Illinois Family's Dome Home Built To Withstand Tornadoes

(CBS) -- This is tornado season - and WBBM's Steve Miller talked to a family near Pekin who designed and built their home to withstand tornados.

"All great projects start with a spouse."

Robin Miller and his wife built their dome-shaped home in Green Valley seven years ago.

Before they built it, Miller says his wife - who's not a native Midwesterner - was mystified by the ritual of fleeing to the basement when the tornado sirens go off.

"She came upstairs with me and she looked at me and said, 'Well, where's the destruction? Where's the damage? What happened? You mean we just wasted an hour sitting in the basement for nothing?'

"And she wagged her finger at me and said, 'I am not doing this again.'"

And they didn't.

They built a monolithic dome home, which Miller says is strong because of what it's made of - and because of its shape.

"The fact that it's curved - in two dimensions - and an arch is a very sturdy shape."

There is no basement.

In:
• Tornado