I have read some reports that state if you can stay indoors for the first 2 or 3 days, with windows covered with plastic and some other precautions, you substantially reduce your exposure to fallout. In long run may not change the inevitable health issues, but it is better than getting an an alert and attempting to evacuate where you get stuck on a road with other people and full exposure.
I think it is good to be prepared with water, food and medical supplies to shelter in place regardless—esp. in Alaska.
This is somewhat true. In the 60s, our eighth grade teacher taught civil defense classes, and he spent a week teaching his students about it.
Hubby also taught civil defense. Any shelter is better than no shelter, but you can make an improvised fallout shelter even just using stuff you have on hand-beyond just covering windows and doors.
In one example I remember a makeshift shelter in a basement corner, They stacked all sorts of stuff on top of a table. The filled the drawers of several chests and put them against the table, leaving an opening to enter. They closed the opening after entering by stacking up concrete blocks. Sat on cushions on the floor, I guess.
If you live at least 25 miles away from the epicenter, chances are decent for survival. It is advised to stay in your shelter for at least two weeks. Then, you can go out for limited periods to restock, take out the porta potty, etc. Make sure to change clothes before going back into shelter, or wear a disposable cover before going out.
Potassium Iodide Tablets should be right up towards the top of your list. Canned foods will still be good-you just have to clean them off, before opening. Even a banana is good-clean it off before peeling. If space is limited, stock the shelter with enough food, water, and potty provisions for 2 weeks, and plan on restocking from your pantry/storage area.
I think it’s criminal, that the Government has spent lots of taxpayer money for their own shelters, but basically just quit doing anything for citizens.
Several pamphlets shown here with pics of various ways to set up shelters.
http://www.ballew.org/homeland/fallout.html
This one looks like they used sandbags.
https://www.archives.gov/files/education/lessons/fallout-docs/images/shelter-drawing.gif
“I think it is good to be prepared with water, food and medical supplies to shelter in place regardless—esp. in Alaska.”
When I lived there, many of the people are prepared with emergency stashes of everything, anyhow. If you live even a little bit remote, which is just about everywhere, even if just a couple miles out of town, it could br critical during weather issues.
Also, a lot of people learned to do this after the ‘64 earthquake when they had no drinking water, and couldn’t buy food, for days. My aunt would fill used Clorox bottles with water and stash them, then re-fill them with fresh every month.
