Building Shelter with what’s On Hand
While most of us may never
experience a time when our home or apartment will be destroyed, events in Japan
and elsewhere tell us that disasters can strike unexpectedly. Inclement
weather of any kind, whether cold or rain, can cause acute discomfort if not
dangerous conditions for you and your family if your home has been
destroyed. Providing some sort of shelter will be imperative if survival
is your goal, and knowing how to construct even simple protection from the
elements can make the difference between life and death.
 From
The Ruins
If your home is unfortunately
destroyed, you can often salvage enough from the ruins to make a lean to for
shelter. Bear in mind that you should only gather components that can be
accessed safely – never start plunging through a destroyed home in search of
materials, there can be hidden spaces beneath that you can fall into.
However, if you are able to get boards from the wreck, it will be possible to
construct a fairly sturdy lean to from them. They can be positioned
against a fence, fallen tree, or anything that will provide enough space for
your family to get into. Once you have gotten the basic structure made,
anchor the ends (where the boards are touching the ground) with rocks to make
sure that your lean to does not collapse unexpectedly. It would be a good
idea to cover the lean to with pine branches or other vegetation to make it
more secure, and if you have a tarp, this will keep it waterproof. The
floor of the lean to should be covered with pine branches, too, as insulation
against the cold of the ground. Also make sure you have a first aid kit available. Branches can be sharp while utilizing them for shelter.
A
Shelter From Boughs
When there has been a disaster,
trees are often broken or uprooted. It is easy to make a shelter from a
tree that has broken off, but is still attached to the trunk. If this is
a pine tree, you will need to clear an area inside the fallen section, and then
place more branches along the outside of the shelter. This will serve to
make it  more wind and weather proof and provide a fairly decent emergency
shelter. Remember, once again, to place pine branches on the floor of the
shelter.
Tarps
If you have a tarp or two on hand,
as part of your emergency supplies, you can use these to construct a good tent
that will keep the weather off you and your loved ones. The simplest way
to do this is to string a rope between two trees and throw the tarp over
it. Pull the edges out and anchor them with rocks or branches. If
it looks as if you are going to be using emergency shelter for some time, you
can make a more sophisticated shelter by constructing a teepee. It will
be easiest to do this if you tie the ends of your poles together on the ground,
and then stand the structure upright and spread the poles. Put your tarp
around the poles and secure it with rocks at the base. Leave a hole at
the top, especially if you will be making a fire inside.
More Articles: Building Temporary Shelter
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