Prepping for Thermonuclear War.

[Steve_L]

North Korea is on the war path... literally. And Red China is their ally.

And Much of the Middle East wants us to take out Iran's nuclear weapon's making capacity.

Wikileaks shows that things were pretty tense between the US and Pakistan, and Pakistan has nuclear weapons and the capacity to deliver them by ICBM.

Looks to me that the threat of nuclear attack is greatest now since the fall of the Soviet Union. As pointed out in "Nuclear War Survival Skills", even a nuclear war that doesn't involve us like one between India and Pakistan (and they've came close to war in the past) would ruin our day here in the US with fallout.

Maybe it is time to prep for nuclear war.

[cartershan]

Thats some scary stuff. Stuff that we do need to really think about. Thats what worries me the most. The issues that I can't prep or fight my way through to protect my family. Shannon

[patience]

Steve_L,

I know you are right. Maybe I'm just too old to worry about it. I did long ago, and may have a couple books around still, but I don't think I WANT to live through that.

Ain't it amazing how stupid the human race can be? Dog-in-the-manger stuff. If some people can't have their way, they don't mind screwing up the whole planet so NOBODY can live on it. Got their heads where the sun don't shine. Need a window in their belly so they can see where they're going, huh?

I looked at this many years ago (when I still thought I was 10 feet tall and bulletproof), and thought I could figure out how to survive through the worst of the radiation, but couldn't afford it then. I think it would take a big budget to make that work.

What would concern me more is what happens later. Will flora and fauna survive? I think the answers depend on where you are when it goes down.

Come to think of it, I read a book that said, "Not a flood, but a fire next time" would be the end of us.

[Travis]

To me prepping for a nuclear war is futile. Look at what is going on at Bikini Atoll some 60 years later. IMHO if anybody sends a nuke the other countries will respond with a nuke. It will be like when we where kids and somebody hit your friend. North korea shoots South Korea so they respond with America. Then China gets in on it since America is helping. Then Iran sees there opening and lets loose and pretty soon is a free for all.

[cartershan]

Patience and Travis, you are both right IMO. No way you can fight that once it starts. Sorry, but it puts a damn damper on my day surely. We do the best we can here prepping for our future. I know we don't do enough. Have enough. But, we are getting there. Nuclear is not something we can prep for I don't think. Not successfully.

[Steve_L]

It isn't impossible to survive nuclear fallout. Here's a how to manual. Free.

http://www.nukepills.com/docs/nuclear_war_survival_skills.pdf

The book describes how to get people to survive. It doesn't discuss how to pick up and carry on a homestead afterwards.

It doesn't say bring some Dexter mini-cows, chickens, and rabbits into the fallout shelter. It doesn't say to cover up your garden area with a plastic tarp so you can wash the fallout off afterwards. And it doesn't say how to decontaminate your pasture or browse after it is safe to come out from the fallout shelter.

Gardens you can do. Greenhouses would be super at keeping nuclear fallout out of the soil. But pasture? Or your grain fields, How are you going to do that? I suppose you could just scrap off the top couple of inches of soil and hope it is good enough.

[krapgame]

What would concern me more is what happens later. Will flora and fauna survive? I think the answers depend on where you are when it goes down.

Look into Prypyat, Ukraine. It was the city downwind of Chernybol. Lots of good documentation on it. Much applies, much doesn't. I'm no nuclear scientist, so I can only try to relate what I've interpreted from the available information, and probably don't have any business even trying to do that. As far as the quantity of radiation it received, I think it would be very comparable to being a few miles downwind of a good sized nuclear warhead blast. As far as the type of radiation, I'm not so sure. My understanding is that the Chernobyl radiation was much dirtier than what would be delivered by an air burst modern weapon. My understanding is that modern nuclear weapons are relatively clean, in that they mainly generate shorter half-life radioactive isotopes.

Going on 25 years post-Chernobyl, Prypyat is still uninhabitable. It has cooled enough that they are able to make short trips into the city for tours and studies and such. The flora, by most pictures I've seen, appears to be recovering, however I believe that it's considered too contaminated still for use. Trees are contaminated to the point that burning them for firewood would just re-release the contaminants into the atmosphere and send the problem even further downwind. The ground passes its contamination to each successive crop of annual plants, which in turn pass them on to whatever consumes them. The contamination continues to leach into the groundwater as well as lakes and ponds. The fauna still shows some abnormalities associated with radiation induced DNA damage, but seem to be selectively breeding the abnormalities out of their species quite naturally. Seems that animals don't want to be friends with someone who is different either.

My understanding is that the more "sophisticated" countries worked to develop nuclear weapons technologies that concentrated more on isotopes that deteriorate very quickly so that the affected area can be more quickly occupied by the conquering forces. Much of a nuclear warhead contamination will deteriorate substantially in 100 or so days, compared to the strontium 90 and caesium 137 isotopes released by Chernobyl that have a half life of about 30 years. Unfortunately, the countries that are most likely to use nukes today I believe lack much of that sophistication. Partly because the dirtier technologies are cheaper and easier to process, and partly because they don't possess the technology to process the cleaner nuclear fuels.

Based on this, and assuming that it's even close to correct, the answer is that it depends on who develops the nuke that affects you. If any of the propaganda is believable, almost any nuclear weapon detonation would be preferable to a nuclear power plant detonation.

There was a British TV drama in the 80's that touched on the theme of existence beyond a nuclear exchange, called "Threads." It's on Youtube and I recommend giving it a watch. WARNING: It is DARK. Makes "The Day After" look like a Disney movie. I think it represents the feelings of what everyone here is expressing. I accept no responsibility if you watch it and walk around in a funk for several days (like I did). Where American films tend to be a bit more optimistic and tend toward a happy ending where everyone works together to overcome adversity (The Day After), the Brits seem to be more pragmatic about it and reflect more true human nature coming to surface.

All things considered, I think it probably better to be among the ones who vaporize instantly. Slim Pickens probably had the right idea.

[Steve_L]

I never understood the desire to be vaporized should a nuclear war start. I can't give up like that. Not for me, and especially not for my children.

[CapeCMom]

I'm with you on this one Steve. I want to survive. The human race has to start again if something like that happens. I want my kids to be part of that rebuilding.

We've thought about this some lately as well-I guess you can't help it with the news lately.
There are lots of good websites about how you can set up shelters and such. These web sites also have typical wind patterns for fall out.

Krapgame, from what I understand you are right-the radiation that comes from a nuclear warhead is MUCH different in the severity of the radiation from a nuclear plant meltdown.
A warhead's radiation breaks down much faster than the radiation from a place like Chernobyl.

Some info I found-


Nuclear Radiation

The release of radiation is a phenomenon unique to nuclear explosions. There are several kinds of radiation emitted; these types include gamma, neutron, and ionizing radiation, and are emitted not only at the time of detonation (initial radiation) but also for long periods of time afterward (residual radiation).
Initial Nuclear Radiation

Initial nuclear radiation is defined as the radiation that arrives during the first minute after an explosion, and is mostly gamma radiation and neutron radiation.

The level of initial nuclear radiation decreases rapidly with distance from the fireball to where less than one roentgen may be received five miles from ground zero. In addition, initial radiation lasts only as long as nuclear fission occurs in the fireball. Initial nuclear radiation represents about 3 percent of the total energy in a nuclear explosion.

Though people close to ground zero may receive lethal doses of radiation, they are concurrently being killed by the blast wave and thermal pulse. In typical nuclear weapons, only a relatively small proportion of deaths and injuries result from initial radiation.
Residual Nuclear Radiation

The residual radiation from a nuclear explosion is mostly from the radioactive fallout. This radiation comes from the weapon debris, fission products, and, in the case of a ground burst, radiated soil.

There are over 300 different fission products that may result from a fission reaction. Many of these are radioactive with widely differing half-lives. Some are very short, i.e., fractions of a second, while a few are long enough that the materials can be a hazard for months or years. Their principal mode of decay is by the emission of beta particles and gamma radiation.

Here is a great website that deals with survival-I think it's been posted before but it is good for the newcomers on the board. It's pretty comprehensive.

http://www.ki4u.com/survive/index.htm

For those of you who can watch videos, there was a show on Spike TV that dealt with surviving different scenarios. The one on a nuclear explosion was excellent.

The one on a nuclear explosion is the third one down.

http://www.spike.com/show/33200?tabId=33737&fxn=getTabMembers

[BWHLover]

I'm with you on this one Steve. I want to survive. The human race has to start again if something like that happens. I want my kids to be part of that rebuilding.

We've thought about this some lately as well-I guess you can't help it with the news lately.
There are lots of good websites about how you can set up shelters and such. These web sites also have typical wind patterns for fall out.

Krapgame, from what I understand you are right-the radiation that comes from a nuclear warhead is MUCH different in the severity of the radiation from a nuclear plant meltdown.
A warhead's radiation breaks down much faster than the radiation from a place like Chernobyl.

Some info I found-


Nuclear Radiation

The release of radiation is a phenomenon unique to nuclear explosions. There are several kinds of radiation emitted; these types include gamma, neutron, and ionizing radiation, and are emitted not only at the time of detonation (initial radiation) but also for long periods of time afterward (residual radiation).
Initial Nuclear Radiation

Initial nuclear radiation is defined as the radiation that arrives during the first minute after an explosion, and is mostly gamma radiation and neutron radiation.

The level of initial nuclear radiation decreases rapidly with distance from the fireball to where less than one roentgen may be received five miles from ground zero. In addition, initial radiation lasts only as long as nuclear fission occurs in the fireball. Initial nuclear radiation represents about 3 percent of the total energy in a nuclear explosion.

Though people close to ground zero may receive lethal doses of radiation, they are concurrently being killed by the blast wave and thermal pulse. In typical nuclear weapons, only a relatively small proportion of deaths and injuries result from initial radiation.
Residual Nuclear Radiation

The residual radiation from a nuclear explosion is mostly from the radioactive fallout. This radiation comes from the weapon debris, fission products, and, in the case of a ground burst, radiated soil.

There are over 300 different fission products that may result from a fission reaction. Many of these are radioactive with widely differing half-lives. Some are very short, i.e., fractions of a second, while a few are long enough that the materials can be a hazard for months or years. Their principal mode of decay is by the emission of beta particles and gamma radiation.

Here is a great website that deals with survival-I think it's been posted before but it is good for the newcomers on the board. It's pretty comprehensive.

http://www.ki4u.com/survive/index.htm

For those of you who can watch videos, there was a show on Spike TV that dealt with surviving different scenarios. The one on a nuclear explosion was excellent.

The one on a nuclear explosion is the third one down.

http://www.spike.com/show/33200?tabId=33737&fxn=getTabMembers

CapeCMom,

Thanks for the links.

[grumble]

I don't want to sound too flip about this, but if India and Pakistan had a nuke exchange, the main impact on most of us here would be that the big company customer service call centers might not answer their phones.

Even with a ground impact, anyone more than a hundred miles from it would be mostly unaffected.

From what I understand, those two countries, combined, have less than 100 warheads, and none would be very large, more on the order of a megaton or less. Further, it is highly unlikely that they would expend their entire nuclear arsenal in a war, even if they had that much throw weight capability.

North Korea isn't a nuclear threat to the world, unless your world happens to include Japan or South Korea.

Same for Iran, right now. Their threat only extends to about a 1500 mile radius.

The threat to us isn't the nukes or the radiation, it is the political and economic ramifications.

There's a lot to worry about and prepare for. A nuclear holocaust should be fairly low on your list of priorities.

[CapeCMom]

Al Queda has actively expressed interest and has the funding to acquire suitcase nukes so it is not out of the realm of possibility that one might be detonated here. Yes the damage would mostly be regional with a small scale device-but if you are downwind from major cities like I am we have definitely taken this scenario into consideration. I think you are right with all out thermonuclear war, but in total preparedness, it is not something that you can discount entirely.

[Steve_L]

I don't want to sound too flip about this, but if India and Pakistan had a nuke exchange, the main impact on most of us here would be that the big company customer service call centers might not answer their phones.

Even with a ground impact, anyone more than a hundred miles from it would be mostly unaffected.

From what I understand, those two countries, combined, have less than 100 warheads, and none would be very large, more on the order of a megaton or less. Further, it is highly unlikely that they would expend their entire nuclear arsenal in a war, even if they had that much throw weight capability.

North Korea isn't a nuclear threat to the world, unless your world happens to include Japan or South Korea.

Same for Iran, right now. Their threat only extends to about a 1500 mile radius.

The threat to us isn't the nukes or the radiation, it is the political and economic ramifications.

There's a lot to worry about and prepare for. A nuclear holocaust should be fairly low on your list of priorities.
This is discussed in Chapter 18 "Trans Pacific Fallout" of Nuclear War Survival Skills. They used the Chinese Lop Nor nuclear test of 1967. The US was covered with measurable amounts of radiation, 6 times that released by the Three Mile Island accident. This was a 300 kTon bomb.

From this data, it was estimated that nuclear exchange on other other side of the Pacific of 200-300 Megatons would result in tens of thousands of Americans getting thyroid injuries. The lesson here is, stock up on Potassium Iodide.

http://beprepared.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_MF%20T101_A_name_E_Iosat%20Pota ssium%20IodideTablets

[grumble]

Ha! Six times more than the almost NOTHING released from TMI? Har! YGBSM.

If you ever eat an occasional Big Mac or any canned/processed food, you have all the iodized salt you need to prevent any thyroid damage from radiation.

Seriously, folks, we're being bombarded by radiation constantly, and seem to survive just fine. Power lines, medical x-rays, and the sun all produce measurable radiation FAR in excess of anything you can get from even the dirtiest nuke on the far side of the Pacific.

If you're within a hundred miles of a nuclear event, then sure, take precautions. If you're within 50 miles, stay inside, and seal your windows for a week. If you're closer than that, get upwind and try to see a doctor (but good luck on that!).

By far, the greatest danger of nuke radiation is fear.

[Nancymw]

I agree with Steve - A nuclear event be it dirty bomb, emp or regular - it is something you need to prepare for - you can survive. You must do it for your kids and grandkids. Never give up and pray always. Do the research - the website mentioned by Capemom is a great one
http://www.ki4u.com/survive/index.htm

[Steve_L]

Actually, it is impossible to get the required Iodine from iodized salt:
http://www.ki4u.com/#6
According to Morton Salt:

"Each 1/4 teaspoon serving of Morton Iodized Salt (1.5 gram weight) contains 130 MICROGRAMS of Potassium Iodide."

Thus, to achieve an intake of 130 MILLIGRAMS of Potassium Iodide (what one KI adult dose tablet contains) would require ingesting 250 teaspoons or over 5 cups of iodized salt per day! Don't even think about it! (Morton Lite Salt Mixture comes in lower yet, at only 90 MICROGRAMS of Potassium Iodide per 1/4 teaspoon!) "

Just saying it may be worth having some KI around.

[grumble]

Sure, preps of any kind are worth having. If anyone is really concerned about nuclear fallout, the KI is something that should ease your mind. Just don't go taking it unless you're pretty durn sure it will do more good than harm. Chances are, though, that if you get enough radiation to need the KI, you'll already be beyond the point where it will do any good at all. Carrying a dosimeter and gasmask might be more useful. Radioactive particles on the skin can be washed off, but those inhaled or ingested can do a lot of damage. IF enough is there to do any harm at all.

Just about any disaster is survivable for those who are ready. The problem is how to be ready for EVERYTHING. My point is just that people should priortize what they think is the greatest danger to the lesser danger, and prepare accordingly. I consider a nuclear exchange on the far side of the Pacific to be pretty far down on the priority list.

Imagine if those volcanoes a month ago spewed radioactive dust. How much of that affected us here in the States?

[krapgame]

Correct me unless I'm wrong, but the way potassium iodide works is that it saturates the thyroid gland with stable iodide in an attempt to prevent the thyroid from absorbing and accumulating as much radioiodine, correct? From what I read, it should be taken prior to exposure, with enough time to metabolize and reach the thyroid before the radioiodine does. I don't know what that amount of time is, but I'm betting that if you see the mushroom, it'll already be too late. Yeah, I know the exposure is cumulative over a period of time, so it's probably better than doing nothing. Remember though, this is information propagated by the govt., the same ones who said that duck and cover would save you from a nuclear blast. Right.....

The primary purpose of KI is to prevent thyroid cancer, and I can't tell that it will protect against any other kind of radiation effects, nor any other cancers. I understand that thyroid cancer is a significant concern, and not saying it not worth having on hand, nor that I wouldn't take it in that situation. Just saying that it's not a panacea. Also worth pointing out that most salts, taken in large quantities over extended periods of time may be linked to stomach and other digestive cancers, though the thyroid protection benefit probably outweighs the risk of this pretty significantly.

[cuppajoe]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQo0BQM3OlQ

Threads...all parts.

Well worth viewing in a different view of world events in the 80's

I watched it and I must say people in urban areas are gonna be FUBAR! This situation would apply to any sort of a bio,chem,rad, disease or just unrest period....spooky stuff.

[krapgame]

I never understood the desire to be vaporized should a nuclear war start. I can't give up like that. Not for me, and especially not for my children.

For my part, I wouldn't call it a "desire" to be vaporized. I want to carry on as much as anyone but I guess it would depend on the scenario. If there were any kind of odds that one could reassemble a quality of life, even if it were several years out, yeah, count me in. I like a challenge. However, faced with the prospect of a slow death by starvation or some incurable disease with absolutely no hope of anything good coming from it vs. a comparatively quick painless one by vaporization, just as well get it over with and be done. Not so much for me directly as much as to avoid having to watch my family go through it. That'd be tough. I want my family to live, but I don't want them to have to suffer needlessly. What's the Japanese expression, if your opponent is bigger and stronger and there's no way to defeat him, learn to die well?

All that being said, we'll continue to make plans to get through it as best we can. Just giving up doesn't sound like much of a plan to me.

[cartershan]

Ok. I certainly did not mean to give the impression that I would not prep for a nuclear event. Sorry that I sounded like I would give up and throw my family to wolves. That is not the case. shannon

[CarolAnn]

I'll never forget the woman in the grocery store about a mile from my earth sheltered home in Arkansas saying "if we have a nuclear war, my husband and I are taking your house." Apart from my shock that she'd discuss such a thing and then TELL me about it, I recovered enough to explain it was ventilated way too well to be a bomb shelter. It DID drive home the fact that whatever preps you make (or that people THINK you have) can make you less safe if others know anything about it.

I don't live there any more, but if I did, I'd have a special bit of lead waiting for anyone who intended to "take" my home from me in an event like that. Grrrrrrr!

[cuppajoe]

Yes...I agree...grrrr

I havent told much of any family where exactly or what exactly we have or dont have. Thats under the ''nunya'' category. I figure if they were/are too damn dumb to see through the smoke and mirrors then I really have virtually no compassion, sorry if that sounds crass, but I have to think about my immediate family of wife and son and the concerns of their well being. I dont have a helluva lot but I am fixed better than 80% of the American population. If in a year things go to hell in a handbasket I will be glad I acted now when it does happen.

Its just inevitable that something drastic happens in this country either by foreign or domestic threats. I am hoping it will turn around but thats a fairytale story with puppydogs and rainbows. The harsh reality is the unknown entities that are waiting in the shadows to do their deeds and bring the country to its knees. I just hope I am worthy to survive.

[CapeCMom]

The emergency preparedness people in your area who run the Emergency Broadcast system will instruct you when to take your PI. If something like a detonation happens you need to turn on your radios/tv's if they are still working. They will track the fallout also. If you take shelter in your home and go into the basement you should either have a radio with you or leave the radio on upstairs with the volume cranked up so that you can hear their instructions. They will also tell you when the radiation levels have settled. We have been through these drills/instructions here because of our proximity to the Plymouth Nuclear Power Plant. Fortunately for us, we have gotten free PI from our Town-including enough for the dogs. From what I understand PI is useful because radiation tends to accumulate in that organ more than any other organ in your body and the PI will help shield you from that saturation. Yes, you could still get cancer down the road in other parts of your body but the immediate danger is from your thyroid.

I think it might be helpful if you are concerned about this scenario that you make a priority list. What is the first thing I should do-2nd etc-because let's face it-even if you have a plan in mind a stressful situation like that will make you forget everything you had planned on doing.

[rAcErRicK]

Good info. CCM, thank you for it. :)

[Steve_L]

In the specific example I gave, there would be a nuclear exchange on the other side of the Pacific ocean. You would have days to prepare, and most of the fallout would be reduced by decay to radioactive iodine.

Yes, you would have time to take KI. The fallout would take days to get here.

Yes, it would be the major problem you face. Radioactive Iodine (and strontium) enters the food system and gets into your body. Unlike other fallout, it exposes you to alpha and beta particle radiation which is normally blocked by a few inches of air or even your skin.

The point being, the prospects of a nuclear exchange between India and Pakistan, or between the Koreas, or between Iran and Israel, is increasing. Not all the bombs are going to drop in your backyard, and this is something easily prepared for.

You may even want to consider making alterations to the root cellar to turn it into a really decent fallout shelter.

Sorry, the opportunity to go up in the fireball may not be given to you.

[wildturnip]

I've been thinking about this lately too. I downloaded and printed some articles from the website CapeCMom linked to. I think a corner of our basement could be fixed up pretty well.

One site I looked at and I don't remember which, listed likely targets state by state. Primary, secondary and tertiary targets. The closest one to us was a tertiary target in another state about 35 miles as the crow flies from us. I looked and looked to see what the effect would be 35 miles away but couldn't find any info that agreed.

[cuppajoe]

Where we are at now we have 3+ targets within 15 miles. THATS uncool for me to absorb. That is another reason we is headin out.

[CapeCMom]

I'm at ground zero-not much I can do about it-just hope they use a small one and the wind blows the other way.

[Mad_Professor]

A fallout shelter would double as a darn nice root cellar.

I've got plans for if i ever get to building the new barn...........

[S2man]

They cluster nuclear targets for defense purposes. I'm right on the edge of a cluster of red dots on the nuclear target maps. Oh well, we can't all move to Idaho.

Rather than an all out nuclear war, I think more likely is the possibility of a terrorist nation launching a couple of nukes from cargo ships on the coasts. And then, it would probably be EMP's. Every nuclear enemy we've had had EMP planned as first strike. I'm sure the terrorists have read that too.

I figure if fallout is the problem, we'll take the KI and seal off a corner of the basement with plastic and duct tape. But a $1000 air filtration system is WAY down on my wish list. Like grumble, I've got to prep for what I think is most likely to happen, first.

[CapeCMom]

Oh yeah me too s2man -just the basics in preparing. Who can afford that kind of stuff anyway? Reminds me too much of that old "Twilight Zone" episode where everyone was trying to get into that guy's bomb shelter when they thought that the nukes were going to start falling. Creepy.

We have set up an area in the prepping side of the basement. We store sleeping bags and have a table and chairs etc on that side. There is even a rug on the floor. All we would have to do is fill in the two window wells and it will be a fairly decent shelter. All of our food and water is there. paper plates/utensils/-extra can opener. There are two floors above that so it would be a fair shield but not great-but far better than nothing.

[wildturnip]

We have set up an area in the prepping side of the basement. We store sleeping bags and have a table and chairs etc on that side. There is even a rug on the floor. All we would have to do is fill in the two window wells and it will be a fairly decent shelter. All of our food and water is there. paper plates/utensils/-extra can opener. There are two floors above that so it would be a fair shield but not great-but far better than nothing.

That's kind of what I had in mind too, except my space is full of "stuff" and needs to be cleaned out and organized. There are home made wooden shelves in the middle of the room with my proposed area on the North side and the freezer on the South side. We also have two floors above.

It's something I hope to work on now that harvest is nearly over.

[CapeCMom]

I have a little more to do myself but its getting there. I took some of things I organized and put them into totes and stacked then against the outside walls-more layers I guess! Someday I will put shelving there but for now it is good. On the prepping side we painted the walls with dri -lok then fastened that pink rigid insulation with construction adhesive, then we studded the walls and put up plywood and shelving units. There are totes all of the way up to the ceiling so the outside walls are pretty secure there. That is the side we will stay in if something happens. There is also a partition wall that separates the two sides. We also made a thick plywood door to fasten against the opening to the bulkhead. It also serves as security and a cold stop. The boiler is on that side too so the heat from the pipes-if the heat stays on that is- will keep us warm.

[NCLee]

Oh yeah me too s2man -just the basics in preparing. Who can afford that kind of stuff anyway? Reminds me too much of that old "Twilight Zone" episode where everyone was trying to get into that guy's bomb shelter when they thought that the nukes were going to start falling. Creepy.

Your "Twilight Zone" episode reminds me of one that's stuck in my head.

For some reason the earth was severely heating up. Constant daylight. Water disappearing. People sweating, etc. Throughout the episode it was apparent that life couldn't survive much longer as it kept getting hotter and hotter.

Closing scene. One of the characters woke up after his fever broke. It was dark and snowing outside. Doctor told him the worst of the illness was over. Doctor said he would be leaving and going to Florida to gain a few more months before the earth froze.

I think about that espisode, sometimes, when trying to figure out what we should do to better prepare for whatever the future may bring.

Unfortunately there isn't much we can do here beyond some of the basics on this topic, as we don't have a basement or root cellar. As I've mentioned before, was in the planning stages of jacking up our home and excavating a full basement when the economy took a nose dive. Money for that disappeared from our retirement accounts.

Two of the rooms that were to be in that basement was a root cellar on the northeast side and a safe room next to it. Stairs from upstairs would have come down beside the safe room for quick access to it. It was to be designed to withstand a tornado and be setup like the bomb shelters from the 50's.

Some of the things that we currently have in storage buildings would have had a better storage place. Folding cots are a good example. Even though we have them, they won't do us much good if we can't get to them or whatever causes the problem destroys them. This safe room would also have been the extra pantry space that we sorely need. Store extra water right where we may need to use it.

Oh, one other thing about that basement. It was to have a fully functional colonial kitchen, including a fireplace with cooking crane and hearth along with a built in brick oven. No need to go outside to build a fire, if cooking with wood is our only option. Enough wood to last at least a week or more was part of the design. Metal wood racks from just above the floor and almost to the ceiling can be "walls" to separate other sections of the basement. (Off the floor due to termites.)

Thought I'd share that TV episode and some of my dream basement plans as they seem to be applicable, for several reasons, in this thread. Hope someone can gleen something useful from these thoughts.

Lee