There are several pre-fabricated bomb shelters on the market at this time that can be installed in your home or backyard. Some will give you and your family good protection from the fallout while others are completely useless. The best way to insure that you are purchasing an adequate shelter is to check that it meets the Civil Defense specifications. You can get a no down payment, FHA-insured loan for your family bomb shelter as long as the shelter meets the Civil Defense specifications. However, for those of you that are handy around the house, it’s perfectly possible to build a snug, safe fallout shelter yourself.

There are several types of fallout shelters that a good do-it-yourselfer can devise and build. The first type sections off a portion of your basement and is built with concrete blocks. The materials for this type of shelter should run you around $200. Ventilation holes are left in the bottom of one wall to provide an adequate air supply. This type of shelter takes advantage of the cement already in your basement walls and the several feet of dirt that surrounds them. This is the simplest type of shelter and reduces your radiation contamination to 1/100th of the outside levels. The only drawback is if you are within ten to fifteen miles of the blast, your house may be blown down or catch fire which could mean fatal ventilation problems. Except for that outside possibility, however, this is a viable option.

The second type of fallout shelter would be one buried in your backyard. You can either bury it completely or only partially, but there should be at least three feet of ground placed on top of the shelter to dispel the radiation. This type of fallout shelter can either be constructed out of concrete block walls two layers thick and filled in with dirt and/or rubble or you can purchase a galvanized corrugated steel pipe of the type used in highway construction for road underpasses. The steel pipe can usually be purchased from any steel distributor since it is a standard construction item. These types of shelters reduce your radiation contamination level to 1/1000th. Either of these shelters can be built for around $700. You might, however, want to hire a contractor to bulldoze the hole in which your shelter will be built rather than doing it by hand. They can also cover it up again when you’re finished. Keep in mind, however, that both of these shelters will need a hand-powered blower to ventilate the shelter. The blower must be hand-powered since your electricity may go out.

Once you get your shelter up, you must stock it with the essential items that will keep you warm, fed, comfortable and entertained for at least a two week period. Water is your most important priority since you can survive for weeks without food, but only days without water. Water should be stored in tightly sealed containers. Water drawn from deep wells and underground reservoirs will also be safe and uncontaminated. Food should be canned or packaged although you may eat fresh fruit or vegetables as long as you peel them first. Make sure you have a sufficient supply of batteries for your flashlights and radios since electricity will probably be unavailable. Put away plenty of warm blankets, changes of clothes and games to occupy your time.

If you happen to be caught outside without warning during an attack, cover your eyes by burying your head in your arms or clothing and block out as much of the flash as possible. DO NOT LOOK AT THE FLASH! It may last for several seconds, so stay in position until it dims.
A shockwave will follow the blast, so take shelter where you will be safe from being knocked down or being hit with falling debris. If you are in your car, the engine will probably stop and you should roll down the windows to avoid flying glass and lie on the floor. If the blast is close (which can be determined by counting the number of seconds between the flash and the shockwave then dividing them by five to give you the number of miles), get to your shelter immediately, remove your clothes and rinse off your skin and especially your hair. If the blast was far enough away that you think you have a little time before the fallout reaches you (fallout will travel at least a mile in three minutes), turn off the electrical appliances in your home to deter fire. Next, close your windows and doors, shut off your gas lines, furnaces and heaters then turn off your water heater so that the water supply will be cut before its contaminated.

Keep in mind that radiation quickly loses its ability to do you harm. Seven hours after the original attack, it is only at 1/10th of its former strength. You may be able to leave your shelter after several days for short periods of time to get extra supplies, but you should wait for official instructions over one of the two Conelrad frequencies (640 or 1240) before you do so. It’s not worth risking radiation poisoning, the symptoms of which are nausea, fatigue and fever. If you have been contaminated by fallout, however, the best first aid is hot tea or a solution of baking soda for the nausea and aspirin for the fever. If you’ve only gotten a mild dose of radiation you can recover from the sickness as you recover from a cold. It is not contagious, however, and no one should be prevented from entering a shelter because they’ve been exposed.

The threat of a nuclear bombing is something that every American should take seriously. It’s a horrific thing to contemplate, but unfortunately it is the reality of the time period in which we live. Planning, preparation and American ingenuity, however, will go a long way towards minimizing the catastrophic loss of life that will occur if we do not take care. Every American family that builds a fallout shelter will be contributing to the nation’s total defense and will provide a deterrent for the enemy. For, if we make the U.S. so strong it cannot be destroyed by nuclear war, the enemy may never attack. So, pitch in and do your part. Protect your family today.