What to do during A NUCLEAR ATTACK, page 1

You would have time to prepare during a nuclear attack, unless it was a sneak attack via submarine. Maybe up to 30 mins. This is plenty of time to dig in and survive.

Yes, if you have enough people, and enough shovels, and a few strong wooden poles, you can build a shelter which will not only survive an airburst (not directly overhead, of course) but which will also shelter you from radiation. Not hard at all.

Heck, if you've got a basement, you can create a lean-to shelter easily. Why not have some cinder blocks stacked in the basement? In 30 mins you could stack them, build a strong roof and create much greater protection from radiation.

Understand something, my friends: You are valuable. Valuable not only to the ones you love, but to the government. To ANY government, including an invader of your post-nuke hellhole. Whomever finds you will probably have an incentive to help you get better because labor is always valuable. You should never lose hope of being rescued. You must try to stay alive as long as you can.

Casualties of nuclear war will be given high-priority for medical care, and there will be places that do not get hit, and which are nearby. Your chances of survival, if you survive the initial exchange, is very good, if you can remain shielded from radiation for a week at least. Preferably one month. You need three feet of dirt, or six inches of concrete, or two inches of steel between you and any irradiated matter. The Federal gum'mint grants every citizen the right to build a bomb-shelter without the need for a permit. Wood, I think has to be a foot thick to prevent radiation from penerating.

Think of radiation as like glowing light which you can't see. Radiation attaches to particles of something like dirt. Each little piece of dirt would sparkle and beam, if viewed with the right eyes. Those beams are deadly, over time. Anything that's in the path of the beam, will be irradiated, or basically cooked, until it is moved behind shielding of some kind. Also remember that water doesn't provide a foothold for radiation, so you need to filter out the irradiated particles of dirt, then it's safe.

So when the world outside is covered with irradiated particles, you need full shielding (six-inch concrete, etc) between you and the outside. You can make an entryway to the shelter, which has overlapping zig-zag pattern that will also be effective while allowing air in also. ALSO you will need ventilation, so why not stock up on one or two window-size filters so the you can ventilate your basement?

You can go outside into an irradiated world for a little while, maybe to make contact with other humans (or to look for clean water) and then get back under the shelter. It's no big deal, if you get used to living that way. The radiation is most deadly right after a nuke, of course, but those downwind will have much time to prepare before the fallout cloud descends upon them.

When you see a mushroom cloud on the horizon, you should know which way the wind blows, and unless you are sure it's blowing away from you, you should begin to prepare your shelter (dig in). Fleeing, at that point will almost certainly mean being hit by the cloud, or the effects of the paniced masses. Unless the roads are clear or you have a helicopter, better to realize that wind is on your side and that you'll only need to rough it for a little while. Digging in correctly will enable you to survive whereas running reduces your control of the situation.

Two weeks after nuclear war, there will be some kind of aid, on some level. Civilization would rebuild, and radiation would be dealt with. Babies will be born, who don't know any other world, and who are as happy as any other child.

That's how precious life is. Even if the worst happens, we scratch and claw to survive. Life is too important to do otherwise.

[edit on 29-3-2006 by smallpeeps]