Storm Cellars. (original) (raw)

In the midst of a recent tornado outbreak, an oldtimer called and asked if I remembered storm cellars.

�Yep,� I said, �I not only remember them, my grandfather had one and put it to good use when he felt a tornado was coming his way.�

However my granddad, Gus Milligan, who owned a farm south of Slocumin Anderson County, didn�t call them tornadoes, but �cyclones.�

Storm cellars were cave-like resting places which were usually built on the side of a hill or in an embankment near a road. They were usually found in rural areas, mostly around farms. People who lived in communities or cities escaped to sturdy buildings when a cyclone approached.

Some storm cellars are still being used. If you drive across northern Texas, particularly in the counties south of Oklahoma, you�ll likely find storm cellars in dozens of small communities. Some are big enough to house several families.

While driving around East Texas a few months ago, we passed a storm cellar that had been reenforced with concrete and had a heavy door with a lock. I suppose the cellar was kept locked to keep children from playing inside.

During the seasons when cyclones were less likely, farm mothers often stored their jams and jellies in the storm cellars, presumably because they were cool inside and offered more protection than a kitchen cabinet. Remember, this was before refrigerators became available in home kitchens.

There was one disadvantage to storm cellars. They were often occupied by spiders, snakes and an occasional raccoon. If Gus Milligan saw black clouds approaching the Slocum area, he went down into the cellar, armed with a big wooden stick and sometimes a gun, and chased out the unwanted occupants.

On sunny days, if he approached his storm cellar and saw kids playing inside, he would slam the doors closed and wait for the kids to start hollering.

A cousin and I were playing inside his cellar one afternoon when he slammed the doors, trapping us with the spiders and a rabbit who had taken up residence in the dirt hole. After that, we had deep reservations about entering the storm cellar, even when the storm clouds rolled our way.

©

Bob Bowman November 6, 2011 Column
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