Hi! I have horrible storm anxiety, mostly related to tornadoes. I know there are a lot of warning signs you can see when there may be a tornado, but I was wondering if there were any indications during a storm that there WONT be a tornado, or that it is more unlikely. Does that make sense? I need to find a way to calm myself down, especially since I live smackdab in tornado alley 🌪️

My family and I live in a small house and have no basement. We had a close call last summer that left us all huddling inside a tiny closet, as it is the only interior room in our house, it led me to question what would happen to us if the situation got serious.

We also live on a well and have an underground “well pit” its about 5x5’ and around 5’ 6” tall inside with concrete walls, one of the walls sits flush against the foundation of our house to the east. Inside the pit is the well tank and inlet water line from the pump as well as the outlet line from the tank to the house. The tank is a 30 gallon upright so it doesnt take up much space. Theres a 4” slab of concrete covering the top with an access hole thats about 24” square. Theres also a 4” drain at the bottom of the pit for water ingress

My question is… should i try to adapt the well pit into a possible storm shelter? It seems like its far enough underground but my only worry is the 4” slab on top of the pit because i dont think its reinforced. It seems strong but if a heavy object (say, a vehicle) landed on top, it might crush the slab inward

I get there are levels of protection, but If it came down to it, I think we would be safer in that pit than in the middle of our house.

What do you guys think? Is it a horrible idea?