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
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.
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.
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.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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