Do I have to give tenant access to basement in case of a tornado?

[stealth2]

I agree, cbg.There is nothing valuable or private enough in my home that warrants denying safe shelter…

(I did have several times at the old house when I got simultaneous flooding and tornado watches… the quandary? Drag Mom up the stairs to avoid flooding or down the stairs to shelter from a tornado. Not to mention the dogs/cats! I frequently reminded Mom that if I told her to get up/downstairs that she had to listen!)

 

[FarmerJ]

I Live in Minnesota and yes we too have a Tornado season here I have seen a number of homes with out basements have on the property concrete tornado shelters that are bolted to deep footings that may be worth looking into BUT I suggest if you have another tenant in that secondary home in the future that your leases spell out that there is no onsite tornado shelter and that they learn what others in your area do when they must take shelter-shelter in place during a tornado . Are you obligated to provide shelter space, ? Only if a city - county or state law says so.

 

[LdiJ]

There is no question that legally, the OP is entitled to keep anyone out of his home and that under normal circumstances, he is entitled to his privacy. However, anyone who has seen the movie Twister knows that tornados operate on their own timetable, unlike their coastal sisters hurricanes which generally provide several days notice, and do not always give people time to get to shelter. While I acknowledge their legal right to do so, I would hope that any decent human being would concede that when lives are at stake, their privacy is less important that people's lives. Tornados are exceptional situations and I would be ashamed of any human who would not grant shelter to someone whose other choice was dying, whether they were present or not. And I'm including you in that, L. I don't live in tornado country and hurricanes don't come this far north often, but we do get them, and blizzards, and anyone who needs shelter from the storm is welcome to my basement whether I'm there or not. I can afford to replace a window and there's nothing in my basement that I'm ashamed to have people see.

While I appreciate this opinion, in the case of a tornado there generally isn't going to be time to break a window to access a basement. It happens in seconds and it is over in seconds. Yes, you could take shelter if there is a warning, but even with a warning your odds of being the one who a tornado hits are pretty low. Rather than taking the time to break a neighbor's basement window to take shelter the smarter thing would be to jump in the bathtub and drag a mattress (if you can get one fast) over you or a heavy blanket. In fact, unless you are living in a mobile home where it is recommended that you go to a secure location in the case of a warning, there generally wouldn't even be time to go to a neighbor's house at all.

When there is a watch (conditions right for a tornado to form) I generally just pay attention to the weather. Not so much to what they say on TV, but to what it looks like outside. After almost 67 years of living in the midwest I know how to recognize the signs. If we get a warning and there are children in the house I send them into the bathroom with the pets and I watch the sky. If it looks bad I put one of the mattresses from the kid's beds in the bathroom too. If I see a funnel starting to form I get in the bathroom myself. However, just because a funnel starts to form doesn't mean that it will actually touch down...and, if it does touch down that doesn't mean that it will stay down. In urban areas they generally don't stay down. The buildings interfere with their movement and formation. They dip up and down and therefore damage is sporactic. The same thing happens in areas where there are lots of trees.

Tornados generally are not deadly either, or rather, they generally aren't deadly to anyone who can get to even basic shelter. A ditch on the side of the road can often be enough shelter if you are caught outdoors. Where they are more deadly is out in the plains where tornados have the opportunity to stay on the ground and get stronger and stronger (and wider) for long distances.

 

[quincy]

… Are you obligated to provide shelter space, ? Only if a city - county or state law says so.

The International Building Code (and the National Storm Shelter Association) now require that storm shelters be included in all new construction of schools and in all facilities housing critical emergency operations (e.g., fire, police, ambulance, 911 call centers) built in those areas where winds can potentially reach 250 mph (e.g., “Tornado Alley” from north Texas north to south Minnesota and east/west from there). But there is no other federal law to my knowledge that mandates storm shelters elsewhere.

Tornado86 could check to see if the school his tenants’ kids go to has a storm shelter open to the public. There is usually an occupancy limit, however - enough room for students and staff only.