Attention: Your Local Fallout Shelter May Not Be Safe

Since the very beginning of Money & Crisis, folks have been sending me emails and letters from every corner of the U.S.

There are people like Craig B. down in Tennessee who wants to know how to safely invest with another financial crisis on the horizon… 

There are inner-city folks like Robert M. and his wife, Margaret, in Baltimore, who want to know how to earn cash online in their free time.  

And there are some people, like 64-year-old Gracey B. in Texas, who just want “to say hi and thanks for the daily e-letters.” (Hi, Gracey!)

I try to respond directly to as many of your questions as I can… but there simply isn’t enough time in the day to get to them all.

That’s why we’ve created the Money & Crisis mailbag, where we’ll answer the best questions right here in one of our daily editions.   

You can get your questions featured by clicking here and sending me an email right now.

Gimme Shelter

I really enjoy reading all your articles. But I need to know where I can find a list of nearby fallout shelters. This seems like important information and I can’t find it anywhere! The news is full of distractions, with no info that actually helps taxpaying Americans! Where am I supposed to go in the event of an attack? 

— Stanley N.

Oh boy, Stanley. 

That is a good question… and I’m afraid I may not be able to give you a totally satisfying answer. 

But stick with me till the end of today’s letter and I’ll let you in on some of the ways savvy folks can navigate this big, messy situation. 

As a nation, we’ve collectively dropped the ball on our fallout shelter preparation.

Once upon a time, when the ever-present threat of the Cold War loomed large over the nation, the country was dotted with what the government called “designated fallout shelters.” 

By 1963, there were 18,000 designated shelter areas in New York City alone. Many of these “designated fallout shelters” are still there to this day… but they certainly aren’t what you or I would consider a shelter. 

Most are just windowless basements found by government scouts that were deemed “suitable” as a fallout shelter. 

They didn’t even bother to reinforce these basements or fill them with food or supplies. They just slapped a yellow sign that says “Fallout Shelter” on the wall and called it a day.

Even back then, actual fortified bunkers stocked with emergency supplies were rare (and reserved for high-ranking government officials). The vast majority of shelters had no beds, no food and no water. 

This was especially frustrating when you realize that it was common knowledge in the 1960s that the fallout from a nuclear blast was at its most dangerous the first two weeks after an attack. 

So the government was expecting taxpayers to pack into these empty basements with no food or water… for two weeks.

You know as well as I do that that would have been a death sentence. 

The Eisenhower administration had at one point considered a robust fallout shelter plan that would ensure the safety and health of any American who was forced to take shelter during an attack.

But it was going to be a large-scale operation and, more importantly, it was going to be expensive. When Eisenhower saw the $25 billion price tag, he came up with a “better idea.” 

“Build your own shelter, folks.”

And so began America’s shelter-building craze. 

Everybody and their dog were building home fallout shelters. Shelter building kits were advertised in magazines. Upmarket middle-class houses came with pre-made shelters in the basement. 

It’s long since fallen out of fashion. But to this day, building your own shelter is going to be your safest, most reliable option.

That is, unless you’re a three-star lieutenant general with a reservation in a government bunker.

Homefield Advantage

Home shelters have a few distinct advantages over public shelters:

1. They are close to home, where you spend the largest percentage of your time.

2. You marshal your own family’s safety without having to worry about less-prepared folks who may crack under the pressure and become violent.

3. You can ensure your shelter is fully stocked with everything you and your family need to survive two weeks or longer.

I actually have a buddy who knows a thing or two about building a homemade shelter. I might ask him to write a guest article on the subject and tell you everything he knows.

That said, I know everyone doesn’t have the space to build a fallout shelter. In that case, it might be worth your while to track down one of those old fallout shelters and keep a go-bag in your car with two weeks worth of supplies.    

While there is no federal inventory of remaining fallout shelters, you can still track them down by accessing local, state and federal public records and by asking knowledgeable people in your community. Call your community’s local historian. If you don’t know who that person is, ask someone at the local library.

Identify the shelters in your area and visit them in advance. Many of these basements have fallen into disrepair and are no longer suitable to take shelter in. 

I hope that helps, Stanley.

I’d love to hear from more of our readers. If you agree, disagree or have any topics you’d like us to investigate, you can email me right here. 

All the best,

Owen Sullivan
Editor, Money & Crisis

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