'I told you we'd get 'em': Incredible
moment rescuers pull two babies from a
bathtub after their grandmother tucked
them inside with a Bible and a blanket
as a tornado destroyed their Kentucky home

Getting in the tub doesn't work as well when the tub is one of those new fiber-glass panel things.

It’s great to see there are good people in this country that help their fellow man in times of disasters. Those deputies and other rescue workers weren’t thinking about their salaries and benefits, searching for those babies.

Basements or dedicated 'storm shelter rooms' are far better, but if none are available, a bathtub, especially a metal one can stop a lot of flying debris, and protect against larger falling beams and such. This is a wonderful 'save' and I'm sure the Bible didn't hurt to be there. Well done, Grandma. After a big hurricane hit south Florida about 25 years ago, Florida university engineering professors started looking at ways of protecting people in their homes. Florida has a water table that is often only a foot or two below grade, so basements are not feasible in most of the state, pretty much everything is slab-on-grade. This construction normally offers limited protection for extremely severe hurricanes or tornadoes. The result of a lot of research was that, at least in many parts of Florida, you can ask for a 'storm shelter room' to be included in your home design. Far easier to design and build into new construction, it is basically specially made impact resistant panels attached to steel studding which is very firmly bolted down to the concrete slab. There is extra cross bracing and the 'ballistic panels' on the exterior of what is basically a largish closet will stop a 2x4 stud arriving end-on like a huge spear at well over 100 mph from penetrating. And the steel studs bolted down means that the room will stay there if the rest of the home's wooden structure is destroyed. In tornado or hurricane country, if you are building new, and can afford a bit of extra safety, it would be worth looking into.

Dang...I am an old tough guy, but that just made me cry. Later in the piece is the story of three little girls, all hiding in a tub...the oldest ended up killed, but the 7yo speaks of being caught up in the air in the tornado and praying to Jesus to have it spit her out...it did.Into soft mud, safely. Fractured a vertebra, but was up and walking within a week. Someday in her future there will be people that try to tell her "There is no God", she will be immune to that.

Storm panels....below the bullet proof ones from this manufacturer. Over a steel framed and bolted down structure a 'closet' covered in this storm panel will probably survive the impacts of windblown projectiles. https://www.strongwell.com/products/ballistic-and-storm-panels/

Those are two tough young brothers!! The rescuers showed determination and tenacity. They were true heroes.

Re: #3/$5 - Agree with the gentleman from Kansas that below grade shelters provide the best protection from tornados and the technology and engineering that has gone into modern "safe rooms" provides a high level of protection from most tornados. Texas Tech University has been at the forefront of the R&D and testing of in-door, tornado "safe room" materials and construction engineering; however, they do not protect against all tornado hazards. In May, 1997, a F5 tornado, a mile wide at its base, hit the small Central Texas town of Jarrell, just north of Austin. Initial reports were horrendous with regard to destruction and loss of life. My North Texas area Public Safety department initiated an off-duty call-up for "volunteers," which consisted primarily of our SWAT and Fire/Rescue teams, which made the 170 mile trek down I-35 to Jarrell in a little over two hours. In one neighborhood to the west of the small town, there were few structures left standing and where serval homes had stood, even their concrete slabs had been ripped right out of the ground and sent airborne.

Wow, #7. I have difficulty imagining what it takes to rip a foundation slab out of the ground and send it flying. Scary stuff. I have heard of these steel rooms, bolted to the house slab foundation, and they seem pretty good. Perhaps the old 'hole in the ground in the back yard' rural storm shelter is still the best way if you don't have a basement. When nature gets fully cranked up, you just have to be out of the way if you can. Underground is good. And tornadoes can be far, far more powerful than even extreme hurricanes. Extreme hurricanes may get gusts up to maybe 150 or even 180 mph. Tornadoes can reach 300 mph, and wind forces are measured as the square of the velocity of the wind. So a 300 mph wind has not the roughly 1/3 greater forces on structures compared to 180 mph winds that seems reasonable, but actually 3 times the forces.

#4: Me too

If you live in tornado country and your builder did not dig a basement, don't whine. Do what the pioneers did, dig one! It was not rocket science to them and should not be to our weakling generation. Digging a 6-8' hole and covering with plywood and dirt involves 40 manhours or less and less than $200 for materials. How did our people get this soft?