Zombie Preparedness Week

Zombie Preparedness Week

The world didn't end this past weekend but that's no reason why you should be dancing in the streets in some sort of victory dance or anything. Just because the rapture didn't occur doesn't mean that you have nothing to fear.

What about zombies?!

Yeah. That's right. I said it. Zombies. Don't turn your back on the potential fear of the undead coming back to life and consuming your brains.

It can happen.

No, I'm not crazy. Not anymore crazy than that one moron predicting the end of the world.. who, might I add, is still suggesting that it will happen in October.

But unlike him, there's actually reputable places warning you about being prepared for the potential zombie invasion.

The following was originally posted on CDC Public Health Matters Blog on May 16th, 2011 by Ali S. Khan.

There are all kinds of emergencies out there that we can prepare for. Take a zombie apocalypse for example. That’s right, I said z-o-m-b-i-e a-p-o-c-a-l-y-p-s-e. You may laugh now, but when it happens you’ll be happy you read this, and hey, maybe you’ll even learn a thing or two about how to prepare for a real emergency.

A Brief History of Zombies
We’ve all seen at least one movie about flesh-eating zombies taking over. but where do zombies come from and why do they love eating brains so much? The word zombie comes from Haitian and New Orleans voodoo origins. Although its meaning has changed slightly over the years, it refers to a human corpse mysteriously reanimated to serve the undead. Through ancient voodoo and folk-lore traditions, shows like the Walking Dead were born.

So what do you need to do before zombies…or hurricanes or pandemics for example, actually happen? First of all, you should have an emergency kit in your house. This includes things like water, food, and other supplies to get you through the first couple of days before you can locate a zombie-free refugee camp (or in the event of a natural disaster, it will buy you some time until you are able to make your way to an evacuation shelter or utility lines are restored). Below are a few items you should include in your kit, for a full list visit the CDC Emergency page.

• Water (1 gallon per person per day)
• Food (stock up on non-perishable items that you eat regularly)
• Medications (this includes prescription and non-prescription meds)
• Tools and Supplies (utility knife, duct tape, battery powered radio, etc.)
• Sanitation and Hygiene (household bleach, soap, towels, etc.)
• Clothing and Bedding (a change of clothes for each family member and blankets)
• Important documents (copies of your driver’s license, passport, and birth certificate to name a few)
• First Aid supplies (although you’re a goner if a zombie bites you, you can use these supplies to treat basic cuts and lacerations that you might get during a tornado or hurricane)

Once you’ve made your emergency kit, you should sit down with your family and come up with an emergency plan. This includes where you would go and who you would call if zombies started appearing outside your door step. You can also implement this plan if there is a flood, earthquake, or other emergency.

But it's not just enough to have a kit that you could, incidentally use for Earthquakes. If you want to take it further, and to reveal the real intention of this blog post... How about some real-estate that I can interest you with..

I present to you the zombie proof home.

Scared of zombies? Concerned about the apocalypse? Have we got the house for you.

A Polish architectural firm has designed the world's first zombie-proof abode — the "Safe House".

It's not really inspired by the walking dead, but it's been getting plenty of attention as the world celebrates its fifth annual Zombie Awareness Month.
Built between 2005 and 2009, the house features Rubik's Cube-type movable parts and folds in on itself completely at the end of the day to seal against outside threats.

"Every day the house acts in a similar way — it wakes up every morning to close up after dusk," says architect Robert Konieczny of KWK Promes.
Located on the outskirts of Warsaw, the Safe House has just one entrance, on the second floor, connected by a drawbridge.

For extra security, after crossing the bridge, visitors have to wait within a safety zone before being let into the rest of the house.

During the day, the house opens onto a garden and the movable walls change position to create a courtyard.
"There is no risk of children escaping to the street area in an uncontrolled way while playing in the garden," says Mr Konieczny.

Yes, why go out with your small party of survivors to some abandoned prison or castle estate when you live in a zombie fortified home already? Especially with the cool factor that comes with the rubik mechanism that transforms this home at the drop of the hat to something no one can get into.

Here, check out more pictures of this freaky home.
























You have to admit, that's pretty intense. There's a lot of homes like this all over the world, mostly in Europe and Sweden. Not because they fear zombie invasions anymore than we do, but because they're designed by post-modern people looking for a home to attract some rich guy to show off how much money he has by doing something completely different.

This one is just the first one that I've seen with a retractable drawbridge. Over all, it's pretty freaking cool. Even if the whole front wall is a bit overkill.