To save one's own life is not always the most important or valuable thing one can do. If one is able to help many others survive, in the accounting, one's soul may benefit far and above extending a  short-time alive or in comfort and safety. If the future falls out as a dream has portrayed for me, there do appear things that we can do to help as many as possible get through the immediate days ahead.  It will definitely not be an easy time, but if it helps towards seeing that being born into the earth is still an opportunity, even if one lets someone younger with procreation capability take one's place, surely it has been worth any effort or expense. This is how I feel about it anyway, at my own advanced tally of years. What I do now to help as many survive as possible actually may be for myself as well, in the long run. There are younger folk about that have not yet had their try at being stewards of the earthship than we have been. It is not just for this life alone I enjoy trying to find other ways of doing things that might be worth knowing and doing.  The children of the age of my grandsons may thank me for this, and when I am born again and look up to them as father, I might underneath it all realize the interconnection and underlying unity of everything. Besides, somehow I don't think I have learned all I can from the type of experiences possible in this earth, as much as a mixed bag of pleasures and displeasures it is.

Underground

The advantages to being underground, or at least sheltered by earth berming are almost too obvious and many to list. This is true for 'normal' times, but for periods of drastic weather, earthquake, and social disruption there can be little doubt about in which direction to build, up or down. Just three foot of earth, for example will decrease the short -lived gamma radiation from fall-out from a nuclear blast 1000 fold. A couple of weeks of such shelter, and it is again safe to return to the open air. Shelter from the blast itself is possible, even within the ten mile radius of a nuclear bomb detonation if provision has been made for the intense pressures and heat. Free, excellent expertise and information on this topic is provided at  http://www.oism.org/nwss/ , originally published by Oak Ridge national Laboratory, a facility of  the U.S. Department of Energy. Hopefully this will not be one of the cataclysmic events we need be prepare for, but being prepared for this extremity would go a long way toward being prepared for other possible eventualities of greater or lessor violence and calamity.

A domed structure (the inverted bowl shape is as structurally sound as any other known shape ) underground is impervious to very high winds, on the order of 200-300 miles per hour and above, very strong earthquakes since there is no foundation to fall off of and the surrounding earth moves with the structure, fire, radiations of various types and many other possible calamities. But all this is just the icing on the cake, since there are so many advantages to both the earth and mankind, living in such structures.  One can even look to the government to list some of these , as well as some disadvantages, all of which can be designed and built around.   There are lot's of sites touting the advantages of underground and earth bermed building.  One of these is  subsurfacebuildings.com The air in an underground shelter can be filtered in ways a standard structure cannot, and the structure can be made impervious to varmints and even insects which can spread disease in times of pandemics. Properly constructed, the earth-bank surrounding an underground structure can keep the temperature at a comfortable level year round without any heat or cooling resource. This is a very important factor particularly when going outside to gather wood or other fuel is not the thing to do.  A grotto room can even be dug off another room underground, where water can be drawn without being reliant on outside sources. If one is serious about providing high protection for ones loved one or anyone, one can provide sleeping areas underground which have access to all survival needs such as food and water. Underground habitat does not have to be a dark, dank, cave-like structure, and can be ascetically pleasing and even well lit. A good strategy is to have different levels and degrees of earth shelter protection. One area might be completely above ground, well supplied with windows, another half below and half above grade with sky lighting or suntubes, and a lower area completly surrounded by earth for sleeping, a 'bed womb' as someone more clever than I has suggested. This area should also have ready access to storage areas for food and water, or it's own well or grotto room. In this way, the inhabitants have one third less probability of being exposed to whatever might occur. Links: http://www.earthshelters.com/ http://www.motherearthnews.com/Alternative-Energy/2003-02-01/Down-to-Earth-Homes.aspx http://www.villageearth.org/pages/Projects/Pine_Ridge/SustainableHousing/Earth.htm http://www.eere.energy.gov/consumer/your_home/designing_remodeling/index.cfm/mytopic=10100 http://www.everything.newlibertyvillage.com/libertyhomes.htm

 

Below are a few photos and drawings of  a combo tool/garden shed and an underground 5 x 9 storm shelter/root cellar  I have constructed this past year. It began mainly as an experiment, needing to know more about our fluctuating water table and how long wood structures will survive underground. Probably not long, but in the meantime, if one of these tornadoes actually touched down here that have been the subject of recent warnings it still may have been worth the healthy excercise. (There are few activities I enjoy more than working in the rockless soil of this locality). The stairway down into the underground shelter also serves as a cold sink for the greenhouse, and provides that some warmer air rises into the greenhouse on cold winter nights. I have yet to find ice in the greenhouse though no heater has yet been installed and the temperature has dropped to 15 degrees F. outside several times.