The Shelter Issue

There's this interesting episode with tornado shelters in Bama.  Down in DeKalb county....they wanted to put up six prefab-type storm shelters.  It's best to describe them as Quonset-hut structures that pretty heavy gauge and the whole thing gets anchored down to the ground.   The DeKalb folks had some serious interest in this.....but has wasted away an entire year trying to establish a legal contract.  The problem is....as soon as they stand up and it looks all legit....someone from the state or county steps in....to halt the purchasing episode.

It's a curious thing....as they do the bid and it runs afoul each time....it's always the Safe-T-Shelter folks who are standing there with null and void contract.  The competition who fails to win the episode?  They continually come back via various legal angles.....making the whole process dead.  You'd almost think that if you just declared the number two guy or the number three guy on the process....the actual winner.....then folks would just allow things to go forward.

Personally, I'm of the mind that some agenda is being played out.

But then I come to this whole concept of a central 100-person shelter and the requirement that DeKalb country wrote up.  Personally, if I was this worried about a tornado....I'd put my own shelter up in the backyard....big enough for six folks.  The reason for this?  At 10PM at night.....when the Doppler radar picks up a warning....you might have two minutes to do something.  You don't want to be dressing up or running around to figure the closest route to the county shelter.  If you got to run out to the shelter in a pair of underwear and a Auburn t-shirt....so be it.

So I'm not trying to bash the county's effort, but I'd be investing my money into something more worthwhile.  If you live in DeKalb county....you ought to be putting aside $1,500 and getting a simple shelter that kinda sits in the ground like a septic tank.  Naturally, you get your cousin Claude to come over....spend a Saturday digging this hole....use the tractor to dump this shelter in the hole....and toss the dirt back on top of it.  Forget all this legal hassle like the DeKalb county folks have, and do it yourself.