In Time of Emergency by United States. Office of Civil Defense (book recommendations based on other books .TXT) 📖

added weight of the shielding (instead of using a beam and a screwjack column).

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The new wooden joists are cut to length and notched at the ends, then installed between the existing joists.

After plywood panels are screwed securely to the joists, bricks or concrete blocks are then packed tightly into the spaces between the joists. The bricks or blocks, as well as the joists themselves, will reduce the amount of fallout radiation penetrating downward into the basement.

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Approximately one-quarter of the total basement ceiling should be reinforced with extra joists and shielding material.

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Important: This plan (like Plan A) should not be used if 12 inches or more of your basement wall is above ground level, unless you add the "optional walls" inside your basement that are shown in the Plan A sketch.

Permanent Concrete Block or Brick Shelter Plan C

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This shelter will provide excellent protection, and can be constructed easily at a cost of $150 in most parts of the country.

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Made of concrete blocks or bricks, the shelter should be located in the corner of your basement that is most below ground level. It can be built low, to serve as a "sitdown" shelter; or by making it higher you can have a shelter in which people can stand erect.

The shelter ceiling, however, should not be higher than the outside ground level of the basement corner where the shelter is located.

The higher your basement is above ground level, the thicker you should make the walls and roof of this shelter, since your regular basement walls will provide only limited shielding against outside radiation.

Natural ventilation is provided by the shelter entrance, and by the air vents shown in the shelter wall.

This shelter can be used as a storage room or for other useful purposes in non-emergency periods.

A PREPLANNED BASEMENT SHELTER. If your home has a basement but you do not wish to set up a permanent-type basement shelter, the next best thing would be to arrange to assemble a "preplanned" home shelter. This simply means gathering together, in advance, the shielding material you would need to make your basement (or one part of it) resistant to fallout radiation. This material could be stored in or around your home, ready for use whenever you decided to set up your basement shelter.

Here are two kinds of preplanned basement shelters. If you want to set up one of these, be sure to get the free plan for it first by writing to Civil Defense, Army Publications Center, 2800 Eastern Blvd. (Middle River), Baltimore, Md. 21220. Mention the full name of the plan you want.

Preplanned Snack Bar Shelter Plan D

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This is a snack bar built of bricks or concrete blocks, set in mortar, in the "best" corner of your basement (the corner that is most below ground level). It can be converted quickly into a fallout shelter by lowering a strong, hinged "false ceiling" so that it rests on the snack bar.

When the false ceiling is lowered into place in a time of emergency, the hollow sections of it can be filled with bricks or concrete blocks. These can be stored conveniently nearby, or can be used as room dividers or recreation room furniture (see bench in sketch).

Preplanned Tilt-Up Storage Unit Plan E

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A tilt-up storage unit in the best corner of your basement is another method of setting up a "preplanned" family fallout shelter.

The top of the storage unit should be hinged to the wall. In peacetime, the unit can be used as a bookcase, pantry, or storage facility.

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In a time of emergency, the storage unit can be tilted so that the bottom of it rests on a wall of bricks or concrete blocks that you have stored nearby.

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Other bricks or blocks should then be placed in the storage unit's compartments, to provide an overhead shield against fallout radiation.

The fallout protection offered by your home basement also can be increased by adding shielding material to the outside, exposed portion of your basement walls, and by covering your basement windows with shielding material.

You can cover the above-ground portion of the basement walls with earth, sand, bricks, concrete blocks, stones from your patio, or other material.

You also can use any of these substances to block basement windows and thus prevent outside fallout radiation from entering your basement in that manner.

• A PERMANENT OUTSIDE SHELTER. If your home has no basement, or if you prefer to have a permanent-type home shelter in your yard, you can obtain instructions on how to construct several different kinds of outside fallout shelters by writing to the U.S. Office of Civil Defense, Department of Defense, Washington, D.C. 20310. There is no charge for these.

When To Leave Shelter

You should not come out of shelter until you are told by authorities that it is safe to do so. Special instruments are needed to detect fallout radiation and to measure its intensity. Unless you have these instruments, you will have to depend on your local government to tell you when to leave shelter.

This information probably would be given on the radio, which is one reason why you should keep on hand a battery-powered radio that works in your shelter area.

If you came out of shelter too soon, while the fallout particles outside were still highly radioactive, you might receive enough radiation to make you sick or even kill you.

Remember that fallout particles can be seen, but the rays they give off cannot be seen. If you see unusual quantities of gritty particles outside (on window ledges, sidewalks, cars, etc.) after an attack, you should assume that they are fallout particles, and therefore stay inside your shelter until you are told it is safe to come out.

Chapter 5 IMPROVISING FALLOUT PROTECTION SUMMARY

Before an emergency

1. If there is no public fallout shelter near your home and you have decided not to prepare a permanent or preplanned shelter in your basement or yard, make sure that you have on hand now the materials and tools needed to improvise an emergency shelter at home. These would include shielding material (for an inside shelter), and lumber and a shovel (for an outside shelter).

During an emergency

1. If you have no better shelter to go to, improvise an emergency shelter at home.

2. Usually, the best place for an improvised shelter would be in your basement or storm cellar.

3. If you don't have a basement or storm cellar, you might be able to improvise a shelter in the crawl space under your house, outside in your yard, or (as a last resort) on the ground floor of your house. In some places, a boat would provide some fallout protection.

IMPROVISING FALLOUT PROTECTION

If an enemy attack should occur when you are at home, and you have made no advance shelter preparations, you still might be able to improvise a shelter either inside or outside your house. In a time of emergency, the radio broadcasts may tell you whether you have time to improvise a shelter or should take cover immediately.

An improvised shelter probably would not give you as much protection as a permanent or a preplanned family shelter, but any protection is better than none, and might save your life.

The best place to improvise a shelter would be the basement or storm cellar, if your home has one.

Shielding Material Needed

To improvise a shelter you would need shielding materials such as those mentioned on page 25--concrete blocks, bricks, sand, etc. Other things could also be used as shielding material, or to support shielding material, such as:

--House doors that have been taken off their hinges (especially heavy outside doors).

--Dressers and chests (fill the drawers with sand or earth after they are placed in position, so they won't be too heavy to carry and won't collapse while being carried).

--Trunks, boxes and cartons (fill them with sand or earth after they are placed in position).

--Tables and bookcases.

--Large appliances (such as washers and dryers).

--Books, magazines, and stacks of firewood or lumber.

--Flagstones from outside walks and patios.

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Improvising a Basement Shelter

Here are two ways of improvising fallout protection in the basement of a home:

Set up a large, sturdy table or workbench in the corner of your basement that is most below ground level.

On the table, pile as much shielding material as it will hold without collapsing. Around the table, place as much shielding material as possible.

When family members are "inside the shelter"--that is, under the table--block the opening with other shielding material.

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If you don't have a large table or workbench available--or if more shelter space is needed--place furniture or large appliances in the corner of the basement so they will serve as the "walls" of your shelter.

As a "ceiling" for it, use doors from the house that have been taken off their hinges. On top of the doors, pile as much shielding material as they will support. Stack other shielding material around the "walls" of your shelter.

When all persons are inside the shelter space, block the opening with shielding material.

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Using a Storm Cellar for Fallout Protection

A below-ground storm cellar can be used as an improvised fallout shelter, but additional shielding material may be needed to provide adequate protection from fallout radiation.

If the existing roof of the storm cellar is made of wood or other light material, it should be covered with one foot of earth or an equivalent thickness of other shielding material (see page 25) for overhead shielding from fallout. More posts or braces may be needed to support the extra weight.

After the roof has been shielded, better protection can be provided by blocking the entrance way with 8-inch concrete blocks or an equivalent thickness of sandbags, bricks, earth or other shielding material, after all occupants are inside the shelter. A few inches should be left open at the top for air. After particles have stopped falling, the outside door may be left open to provide better ventilation.

If shielding material is not available for the entrance way, shelter occupants should stay as far away from it as possible. They also should raise the outside door of the storm cellar now and then to knock off any fallout particles that may have collected on it.

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Using the Crawl Space Under Your House

Some homes without basements have "crawl space" between the first floor and the ground underneath the house. If you have this space under your house--and if the house is set on foundation walls, rather than on pillars--you can improvise fallout protection for your family there.

First, get access to the crawl space through the floor or through the outside foundation wall. (A trapdoor or other entry could be made now, before an emergency occurs.)

As the location for your shelter, select a crawl-space area that is under the center of the house, as far away from the outside foundation walls as possible.

Around the selected shelter area, place shielding material-- preferably bricks or blocks, or containers filled with sand or earth--from the ground level up to the first floor of the house, so that the shielding material forms the "walls" of your shelter area. On the floor above, place other shielding material to form a "roof" for the shelter area.

If time permits, dig out more earth and make the shelter area deeper, so you can stand erect or at least sit up in it.

Improvising an Outside Shelter

If your home has no basement, no storm cellar and no protected crawl space, here are two ways of improvising fallout protection in your yard:

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• Dig an L-shaped trench, about 4 feet