5 Tips in Organizing a Fallout Shelter

By Jeanette Vale

We drove past the house slowly.  There it was, our childhood home.  It still looked the same.  The current owner was  watering his lawn as he talked with a neighbor.  

In the car were my sister, two nieces and myself.  I was telling them about life “in the good ol’ days”.  I finally noticed that both men had stopped their conversation and were looking at us.  

I decided I had better say something.  I yelled, “Hello!  We used to live here…just wanted to….y’know,  revisit!”  

Then I quickly added, ‘how ‘bout that bomb shelter in the basement!”

That broke the ice.

He responded with a hearty, “Riiiight?!”  Then we both laughed at the audacity of a bomb shelter in the basement.  

What mentality prompted the funding for such a ridiculous amount of concrete to make two separate rooms underground?!  As if it would ever be needed.

This was fifteen years ago. 

Fast forward to me now. 

“Can I move into your house sir?  And can I pick my room?”  Because when I was a tween, I actually took up occupation in the bomb shelter rooms.  They were ice cold. I needed to escape my six other siblings that badly.  

Today I live eighty-eight miles away from a military base which is a likely target of a nuclear hit and I don't have a bomb shelter to run into.  I now live in a small house built in 1945, with no basement.  Ugh!

A Whole New Sheltering in Place

Covid may have given us some experience with sheltering in place, but a nuclear attack would put a missile spin on it.  For starters, there would be no drive-thru restaurants or the Door Dash Guy–unless he came in real hot.  Okay, that was a bad joke.

There is no leaving the house, in fact your goal would be to remain in a concentrated area of the house for days on end, maybe with people you don’t know well.    

What is your house like?  What are it’s assets as far as protecting you from this type of warfare?  Have you walked around and analyzed its strengths and weaknesses?

I walked around my house and realized that the walls are a foot thick and of concrete!  Yes!  But my doors and windows need to be thickened when TSHTF.

Start now to think about your house or office.  Keep a stash of food and water everywhere (car, office, home).

Here are my ideas for redoing the place in the New Contemporary Russian Style.  

5 Area’s to Plan

Protect yourself from radioactive dust - Simply, get indoors and to the most central part of the house or if you are out traveling get into a parking car garage and get to a lower story.

AREA 1  Intake & Infirmary

Outside of the door -Set up a curtained area to undress -  throw away clothes & shoes (have the person fling them as far out from the house as they can).  Have them shake their hair out -outside. 

An opaque plastic shower curtain can shield them while they run to the bathroom to shower. Have them rinse this off as it will be used on the next incoming nude.

Have people shower with soap and shampoo (but no conditioner as this binds dust to you)  The goal:  get nuclear dust particles off as fast as you can.

Set up a sick room - Cover carpeted floor with a plastic sheeting in case sick people throw up and miss the buckets.   Put those buckets with liners in place for easy access.  

Place Iodine pills and cups of water on a table  Place a sign with what the dosage is. Hopefully you can assign a person there  to monitor this area so children don’t trick-or-treat.

AREA 2 Comfort Areas sleep/ lounge 

Beds / Couches / Pillows/  Sheets / Blankets / Books/ Cards and other Games / Tissue boxes 

AREA 3  Water

Plan as if  city water does not exist.  We sell 5 gallon water boxes that are easy to stack and move about!  Determine how many people and how much water you have and ration it.  You may be there for 2 weeks to a month.

AREA 4 Toilets & Sanitation

Again, plan that flushing toilets won’t work.   Have potty boxes/  or composting toilets in place.  Have one toilet for every four people.  Eco Gel is a lemongrass scented powder we sell.  It is wonderful for cutting the smell.  It creates a toilet instantly.  Another great option is a   Honey Bucket Toilet.  

Sawdust, grass clippings or leaves and dirt can also help breakdown waste and are free, but must be obtained before a disaster. 

Just put these in the bottom of the bucket and every time someone uses the toilet, cover it with more debris.  Tiny house owners swear there is no smell.  Hmmmm….we shall see.  Well, you can see.  I’m using Eco Gel.  My house is going to smell like lemons and sunshine.

Set up a hand washing and sanitizing area as well.

Set up a safe way to remove the bags of waste without the bags busting halfway across the room.  A protocol could be that the bag is tied shut and put into a box and two persons carry it to a location where it can’t be smelled or tampered with by a pet, or toddler.

AREA 5 Food Processing / Kitchen

Do you have food to last two weeks for everyone?   A nuclear strike  is not a time where you can go shopping or begging for food. 

How will you cook the food you have?  Can you do it safely indoors?  How long will your fuel last? 

Rationing water is critical.  How will you wash dishes?  Here's a hack.

Use  a squirt bottle with soapy water and a squirt bottle with rinsing water.   Since dishes might not get cleaned as well, everyone can keep their own set of plate/bowl/cup and silverware for the duration of sheltering.

 I hope that is helpful in getting the cogs in your mind working.  Do as much as you can before a nuclear catastrophe. Next week's blog will continue in this vein.  This ends Part 1.   Part 2 is about staying sane with the people who shelter in place with you!  Thanks for stopping in.  Come visit us www.emergencyzone.com

 Click on image to be taken to site.