6 Steps to Survive a Nuclear Bomb Attack

I’m receiving a lot of emails by people worried, all over the world regarding the issue with North Korea. First, lets try to be realistic about the potential striking range. For those of you in Europe worried about nuclear war, at this moment North Korea just doesn’t seem to have any way to strike a target that far away. At the most we’re looking at reaching Alaska and the west coast of continental US. Of course South Korea and Guam are well within reach, and this does not mean that smaller bombs cant be sneaked in by other methods, pretty much anywhere in the world, so while all things considered not a top priority, it can happen. Some will even say that a suitcase bomb or smaller dirty bomb being used in terrorist attacks is very much unavoidable and will end up happening eventually.

Even though an unlikely event, the anxiety and concern is understandable and as always knowledge not only helps calm our fears, it might be life-saving in such an event if it ever takes place.

1)You CAN survive a nuclear attack:  While very powerful, and even though within a certain range of one or two miles the destruction and fatality is almost complete, the further away you are from where the bomb exploded, the greater the chances of survival you have. For a 10 kiloton nuke, you’re looking at a fatality rate of 20% at an 8 mile radius. So unless you live close or within a major strategic target your chances aren’t that bad.

2)Don’t look at the explosion and breathe in and out: The explosion is so bright that it can blind you momentarily or permanently. Breathing in and out in short pulses will keep your air passages open and help protect your lungs and eardrums from the high pressure shockwave of the explosion. If you hold your breath your lungs can burst due to overpressure waves, causing internal bleeding and death. Pulmonary contusion is the most common cause of death due to blast (explosion) injuries. Find shelter or hit the floor if there’s no shelter near by.

3)Identify the Explosion area and Wind Direction: If you happen to survive the initial blast, and make it out of the fires and collapsed structures, you may have a chance of making it. If the overpressure shock, flying debris and heat didn’t kill you, now you have to worry about the radioactive fallout. You have between 10 and 20 minutes before the radioactive particles start falling. The wind will spread the fallout plume in the direction of the wind, so the fastest way to avoid fallout if the wind is blowing it your way is moving perpendicularly away from it. If you are lucky enough to survive and the wind isn’t blowing the ash your way, evacuate the area moving against the direction of the wind. The wind can change directions at any time but this is your safest bet. 

4)Cover up: While evacuating is your main priority if you are able to do so, you also want to cover as much as you can to avoid the contact with radioactive particles. Ideally you would have an NBC suit and respirator. If not you can somewhat improvise protection with rubber boots and gloves and waterproof clothing, using duct tape to close up the gaps. You should only remove these clothes after being decontaminated when you reach a safe area.

Gas Mask Complete Family Kit, Two (2) Adult+ Two(2) Children Survival Gas Masks, 4 NBC Filters, 4 Canteens , 4 Straws Plus Anti Radiation 20 Tablets of Potassium Iodide 130mg   $149.90

Dupont X-Large Yellow Tychem QC Chemical Protection Coveralls  $15.58

5)If you cant evacuate you should shelter in place: A basement or better yet a fallout shelter is the best place to be in. You need 3 feet of earth for protection against gamma rays. If you are in an apartment building, you want to be in the 9^th floor or higher, and stay in inner rooms, away from exterior walls for added protection. After 72hs radiation will go down considerably.

6) Plan ahead of time: This is the last but most important point. Know your situation. Know if you live in a potential target like a large metropolis or close to an important military base.  Know the predominant wind direction and think about how you would evacuate, which would be the fastest route and which would be the second best choice if that main route is packed with cars. Identify any nearby fallout or bomb shelters, check their operational status (if they are still open and working) or other improvised shelter like tunnels or underground structures in case you have to shelter in place. Ideally, you would have either a fallout shelter or an improvised shelter in your basement. Finally have your Standard Preparedness Supplies ready and organized so as to grab what you can and go as fast as possible. 

FerFAL

5 Tips to Prepare for a Cyprus-Type Event

1) Have your Standard Preparedness Supplies in Order: You’ll need food, water, means of self defense, medical care and shelter for a multitude of events and this is no different. Having food means you wont have to worry about running to the store to buy food for the next few days just when people’s accounts get frozen, credit cards are no longer accepted and cash is becoming scarce. Same goes for medicines you may need or fuel to move around. 

2) Have Cash. We’ve gone through this before. While a fiat currency can lose value very fast its unlikely that the Dollar or Euro will become worthless overnight. When banks close and ATM go empty, cash is king. Suppliers are scared and go for cash only, at times forcing retailers to do the same. This happens often with fuel during economic crisis. I recommend a minimum of one month worth of expenses in cash at hand.

3) Have Precious Metals. Gold and silver in well recognized coins. This is your insurance in case the fiat currency does go belly up eventually. Even if it doesn’t, while the currency loses value because of whatever is going on, your PM are safe from that devaluation. While the price of PM goes up and down, it always retains a somewhat similar purchasing value throughout history. 

4)  Buy a safe, then buy another one. If you think of it, its cheap insurance so as to keep your money safe in case of a break in, no pun intended. Most petty thieves looking for quick cash, cellphones or prescription drugs wont even know what to do and will leave the safe alone but as criminals notice that people keep more cash at home because of the distrust of banks, break ins and home invasions will become more common. A determined criminal will either steal the safe entirely or manage to open it using power tools. A second, very well hidden safe is the best way to increase the chances of keeping most of your savings safe. Do keep a bit of cash, cheap jewelry and other typical safe stuff just in case in your first “decoy” safe. 

SentrySafe SFW123DSB 1.23 Cubic Feet Combination Fire-Safe, Medium Grey $155.99
 

SentrySafe 7250 Waterproof Floor Safe, 540 Cubic Inches, Gray  $120.59
 

5) Off Shore Banking. No, you’re not Jason Bourne or 007, but even if you just have a couple hundred bucks in it, an account in another country gives you the choice of moving the money out of the local banking system. Maybe you don’t get the chance to transfer it, but what if you do? If you do see something fishy going on you can transfer it and maybe save your money. Nothing happens? No harm done, you just lose a couple bucks on the transfer fee. What you wont be able to do is open an account in just a day or two when you need it in a hurry. What country you ask ? Google up to find where the big fish keep theirs. Hopefully you have it and rarely move money to it. But having it gives you options, and options are always good to have.

FerFAL

Survival & Preparedness: Networking and Meeting Like-Minded People

Mortgages during and after an Economic Collapse?

Hi Fernando,

I read your book about 1.5 years ago and am begining to read it a second time.

One thing that I don't believe you cover is exactly what happens to mortgages and taxes during a collapse. If a large majority of people are unemployed do they let you remain in the home if you cannot pay your mortgage and property taxes?

I have been aquiring supplies for two years, but one thing I will not be able to do in the event of a collapse is to pay off my mortgage. Many of my supplies will not do much good if I am forced to become a nomad.

Thanks

Jim

Hi Jim, this question often comes up and I can see how it is a concern these days for most people.  Regarding taxes, like death, they are unavoidable, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned from Argentina and researching various other crisis around the globe is that taxes do go up, and they are almost entirely aimed at the middle class socioeconomic group.

Regarding mortgages in Argentina, certain laws were implemented to stop people from losing their homes, but it just worked in a smaller percentages of the cases. 

Poverty in USA

A law was passed, Ley 25.798, which gave you a year before you had to continue making your mortgage payments. The mortgage was updated to the current price of the property and monthly payments could not be greater than 25% of the family’s income. This only benefited those that had bought the property between January 2001 and September 2003, the property had to cost less than 100.000 USD or the equal amount converted to pesos and it had to be your only property, the one you live in. This of course meant that the law only benefited the lower income buyer, and only those that bought during that period of time. As for those not covered by this law, a thousand homes went under the hammer per month.

Here’s the link explaining all this but its in Spanish:

http://www.contactoprofesional.com/abogados/hipotecas.htm

What happens if you cant make the payments, mortgages or taxes? Accounts get frozen, and any money coming into your account is immediately taken to pay for those debts. You lose everything little by little and become poor or even fall below the poverty bracket into extreme poverty and indigence, losing it all and becoming homeless. That happened to hundreds of thousands. I know of several people that had to move back with their parents, other relatives of friends to live in their kitchens or living rooms for long periods of time, and those are the lucky ones. Those that didn’t have family to take them in, they ended up living on the streets.

FerFAL

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