Interesting email day today…

Seems “urban survival” is coming back in vogue in a big way again…

First email was from John C. P. Goheen of Terranova Pictures, from the western suburbs of the big city of Denver, Colorado. He’s a television journalist who’s looking for assistance on a couple of stories….one area regarding “bomb shelters”, and the other on urban survival techniques. Here’s his email…

Hello Richard,

I am a television journalist researching a couple of stories…one on urban survival techniques and one on underground shelters (some would call bomb shelters) .

I came across your site and found it very interesting. I am interested in identifying several things. Related to the underground shelters story, I am interested in finding manufactures of this product. I would also like to locate and find someone who has a vintage 1950s era shelter that would allow me to video tape.

I am trying to find examples of things people are doing to be better prepared for the unexpected, either man made or natural. Any thoughts on this?

Thanks, John
John C. P. Goheen
Terranova Pictures

My reply to him follows…

Hi John,

Thanks for the kind words about the site. There are several companies across the US manufacturing prefab fallout shelters, including delivery and installation.

Walton McCarthy at www.bombshelters.com has been featured in many documentaries and news stories before and after 9/11. His former website was www.radius-defense.com .

A friend of mine runs www.safecastle.com , and offers three types of prefab steel shelter here…

You can read more about JC at his blog.

Author Robert Crais is a true Robert A. Heinlein fan. Read about his visit to Heinlein’s bomb shelter in Colorado Springs. Includes photographs.

http://www.illumirate.com/opinions.cfm?cat_id=425565&item_id=93250

His web page was recently updated, and I can’t find a current link to his original article. The current owner of Heinlein’s old home might be able to help you get some video footage. Not sure of the address in Colorado Springs, but someone in that town might be able to direct you there.

Regarding examples of prepping….well, I eat, live, breathe, and share the prep lifestyle for a living. Just earned a electronic media degree, finishing a web degree in May, and started an emergency and disaster management degree this summer, but I’ve live the lifestyle all my life.

I have contacts all over the nation that do the same, and most have the same goals and ideals I do. Many of my closest friends are also active and retired public safety, military, law enforcement and emergency management folks, who have dealt in some way, shape or form with disasters big and small…and helping communities respond and recover.

My background (available on my website) includes years in federal employment, defense electronics, and manufacturing, as well as a love of the outdoors, nature, and the physical world around us.

In being ready for nature and man made disaster, you have to know what the threats around you are. Studying history and events that occur locally and regionally help prepare folks for hurricane zones, tornadic activity, earthquake zones, and the like. My goal is helping others recognize these historical threats, and make plans on dealing specifically with them.

With the events of Katrina, our nation saw the decades of planning went for nought; billions of dollars of government funds to the states went to waste, fraud, and graft; hundreds of man-years of disaster education were useless; and untold numbers of real American lives were put at risk…by a nation that SHOULD have been able to respond INSTANTLY to a natural disaster that took DAYS to actually hit the New Orleans area.

What does this mean? In a true national catastrophe, it falls to the individual to develop skills to save themselves, their family, and friends in a true disaster. What is needed is a much larger program that starts at bottom up, such as the FEMA CERT program, instead of talking heads and management wonks from DC (such as Micheal Brown) who have NO background whatsoever in emergency planning, who are doing the thinking and making decisions, without truly knowing what is about to happen to real people.

My goal is to actually develop training plans, videos, and radio broadcasts that do exactly this. I’m already creating video productions aimed at young adults, and have produced a Telly Award winning set of PSAs, which you can see at www.yaaaonline.com . This is just the start. Many more folks like myself are working on this area of work, and we will be successful.

I’ll be glad to share your request for info on my email lists, and several forums. Or, if you’d like to talk to me further, my contact info is below.

Good luck in your quest, and hope I’ve been able to help some.

Rich

Got something you’d like to share with John? Email me, or hit the CONTACT form at the top of the page to send me a message.

The other email was from Howard D. Shapiro…a big time L.A. lawyer who is seeking a little assistance in regard to Les Stroud, star of the cable television show Survivorman. I’ll share more later…let’s just say Les is coming to the states to visit for now…