Best U.S. places to survive the apocalypse
(Text: Laura Moss)
It's the end of the world.
These days it's impossible to avoid the hype about Dec. 21, 2012, or "Doomsday," as it's often called. Type "2012" and "end of the world" into Google and you get nearly 8 million hits. YouTube offers hundreds of thousands of clips that warn viewers about their fate and advise them on how to survive. And Hollywood has been cashing in with blockbuster apocalyptic films that explore everything from plagues and nuclear warfare to aliens and zombies.
While many may scoff at the thought of preparing for the end of the world, there are thousands of people worldwide who are doing just that. They're stockpiling canned food, planting gardens, installing solar panels, buying up ammunition and building survival bunkers.
You may think these people are crazy, but if the apocalypse happened tomorrow, where would you go? Check out our list of the top places in the U.S. to wait out the apocalypse and maybe we'll
The Greenbrier Resort
The Greenbrier is a luxury resort in White Sulphur Springs, W. Va., but it’s not the hotel’s lavish amenities that make it ideal for waiting out the apocalypse. It’s the massive underground bunker beneath the property.
The 112,544-square-foot bunker was commissioned in 1958 to house Congress in the event of nuclear holocaust. The facility, which was built 720 feet into the hillside, was completed in 1961, and the Cold War government immediately stocked it with survival supplies. The bunker had three outdoor entrances and one secret entrance inside the resort — a 25-ton blast door. It also featured decontamination chambers, a power plant, water storage tanks, a clinic with operating rooms, an intensive care unit, a pharmacy and dormitories that could accommodate more than 1,100 people. How did the government upkeep such a massive survival effort? A group of employees worked undercover as Forsythe Associates, a company hired by The Greenbrier for audio/visual services.
The location of the facility remained a secret for more than 30 years until The Washington Post exposed it in a 1992 article. At that time, the government ended its lease agreement with the resort, and The Greenbrier began offering bunker tours. Although the underground bunker is no longer stocked with survival supplies, it makes an ideal apocalyptic hideout — especially in the event of nuclear war.
Vivos survival shelter
Underground survival bunkers may conjure up images of small, dusty rooms — not the kind of place you want to spend years in as you wait for radiation to fade or zombies to be destroyed. Luckily, $50,000 can get you a bunk in Vivos’ luxurious underground survival shelter.
The 13,000-square-foot, nuke-proof bunker is located in the Mojave Desert. (Vivos owner Robert Vicino won’t reveal the exact location to prevent freeloaders from trying to get in when disaster strikes.) The shelter will include an atrium with a large TV, a gym, comfortable beds and enough gourmet food for a year — the menu features everything from sloppy joes to pearl potatoes. There’s even a jail if cabin fever gets people a little rowdy.
The Vivos shelter system has been engineered to withstand a 50-megaton blast and virtually any other force that nature or man can create. Vicino says the bunker provides protection from a host of apocalyptic disasters: pole shifts, solar flares, asteroids, nuclear bombs, chemical warfare, etc. (Zombies weren’t specifically mentioned, but a self-contained shelter located far from a populated area seems safe enough.)
Vicino has already collected deposits on half of the 132 spaces in the Mojave shelter, and he’s still taking reservations: $5,000 for adults, $2,500 for kids. Pets are free. If the Mojave is too far for you to travel, don’t worry. Vivos plans to build an entire underground network of shelters strategically located across the U.S.
Mount Weather
If it was safe enough for Dick Cheney on Sept. 11, it should be safe enough for you on doomsday. But the Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center, a FEMA facility, may be difficult to gain entry to in the event of apocalypse.
Built during the Cold War as a relocation site for high-level officials in case of national disaster, Mount Weather plays a key role in U.S. continuity of government plans. It’s located in the Blue Ridge Mountains about 48 miles from Washington, D.C., and consists of two parts: the above-ground FEMA complex and the 600,000-square-foot underground facility.
Mount Weather has its own leaders, its own police and fire departments and even its own laws. No one has ever been allowed to tour the underground complex, but in 1991, Time magazine published an expose after talking to one of the facility’s retired engineers. He described a sprawling bunker complete with mainframe computers, air circulation pumps and a television and radio studio for post-nuclear presidential broadcasts.
You can access Mount Weather via Virginia State Route 601, but your odds of making it past the armed guards on doomsday aren’t good — unless you’re a priceless work of art. The National Gallery of Art is rumored to have developed a program to transport valuable paintings to the bunker via helicopter in the event of disaster.
Silohome
During the 1950s and 1960s, the U.S. government built hundreds of Atlas-F missile silos in preparation for a nuclear attack that never came. Most of these silos were abandoned, but Bruce Francisco and Gregory Gibbons acquired one in New York’s Adirondack State Park and transformed it into an underground haven.
Silohome sits atop a 1,350-foot mountain overlooking the Saranac River Valley and is surrounded by acres of untouched wilderness, which means it’s ideal for many of your post-apocalyptic duties: farming, hunting and fishing. On the surface it features a hangar, living room with fireplace and a wraparound porch, but the best stuff is below ground. In what was once the 2,300-square-foot launch control center there are now three bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, a living area and a kitchen.
Don’t feel safe enough? Well, there’s always the 20,000-square-foot silo that’s connected to the underground living quarters via a tunnel complete with “Star Wars doors.” It’s the perfect place to stockpile canned goods and ammunition, or you can give it a home makeover so you and the family can kick back and enjoy the nuclear winter in comfort. Buy it now for just $2.3 million — cash only.
Capitol Visitor Center
In the event of chemical, biological, nuclear or terrorist attack, you might think that Washington, D.C. is the last place you should be. After all, who’s most likely the target of such an attack? But if you can gain access to the top-secret bottom floor of the Capitol Visitor Center, you just may survive.
The CVC is a three-level, 580,00-square-foot building built entirely underground on the east side of the Capitol. The leviathan visitor center is supposedly built below ground “so as to enhance rather than detract from the appearance of the Capitol,” but not everyone believes that. It’s rumored that the building is actually designed to be a haven for lawmakers in the event of disaster — the entire bottom floor is reserved for Congress’ use and is off limits to the public.
Although the building was designed before the 2001 terrorist attacks, according to the architects, RTKL, the floor plans were amended after 9/11 and fitted “to deliver adequate security measures and material protection.” No one will say if the building provides protection from bombs, nuclear threats or biological or chemical incidents; however, the CVC does have four bombproof skylights and a tunnel system large enough for vehicles to move around. The building also has a sophisticated IT infrastructure that houses hundreds of thousands of feet of fiber-optic cable.
Site R
The Raven Rock Mountain Complex, also known as Site R or the “underground Pentagon,” is located about 9 miles from Waynesboro, Pa., and 6 miles from Camp David. It was built in the 1950s and has been waiting for Armageddon ever since.
The official plans for Site R called for an underground command control center that consisted of miles of tunnels and access shafts to the surface, but no will say what’s actually on site. It’s rumored that Raven Rock is home to an entire underground city — complete with streets and pumped-in air — that can survive a nuclear blast or an electromagnetic pulse. Some people say the bunker can sleep 3,000 people, houses a large supply of MREs (meals ready-to-eat) and features a special presidential apartment.
Although the facility was constructed around the same time as The Greenbrier bunker and Mount Weather, far less is known about this government complex. Documents referencing Site R simply say “it is unlawful to make any photograph, sketch, picture, drawing, map or geographical representation” of the site. Of course, in the age of Google Earth, this degree of secrecy seems somewhat futile.
Survival Condo
Building luxury underground bunkers seems to be all the rage these days, and there’s really no reason not to reserve a space in one. After all, paper currency is going to be useless in a post-apocalyptic world so you might as well spend your money now, right?
Survival Condo is pricey, but you get what you pay for. Built in a former Atlas-F missile solo, the condo extends 200 feet below the Earth’s surface and boasts epoxy-hardened concrete walls to keep you safe from nuclear attack. The shelter is powered by solar panels, a generator and its own wind turbine, and it boasts a digital weather station. But the $1.75 million required to buy a full-floor unit ($900,00 for a half floor) doesn’t just buy you power and security.
In addition to your condo’s stainless steel GE appliances, Kohler bath fixtures and Jacuzzi tub, your new underground home will also come equipped with a full-size pool, a spa, a fitness room, a library and a movie theater (I hope you like reruns). You’ll dine on a diet of organic produce and homegrown fish fresh from the facility’s state-of-the-art hydroponic and aquaculture center. And there’s no reason to fear the anarchy outside your apocalyptic haven because Survival Condo’s owner, Larry Hall, promises the silo will have a military grade security system — complete with lethal and nonlethal defense capabilities.
Cheyenne Mountain
The Cheyenne Mountain Complex is yet another government facility that was built into the side of a mountain during the Cold War. Located just outside of Colorado Springs, Colo., the facility is home to a variety of government operations, including NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command).
The operations center lies inside a tunnel bored a mile into the mountain — a tunnel that's designed to route a blast’s shock wave out the other end past its 25-ton blast doors. Inside the mountain you’ll find several intersecting chambers and 15 freestanding buildings — 12 of which are three stories tall.
Like all good apocalyptic hideouts, Cheyenne Mountain is designed to be self-sufficient. It can protect its inhabitants from nuclear fallout and biological and chemical warfare through its elaborate air-purifying system that filters out harmful pathogens, chemical particles and radioactive material. It even has powerful springs that can absorb energy from earthquakes and bombs. Electricity comes from Colorado Springs, but there are six 1,750-kilowatt diesel generators for backup. There’s also a massive underground water supply — four excavated reservoirs hold 1.5 million gallons of water. In fact, they’re so large that workers sometimes cross them in rowboats. Can you say post-apocalyptic pool party?
Your crazy neighbor's house
With thousands of people preparing for the apocalypse worldwide, the odds are good that you live near one of them. You probably saw him digging a well in the backyard, you might have noticed that he spends a lot of time in that shed, maybe you caught a glimpse of his arsenal when you borrowed a cup of sugar. Perhaps he's even invited you to an American Preppers meeting or tried to persuade you to invest in gold or buy survival seeds.
It doesn't matter how you identify the suburban survivalist — what's important is that you befriend him. Strike up a conversation about affordable semiautomatic weapons, offer to help him build that 15-foot electric fence, make biodesiel together. This man isn't crazy — he's just prepared. Bond with him, learn his ways, and maybe on Dec. 21, 2012, you'll have a safe place to go when the sky starts falling.
http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/photos/best-us-places-to-survive-the-apocalypse/your-crazy-neighb
วันอังคารที่ 30 สิงหาคม พ.ศ. 2554
Top 10 ways to prepare for the total breakdown of society without looking like a (complete) lunatic
Top 10 ways to prepare for the total breakdown of society without looking like a (complete) lunatic
(Text: Shea Gunther)
The end is near
It's been a crazy past few years. We've seen gas prices hit all-time highs, been hit by major and catastrophic weather disasters, and watched as banks and major financial institutions disappear overnight in the midst of what appears to be an actual, real-life economic depression. Our stable, comfortable lives suddenly don't seem so stable any more.
Here are 10 things you can do to improve your chances of riding out a major disaster without looking like a total lunatic. If you get all 10 of these items checked off, let me know so I can come crash at your place when aliens attack.
1) Build a stockpile of food
Having a stockpile of food is a great first step to take to protect your food security (in addition to planting a garden, learning to hunt and building a greenhouse). Stocking up on your favorites also means you'll be eating Klondike bars and Skittles years after the factories shut down for sheer lack of ingredients and energy. You should have enough food on hand to feed you and your family for at least three months. It wouldn't be a bad idea to have more, too, since food will be a great asset in bartering.
2) Get to know your neighbors
Seriously, good neighbors make good fences. One of the first things that will go when the Bad Times come is regional civility and trust. Battle lines will be drawn between towns and communities in a fight over the last pockets of supplies, industry and production. People protect their family and their friends. Make friends with people in your neighborhood. When unknown terrorists attack our major cities with nuclear bombs, having a strong local network of friends will put you in a better position to ride out the few decades of chaos sure to follow.
3) Build a 15-foot-high electrified fence
Hopefully the zombies that pop up after the uprising will be the slow and shuffling kind, not the fast and jumpy ones. A 15-foot-high electrified fence should just about do the trick for the slower undead, but you still might want to add a few spikes to be safe. You might have some issues with your zoning board getting a 15-foot-high electrified fence installed. As with any home improvement project, just check with your local building inspector's office on that one and don't be afraid to make compromises.
4) Learn to hunt
Having a garden and greenhouse is one of two requirements in the event of disaster food planning. Having a gun and the ability to shoot and eat animals is the other. Get a gun, take a hunter's safety course and go shoot something. Learn how to gut it, skin it, and process and preserve its tasty, bloody flesh. Being able to procure your own protein will be vital in the months and years after a disaster. You'll most likely have to gun down dozens of attackers in the few years of living you'll be able to scratch out after Manbearpig's victory.
5) Get handy!
It's a sad but true fact that bloggers won't have many job prospects in the time after the great sickness. Those of us who survive the government-created superflu will find a new world that suddenly sees no value in reality TV stars, stock brokers, accountants and eco bloggers. The carpenters, engineers (the useful kind like civil engineers, not those soon-to-be-worthless software engineers) and farmers will be the ones who have the status.
6) Make your own biodiesel
What would the post-apocalypse be without badass armored vehicles? Let the bikers and scavengers fight over the dwindling stock of gasoline and brew your own biodiesel. For as little as a few hundred bucks you can be set up with a home-brew biodiesel kit. Spend a few hours on a Sunday every month and forget about filling up at the local gas station. And when the ants rise up and take over all forms of government, you'll be able to stay ahead of our new teeming mass of overlords in your pimped-out, biodiesel-powered 4Runner.
7) Build a greenhouse
This ties in nicely with growing a garden. A greenhouse allows you to get a jump on spring and start seedlings ahead of the last frost, assuming the nuclear winters don't freeze us all to death first. Greenhouses can be built with simple supplies and designs or constructed as master-built houses incorporated into $20 million estates. A greenhouse gives you more control over the environment your plants are grown in, and it's a nice backup in the event of resurrected dinosaurs taking out your outside garden. Greenhouses are also easier to defend, which is good when you have to repel the sun-hating, virus-carrying monster-human hybrids.
8) Grow a backyard garden
Growing a garden in your back yard will save you money on your shopping bill now, but will literally save your life when aliens invade and the world destroys itself fighting off the invasion. People are doing miraculous things with very small space, turning typical suburban back yards into teeming microfarms that produce a wide and tasty array of fruits and vegetables. It might not be a bad idea to invest in a few robot machine-gun nests to protect the crop after the invasion.
9. Collect and filter your rain water for home use
A lot of water gushes down your gutter pipes during a rain storm. A typical suburban roof has about 1,000 square feet of rain-catching surface that could be put to good use with the strategic placement of a barrel or two. If a meteor strikes the nation's capital and we're cast into anarchy, it's a good bet your city water will stop flowing after the food riots subside. Assuming it rains where you live, you could provide drinking water for a small family with a couple of good rain barrels.
10. Get solar power
Having solar panels on your roof not only reduces your utility bill, but also puts you in the enviable position of having power when nature strikes down the energy grid. They'll eventually pay for themselves and they're also a great hedge against future spikes in energy costs. In the event of a disaster, you'll have power to fend off the zombies, nuclear mutants and ninja biker gangs that will inevitably rise up from the ashes of polite society.
More look up at
http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/climate-weather/photos/top-10-ways-to-prepare-for-the-total-breakdown-of-society-wit-11
(Text: Shea Gunther)
The end is near
It's been a crazy past few years. We've seen gas prices hit all-time highs, been hit by major and catastrophic weather disasters, and watched as banks and major financial institutions disappear overnight in the midst of what appears to be an actual, real-life economic depression. Our stable, comfortable lives suddenly don't seem so stable any more.
Here are 10 things you can do to improve your chances of riding out a major disaster without looking like a total lunatic. If you get all 10 of these items checked off, let me know so I can come crash at your place when aliens attack.
1) Build a stockpile of food
Having a stockpile of food is a great first step to take to protect your food security (in addition to planting a garden, learning to hunt and building a greenhouse). Stocking up on your favorites also means you'll be eating Klondike bars and Skittles years after the factories shut down for sheer lack of ingredients and energy. You should have enough food on hand to feed you and your family for at least three months. It wouldn't be a bad idea to have more, too, since food will be a great asset in bartering.
2) Get to know your neighbors
Seriously, good neighbors make good fences. One of the first things that will go when the Bad Times come is regional civility and trust. Battle lines will be drawn between towns and communities in a fight over the last pockets of supplies, industry and production. People protect their family and their friends. Make friends with people in your neighborhood. When unknown terrorists attack our major cities with nuclear bombs, having a strong local network of friends will put you in a better position to ride out the few decades of chaos sure to follow.
3) Build a 15-foot-high electrified fence
Hopefully the zombies that pop up after the uprising will be the slow and shuffling kind, not the fast and jumpy ones. A 15-foot-high electrified fence should just about do the trick for the slower undead, but you still might want to add a few spikes to be safe. You might have some issues with your zoning board getting a 15-foot-high electrified fence installed. As with any home improvement project, just check with your local building inspector's office on that one and don't be afraid to make compromises.
4) Learn to hunt
Having a garden and greenhouse is one of two requirements in the event of disaster food planning. Having a gun and the ability to shoot and eat animals is the other. Get a gun, take a hunter's safety course and go shoot something. Learn how to gut it, skin it, and process and preserve its tasty, bloody flesh. Being able to procure your own protein will be vital in the months and years after a disaster. You'll most likely have to gun down dozens of attackers in the few years of living you'll be able to scratch out after Manbearpig's victory.
5) Get handy!
It's a sad but true fact that bloggers won't have many job prospects in the time after the great sickness. Those of us who survive the government-created superflu will find a new world that suddenly sees no value in reality TV stars, stock brokers, accountants and eco bloggers. The carpenters, engineers (the useful kind like civil engineers, not those soon-to-be-worthless software engineers) and farmers will be the ones who have the status.
6) Make your own biodiesel
What would the post-apocalypse be without badass armored vehicles? Let the bikers and scavengers fight over the dwindling stock of gasoline and brew your own biodiesel. For as little as a few hundred bucks you can be set up with a home-brew biodiesel kit. Spend a few hours on a Sunday every month and forget about filling up at the local gas station. And when the ants rise up and take over all forms of government, you'll be able to stay ahead of our new teeming mass of overlords in your pimped-out, biodiesel-powered 4Runner.
7) Build a greenhouse
This ties in nicely with growing a garden. A greenhouse allows you to get a jump on spring and start seedlings ahead of the last frost, assuming the nuclear winters don't freeze us all to death first. Greenhouses can be built with simple supplies and designs or constructed as master-built houses incorporated into $20 million estates. A greenhouse gives you more control over the environment your plants are grown in, and it's a nice backup in the event of resurrected dinosaurs taking out your outside garden. Greenhouses are also easier to defend, which is good when you have to repel the sun-hating, virus-carrying monster-human hybrids.
8) Grow a backyard garden
Growing a garden in your back yard will save you money on your shopping bill now, but will literally save your life when aliens invade and the world destroys itself fighting off the invasion. People are doing miraculous things with very small space, turning typical suburban back yards into teeming microfarms that produce a wide and tasty array of fruits and vegetables. It might not be a bad idea to invest in a few robot machine-gun nests to protect the crop after the invasion.
9. Collect and filter your rain water for home use
A lot of water gushes down your gutter pipes during a rain storm. A typical suburban roof has about 1,000 square feet of rain-catching surface that could be put to good use with the strategic placement of a barrel or two. If a meteor strikes the nation's capital and we're cast into anarchy, it's a good bet your city water will stop flowing after the food riots subside. Assuming it rains where you live, you could provide drinking water for a small family with a couple of good rain barrels.
10. Get solar power
Having solar panels on your roof not only reduces your utility bill, but also puts you in the enviable position of having power when nature strikes down the energy grid. They'll eventually pay for themselves and they're also a great hedge against future spikes in energy costs. In the event of a disaster, you'll have power to fend off the zombies, nuclear mutants and ninja biker gangs that will inevitably rise up from the ashes of polite society.
More look up at
http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/climate-weather/photos/top-10-ways-to-prepare-for-the-total-breakdown-of-society-wit-11
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