of the cellar for storing canned produce, however I didn’t know how to can when we first moved into the Prairie Home but my mother-in-law soon taught me how to do this.
I hated going down into that cellar. I just knew there were snakes in it, and I was so afraid of snakes that I would rather take my chances with the storm as to go in where I just knew the snakes were! Therefore I kept the door to it closed all the time. Plus as the boys grew old enough to wander around I didn’t want them to go in there by themselves.
Here is a picture that Morris took of me sitting by the cellar door while we lived here.
When a storm was headed our way we could see it coming for miles as those dark clouds blew in from the northwest across the prairie.
The next year after we moved in, we were glad we had that cellar as we watched two tornado’s crossing the prairie to the west of the house and one later spotted east of the barn! We were lucky indeed that we never did have one come over the farm!
Fully enclosed underground storm shelters offer superior tornado protection to a traditional basement or cellar because they provide overhead cover without the risk of being trapped or killed by collapsing rubble from above. For this reason they also provide the only reliable form of shelter against "violent" (EF4 and EF5) tornadoes which tend to blow the house off the foundation, removing the overhead cover protecting the occupant.
