Other considerations. - If there are outside windows in the basement corner where you build a shelter, they should be shielded as shown in the Appendix, page 29. Other basement windows should be blocked when an emergency threatens. Basement walls that project above the ground should be shielded as shown in the Appendix, page 29.

In these shelters the entrance should be not more than 2 feet wide. Bunks, or materials to build them, may have to be put inside the enclosure before the shelter walls are completed.

The basement or belowground shelters also will serve for tornado or hurricane protection.

The radioactivity of fallout decays rapidly at first. Forty-nine hours after an atomic burst the radiation intensity is only about 1 percent of what it was an hour after the explosion. But the radiation may be so intense at the start that one percent may be extremely dangerous.

Therefore, civil defense instructions received over CONELRAD or by other means should be followed. A battery powered radio is essential. Radiation instruments suitable for home use are available, and would be of value in locating that portion of the home which offers the best protection against fallout radiation. There is a possibility that battery powered radios with built-in radiation meters may become available. One instrument thus would serve both purposes.

Your local civil defense will gather its own information and will receive broad information from State and Federal sources. It will tell you as soon as possible: