Storm Shelter Testing Videos

The Valley Difference

Valley Storm Shelters™ Interactive Showroom Huntsville, Alabama

Valley Storm Shelters™ installs CORELOCK™ - The strongest safe room anchoring system available

TEDx: Why Storm Shelters Do Not Have to Be Underground Anymore

Valley Storm Shelters™ Featured on the Rick & Bubba Show

Valley Storm Shelters™ was recently featured on the Rick & Bubba show. Watch as Rick and Bubba put a storm shelter through a series of tests while their producer, Speedie, sits inside.

Safe Escape Video

Valley Storm Shelters™ provided a live demonstration of their underground garage storm shelter. The shelter was first installed and cemented into place with up to 6 inches of cement on all sides and the bottom.

Normally the sliding lid is used for entering and exiting the shelter, sliding neatly under the emergency lid. However, one of the greatest potential hazards of an underground storm shelter is being trapped by falling debris. The Valley Storm Shelters™ underground garage shelter's hydraulic escape system can easily move up to twelve thousand pounds of debris to open its pivoting emergency exit lid. This video demonstrates several types of debris being moved by the lid which is made from three-eighths inch solid plate steel, fifty percent thicker than anything else currently on the market. It was thoroughly tested by the Texas Tech Wind Science and Engineering Research Center as seen in the second half of the video.

Direct Hit Video

We conducted our own field test which we called “Direct Hit” in front of 80 spectators including the president of the Better Business Bureau, local building inspectors, and Emergency Management Personal as well as local media and other special guests. “Direct Hit” was a live, unrehearsed demonstration of our steel aboveground storm shelter sustaining various types of assaults which could occur during an EF5 tornado or intruder event. These assaults included driving a 3,500 lb. vehicle into the shelter, and shooting it with various high powered weapons. We then positioned a 14,000 hp jet engine in front of the shelter. The exhaust thrust generated up to 700 mph wind blasts impacting the side of shelter. Next 2,000 lbs of bricks, were dropped from 50 feet on top of shelter and 4,000 lbs of lumber from the same height was dropped on the shelter following the bricks. Finally, the car used in the crash demonstration was raised 70 feet in the air and dropped on the shelter.

Texas Tech Testing Videos

The following videos are of testing performed at Texas Tech University : National Wind Institute. The tests performed simulate the debris from an EF5 tornado. If you've watched other testing videos, you will be impressed at how well our shelters hold up in these tests when compared to our competition.