I spent every summer of my life from the age of 5 until I was 16 in Topeka for about 2-3 months. It was interesting because after my grandparents moved into their house, we never had a single tornado warning during the time I was there. We used the basement for playing ping-pong & to cool down when the AC went out.

At that point, my grandpa retired from Santa Fe & they sold their home (after the basement completely flooded) & came back to California. Guess they wonderful city planners didn't realize that the parking lot they made at the top of the hill would cause the runnoff it did in the huge rains....ran down the hill & their house was right at the bottom....it got all the water dumped in their basement. Remember then had to build high wells up around the basement windows & it was impossible to see out anymore. I really don't like the fully enclosed basements....I like the one I have...it's a great basement that has 2 sliding glass doors that open into my back yard. Only problem I have with my basement is that the water seeps through the cinder block walls even with the water proof paint on it & I get huge puddles of water laying around my basement in wet weather.

Have had more tornado warnings living here in KY for the last 4 years than all the summers spent in Topeka. We even had a tornado warning & actual tornados come through here in February my first winter here.....Feburary IS NOT TORNADO SEASON....didn't anyone tell the tornado