chances of WW3?

[ukpreppergrrl]

I'm over 180 miles from Houses of Parliament, just googled, so if they did only target HOP/London and that was Ground Zero what are my odds on surviving if I hide me and the dog behind the sofa and cover the windows? and how long before we can crawl out to go pee? ..lol It like to be prepared for all eventualities!

You may not have to hide behind the sofa at all if the wind is blowing in the opposite direction! If it is blowing towards you, then it's 2 weeks. Distance doesn't change the length of the half life. It merely lessens the amount that may fall on you.

[katilea]

I'm over 180 miles from Houses of Parliament, just googled, so if they did only target HOP/London and that was Ground Zero what are my odds on surviving if I hide me and the dog behind the sofa and cover the windows? and how long before we can crawl out to go pee? ..lol It like to be prepared for all eventualities!

You may not have to hide behind the sofa at all if the wind is blowing in the opposite direction! If it is blowing towards you, then it's 2 weeks. Distance doesn't change the length of the half life. It merely lessens the amount that may fall on you.

Wish I'd paid more attention in geography at school! ... All I know is I'm 'up North' from London! ..I'm guessing if its blowing my way they'll be dust on the ground, if it isn't there won't be any dust outside at all? As someone previously said they may not warn the country beforehand via TV broadcasts to reduce the number of survivors.. for me to know which way the dust was heading based on the weather at that exact time. If I was already out on my scooter say walking the dog if an hypothetical nuke was dropped on London, would I feel anything this far away? like the ground suddenly shaking mini earthquake kind of thing? ..to know I should head back home straight away and take cover?


Thanks for all the info anyway the long post explaining the radius zones etc was very helpful I didn't know any of that (just in case) and if the govt aren't wanting too many survivors I doubt they'll be broadcasting any survival info to help those left! Just pray it never actually happens!

[itsybitsy]

Gotta be honest here. I certainly wouldn't be interested i surviving a nuclear attack on our country as I imagine the aftermath of that would be hell on earth. If we got to that situation where an attack was on its way, I'd grab a bottle of the strong stuff and a load of pills and prepare to make peace with my maker. That's my exit strategy.

[ukpreppergrrl]

Edited to add.... if its contact with the dust thats the issue, would my dog be safe going to pee under a car porch where the underneath was clear from dust? usually if it snows the snow is up the top of the drive and stops where the roof from the 'car porch' starts at the front..with a bit of snow round the edges where neighbours fence and my back fence is, so I'm assuming dust would settle the same??? (assuming there's no strong winds..in which case its like a wind tunnel under there!) The back garden would be covered in dust right up to the back door so I think my front room would be safer than my bedroom if its dust I'm trying to avoid. his old puppy pens/dog gates/the bins (which are well underneath and shouldn't get any dust on them) could be used to make 'walls' inside the underneath of the car porch where there was no dust for a 'toilet area' for him.

Wondering whether to splash out on one of those 25 yr emergency rations kits that could be eaten hot or cold in an emergency! ..as not sure gas camping stoves (camping bistro 300 stove I think) would be safe to use in a sealed room/den! ..the dog's got several months stash of kibble and treats so he's fine until the radiation risk is over (if it happened sooner rather than later)! Assuming it won't be safe to open the windows aren't we going to suffocate after 2 weeks in a sealed room??

First, please bear in mind I'm not an expert, I do encourage you to do your own research and come to your own conclusions. However...if it were me and my dog, I'd say no. Do not let him out. Do not open the door. You should look to setting up some sanitation system inside - you'll need it for yourself too as the toilets may not flush or be in a safe area of the house. Kitty litter, black bags, puppy pads etc.. It's not going to be a pleasant 2 weeks for anyone finding themselves under nuclear attack, but it's vital to expose yourself to as little dust as possible.

Unless your house is hermetically sealed, there will be air getting in. And with it some dust. The aim is to get as little dust as possible, but you won't eliminate it entirely unless you have a sealed room and a NCB air scrubber in in place! You should be very careful about what heating/cooking device you use so as to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning - I'd strongly suggest including a battery powered CO detector as part of your kit. So yes, food that can be eaten uncooked is a good idea.

[itsybitsy]

This is an interesting Q & A with the Royal United Services Institute, in particular the last question!

https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/mg44 ... -at-the-uk

What's in place for recovery, if anything? What measures will be taken in the aftermath of a nuclear strike?

Many people have said that the result of nuclear war would be so devastating that there is no way of facilitating a humanitarian response that would necessarily be sufficient in meeting those challenges.

[sniper 55]

Hypothetically...going by that video where they used doors covered with heavy fabrics etc...would I be safe behind a thick leather sofa, (if I found some way to make a 'roof' and cover it with foil) the wall behind it being the wall between the lounge and bedroom? There is a window in that room so I'd have to find a way to cover it (though the curtains are a thick heavy suede material if I could get them closed, usually leave them open as there's blinds also in that window) but the bedroom has a big door in (emergency fire exit to get out with wheelchair) which would be alot harder to cover and the curtains are a lighter cotton so maybe not offer as much protection? (no blinds in bedroom as its a back door and would be too much of a faff with having to let the dog out so often usually)

The only other place would be in the hallway with all the doors to the other room shut but of course the front door is at the end so I'd have to plug the gaps under it and the side where it locks (at the bottom) as for some reason when the wood shrinks it shrinks the most there! No idea how I'd build a den in there though. Other thought was to cover the dogs crates in foil and hide in there (he's got one wire, one fabric crate. I wouldn't be able to move the wire crate so we'd have to hide in the spare room where that is and block that window (which is the smallest window in the house, but very light cotton curtains, no lining) The lounge has the thickest curtains and blinds in that window and the big thick leather sofa to hide behind and the inner wall on the other side of me.

When I say foil I'm not thinking of aluminium foil you use for cooking I was wondering about those emergency foil blankets that have foil on one side.. what if I bought a load of large foil emergency blankets to cover the crates with for me and the dog to hide in one each? ..or if hiding behind the sofa... could make some kind of 'roof' with blankets then put the foil ones (foil side facing up towards the ceiling) on the top of the 'roof'. One side of us would be the inner wall (between lounge and bedroom) the other side of us would be the thick leather sofa (it is a big huge electric corner sofa, though of course I'd unplug it first before hiding behind it!)

Now say by some miracle me and the dog survived the initial nuking from hiding behind the sofa or something!... I'm guessing I wouldn't even be able to let him out for a quick pee under the car porch without us risking exposure to radiation? (making note to add large 'kitty litter tray' type thing to emergency supplies!) would it be safe to emerge from under the den to nip to the loo? to find some of food form emergency supplies? (in my bedroom wardrobe where the 'big back door' is)

This is probably a futile 'hypothetical' exercise if it really happened that fast but humour me here! This is a preppers forum after all, if you lot don't know.. no-one else will!

p.s this sounds daft but would it be safe to have the TV plugged in to be able to watch for any news (I need the subtitles as deaf and can't hear a radio) assuming anyone survived to be able to broadcast to tell any survivors what to do, where emergency supplies were being distributed , how to contact someone for help orwhen it was safe to come out etc). Would phone and broadband signals still work? or would I just have to sit tight and see if anyone more able survived who was coming round looking for survivors?

when would it be safe to leave our 'den' but not the house (to move around the house blocking other windows, to use the loo, to make food etc as doubt would get enough notice to do them all beforehand) when would it be safe to open the door to let the dog pee under the car porch quickly (on lead so he doesn't take so long) and how long would be safe ie less than 5 mins if he just runs to fences pee's then runs back in or after 2 weeks would it be safe to let him in the back garden to take his time or would it be safe after 2 weeks for us to venture out in the community to see if there were any other survivors? to see if I could get to my brothers house to see if he and his partner had survived? if he hadn't already made it to me by then).

I don't know anything about radiation but have brief memories of seeing a child running down a road (on TV) after the chernobyl incident and seeing a story of a guy who was still alive living in a high radiation area in one country (can't remember which now) cos he stayed behind to look after the animals when everyone else had evacuated, so if you survived the initial blast is there a chance that you would still live a while? (though possible having more chance of getting cancer?)

The original idea if I remember rightly was to place doors against the wall at an angle, cover with carpet and place bags of earth or heavy stuff on top.
The idea is the thicker the cover, the more effective it is at stopping radiation. All well and good, but I watched greenpeace or one of those organisations having a competition in Bristol at some big event, they had all the stuff ready and had to build the shelter in the 4 minutes, I cant remember if they did it or not but in any case most of have our doors in the frames and dont have a load of filled sand bags handy.

Heres a link to the old protect and survive booklet. Might give you some ideas.

http://www.atomica.co.uk/main.htm

Surely the thickness of a huge corner leather sofa would offer you SOME protection? There's no way I'm gonna be able to remove all the doors! ..but surely it would be safer to have the doors closed to reduce radiation coming in any other cracks in other parts of house if you could say insulate one room?

Also ..I'm not sure if this idea works with radiation but you know how white reflects heat and black is meant to soak it up? .. in theory would hanging several thick white duvets in the window (or taping them to the glass panes to fill the window area) offer any protection? ...like reflect the radiation back out out of that window area?

I perhaps didn't put that very well it's more about density for stopping radiation. Gamma rays for example on the table I saw were considered stopped at 50% by 1/2 inch of lead, 2.5 inch concrete, or 4 inchs of soil, for underground shelters I'm told 3 foot of earth is considered the minimum.
Obviously in the home most of use would have doors, carpets and maybe books/bedding piled on top. How many of us would be able to make that into a shelter in time assuming there is a warning is another question, I'm not as young as I was and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't make it in 4 minutes.
As someone said if your near a target your probably toast anyway.
The problem is we're probably all near-ish a target here in the UK. Those in the wilds of Scotland may be ok but a lot of places have military bases or stores that would be considered a target in an all out war.
Ports large docks, airfields, refineries, fuel storage depots, major road/rail junctions, ammunition stores (these are often in odd places) chemical plants, steel works and power stations, plus military base, all fair game for an enemy.
As theres little we can do about it the trick as I see it is not to worry too much.

[Clarebelle]

Katilea, I found this pamphlet a good easy one to look into the basics of the different aspects of nuclear bomb survival, it was published by the Canadian government. I think it gives a good overview and is easily understood http://www.preppers.info/uploads/11_ste ... rvival.pdf

[ukpreppergrrl]

Interesting article that Itsy, I didn't know about the 4 letters to the nuclear subs, but otherwise it's pretty much as I have always presumed. As they say, the problem is that no country other than Japan has ever faced nuclear bombs being dropped on urban areas. All we can do is speculate on the humanitarian response required. And that speculation changes dramatically with each additional bomb that is dropped on a country as small as the UK. I have always presumed that if you are in the area close to (a) Ground Zero (say 50 miles), then you're totally on your own for some considerable time, and by that I mean months. If your area is relatively unaffected by the blast or radiation, then there may be help at hand from the get go. Or there may not depending again on how many Ground Zeros we're talking about and just how completely the political/social infrastructure of the country is damaged. The Government has contingency plans in place for disasters, not just nuclear attacks, it's just a matter of how much of the structure is left to implement those plans after a nuclear event(s).

[jansman]

I have just caught up with the thread.Its entertaining! Did I just say that? Well,there are no sirens anymore,and no Council Bunkers. It was all dismantled when the Cold War ended after Perestroika and the Berlin Wall etc.

The one thing that DOES remain is the M.A.D.defence system.Mutually Assured Destruction. You nuke us,we nuke you.Simple concept.Its worked this long.

As I get older,I get calmer.USA and North Korea were at odds not long ago ,threatening "Fire and fury" and all that.Now they are getting loved-up!.

[katilea]

Gotta be honest here. I certainly wouldn't be interested i surviving a nuclear attack on our country as I imagine the aftermath of that would be hell on earth. If we got to that situation where an attack was on its way, I'd grab a bottle of the strong stuff and a load of pills and prepare to make peace with my maker. That's my exit strategy.

I might well take a bottle of brandy behind the sofa with me! ...but I believe in fate..if I'm meant to survive it I will and if not I won't. I do admit the thought of me surviving alone and my dog not making it and my bro not making it (as he'd only blood family I have left everyone else has passed) and left totally alone is scary. Think I'd rather be on the 'other side' with my family and doggies at rainbow bridge! But we've got so many guardian angels up there I'm kind of half expecting some kind of magic shield over the house, so as luck would have it it just misses the area we're in!