Woman Drowns After Being Trapped In Storm Shelter

Randy Jennings

Randy Jennings

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OKLAHOMA CITY - Police confirm that a 42-year-old woman drowned after becoming trapped in her storm shelter in southeast Oklahoma City.
According to police, officers are responding to the scene at a home in the 7900 block of S.E. 164th. Police said the victim's neighbor found her drowned in the storm cellar Thursday morning.
Police have not released the identity of the victim at this time.
According to police, the underground storm cellar was in an old, abandoned well house separate from the woman's home. A river of floodwater went through the property.

Police said the woman apparently got in the shelter when the weather turned severe and then the torrential rains hit, causing the shelter to fill up with water. She became trapped and could not get out.
The woman's death is believed to be the first and only fatality related to Wednesday's severe storms at this time.

http://www.news9.com/story/29004132/police-victim-found-drowned-in-cellar-in-se-okc
 
Randy Jennings said:
OKLAHOMA CITY - Police confirm that a 42-year-old woman drowned after becoming trapped in her storm shelter in southeast Oklahoma City.
According to police, officers are responding to the scene at a home in the 7900 block of S.E. 164th. Police said the victim's neighbor found her drowned in the storm cellar Thursday morning.
Police have not released the identity of the victim at this time.
According to police, the underground storm cellar was in an old, abandoned well house separate from the woman's home. A river of floodwater went through the property.

Police said the woman apparently got in the shelter when the weather turned severe and then the torrential rains hit, causing the shelter to fill up with water. She became trapped and could not get out.
The woman's death is believed to be the first and only fatality related to Wednesday's severe storms at this time.

http://www.news9.com/story/29004132/police-victim-found-drowned-in-cellar-in-se-okc
Click to expand...
 
Drowning has nearly claimed my life 3 separate times, beginning in a river in 1974...when I was writhing so frantically that my soul actually began to lift out of my body. A few more seconds and I would not be writing this. My most recent experience was in a river-rafting accident on a Level 5 Rapids in Costa Rica in 2013. It is a horrible way to die, believe me.
I'm not surprised that this sad episode has happened, as just this past week I've been watching You-Tube-ing videos on the various type of Storm Shelters that companies are selling now. There are a lot more choices than I ever thought existed. I don't even live in an area that needs these (Arizona), but as I looked at the ads and watched how they bury these units underground....and the simple little methods that they feature to ventilate them, I literally came to the firm conclusion that I would much rather take my chances above ground. Drowning DID actually come into my mind as I watched these video demonstrations.
It's back to the drawing board boys....and fast. What an absolute shame...for her and her family. Personally, I am not blaming the manufacturer(s) of these units...as this is a relatively new field. Everything that serves to benefit us in our lives for the most part has been developed and often improved upon by spilled blood. If you think about it, it's true. But please...let's not let one other person drown in an underground shelter. "Life is nothing more than a series of adjustments" is my personal favorite motto. Let's make our adjustments to these units immediately and make those changes as part of steadfast building code. Please.....not one more drowning in an underground shelter....ever. It need not happen.
 
Apparently it was not installed by a reliable vendor. Not sure we need to go back to any drawing boards ;)
 
I'd like to see the analysis before getting too specific on the cause. If water came in, it'd make sense (to me) to get out regardless of a tornado warning.
 
The woman had a stress-induced seizure which is why she was in the situation she was in.
 
joel ewing said:
Do you EVER agree with anybody, Rob?? lol What do you think your percentage of ever agreeing with a given post would be.....seriously.
Click to expand...

Actually, Rob...you might be right, the design(s) may be fine. But SOMETHING went south with that unit or it's install...perhaps it was both. I'm pro-business, so please don't anybody think for a minute that pointing fingers and shouting "guilty, guilty" to the manufacturer....or installer. I'm also one of the few remaining Americans that feels that sometimes in each person's life...."S--T just plain happens" and it's nobody's fault nor can anything be fixed about it.
 
joel ewing said:
Do you EVER agree with anybody, Rob?? lol What do you think your percentage of ever agreeing with a given post would be.....seriously.
Click to expand...

If I agree with a post, why would I waste time quoting it to say "I agree" :)

The point is - saying we need to "go back to the drawing board" because one death occurred in a shelter system that has saved thousands or tens of thousands of lives is similar to saying we need to stop telling people to buckle up because of the one accident where someone unbuckled was thrown from the car and lived.
 
rdale said:
If I agree with a post, why would I waste time quoting it to say "I agree" :)

The point is - saying we need to "go back to the drawing board" because one death occurred in a shelter system that has saved thousands or tens of thousands of lives is similar to saying we need to stop telling people to buckle up because of the one accident where someone unbuckled was thrown from the car and lived.
Click to expand...
I haven't spent a lot of time in tornado alley....just 9 months at Sheppard AFB in Wichita Falls, so forgive my ignorance.
But, how many time is there flooding to the degree where it flows into the shelter though? Maybe it's a design flaw that may have been overlooked?
 
rdale said:
If I agree with a post, why would I waste time quoting it to say "I agree" :)

The point is - saying we need to "go back to the drawing board" because one death occurred in a shelter system that has saved thousands or tens of thousands of lives is similar to saying we need to stop telling people to buckle up because of the one accident where someone unbuckled was thrown from the car and lived.
Click to expand...

I can't argue with that, Rob. I guess as I read the article I envisioned that woman trying to escape, clawing frantically....knowing she was soon to die a horrible death. It hit too close to home for me.
Obviously something went wrong. By "back to the drawing board", I'm asserting that a design engineer or appropriately qualified investigator study this scene immediately, and assess what went wrong. True....it is "only one death". However I feel it is incumbent upon those involved to vigorously seek out and correct any potential flaws....regardless of cost. The entire purpose of these devices is to SAVE lives. If indeed we "have to go back to the drawing board"....so to speak...then that's what has to be done.
 
I emphasize that "regardless of cost" is not a good idea. If a $10,000 storm shelter becomes a $20,000 storm shelter to make sure it's completely floodproof, and nobody buys them anymore, what did we accomplish?

In any case, as the facts come out we learn this isn't really a "storm shelter" in the terms we're thinking of. She used an old abandoned well house basement as her spot to stay safe in a tornado, and it's there where she drowned. Not in an "engineered storm shelter" as we thought we were discussing.

http://www.news9.com/story/29004132/police-victim-found-drowned-in-cellar-in-se-okc
 
rdale said:
If I agree with a post, why would I waste time quoting it to say "I agree" :)

The point is - saying we need to "go back to the drawing board" because one death occurred in a shelter system that has saved thousands or tens of thousands of lives is similar to saying we need to stop telling people to buckle up because of the one accident where someone unbuckled was thrown from the car and lived.
Click to expand...
The better analogy to this story is the one that the anti-government/anti-safety-mandate anarchists make all the time about how a few people a year die because their seatbelts jammed and they couldn't escape a burning car, or how airbags kill/paralyze a person or two every year (Takata recall excluded) - versus the millions of lives they have saved. ;)
 
Just saw on the news lady drowned in basement from yesterdays or Wednesdays storms. Believe in Nebraska or northern Kansas. Road was washed out took police a few days to find her. Sad stuff.
 
That would be what we're discussing - about someone who took shelter in her cellar and drowned. Not a "storm shelter".
 
I've seen more then a few storm shelters that were either poorly designed (old systems) and mounted nearly flush to ground level, and/or were placed in a locations where temporary flooding might be possible. 4 inch flood waters are not a problem if your vents/opening is AOA 12 inches, however if this is not the case ...

But an "old abandoned well-house"? I'd rather take my chances lying in a bathtub.
 
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