This is true. However a safe room will withstand up to 200 mph winds. And the chances of an F4 or F5 hitting your house straight on with it's full velocity of winds is pretty remote. Here in Oklahoma, I've seen houses that have been destroyed almost down to their foundations, with the only thing left standing being the safe room. So they are a good thing to have.
Most tornadoes don't hit in the cities like we've seen these latest outbreaks. More people in the rural communities or outskirts of cities die because they don't have quick access to shelter. And the elderly who have trouble even walking, have no choice but to ride it out. People stuck on the roads and highways with no place to hide. There are 1001 ways you can die from a tornado. The only sure safe thing is if your well underground in a shelter. People who live in mobile homes in tornado alley here in Oklahoma are commiting slow suicide if they don't have a shelter.. Sooner or later they are going to get hit. Whether it be by very high winds or a tornado.
Without a basement even following the safety instructions you don't have much of a chance against a tornado that strong. Apparently most homes in that area don't have basements. Some of the live footage in Oklahoma was showing people just climbing out from basements of completely desrtoyed homes but they survived by being underground.
tornadoes are a fucked up thing having lived through a bunch of them. You can do everything right now and still die. I was reading about a guy in Jolpin, Missouri who was killed when the tornado picked up a car threw it into his house and the car crushed him in his basement. So its fairly easy to be killed, 150+ mph wind rocks, wood, metal, anything you can possibly think of being launched into the air and flying through walls and cars. Plus a thunder storm can turn into a tornado in a matter of seconds, so its not like a hurricane where you have days notice and estimated arrival time. Not everyone in the midwest has a basement or storm shelter, so if you have 1-2 mins to get somewhere where are you going to go, if you have a tornado coming that ends up ripping up everything from your house besides the foundation. your simply fucked. I also reado about a father and son who were driving back from receiving his diploma when the sirens went out, they were rushing home for the basement and got struck by the tornado and the car started rolling, the sons seat belt broke and he got sucked out of the hummer through the sun roof while the dead was left in the car with broken bones
