Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Basements Are Rare In Tornado Alley Most people know that the best place to seek
shelter during a tornado alert is in a basement. Unfortunately, homes, schools, and businesses
in Tornado Alley are typically built without basements. Tornado Alley is a storm belt in
the US Midwest between the Rocky Mountains and the Appalachian Mountains. It is very
difficult to build a basement in these plains because much of the earth is made of clay.
Clay shrinks when it's dry and expands when it's wet. Despite the risk of deadly twisters
in Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas, it
is too costly and time consuming to build and maintain basements or underground cellars in these areas. Further
north where people experience colder winters, almost all homes and businesses have basements.
When soil freezes and thaws it becomes very unstable; therefore, foundations must be built
below the frost line.