20 Nuclear Shelters That Still Work in Western New York

With Russia beginning to escalate the war in Ukraine and threatening to possibly use nuclear weapons, where could you go in the event of a nuclear war?

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The US government rolled out a bunch of community Fallout shelters and plans back in the 1950s and 1960s at the height of the cold war with the Soviet Union. Every community, including Buffalo and Western New York, had several created in the event of a nuclear war. However, as the years have gone by and the Cold War came to an end, many of these community Fallout Shelters have been left to rot. Supplies are long outdated. Rust has infiltrated all the structures. Many have water damage.

Still, there are some left in WNY that are operational. Or, at least in theory they are.

While the threat of Nuclear war is probably not very high in this day and age, it still is a concern after Russia made a veiled threat about using any means necessary in their war with Ukraine.

In the event of a nuclear bomb going off, ready.gov offers many tips on what to do. For example:

Get inside the nearest building to avoid radiation. Brick or concrete are best... Go to the basement or middle of the building. Stay away from the outer walls and roof.

When it comes to finding local shelters on this site, there is a texting option but it only seems to be operational when there is an actual emergency (which makes sense).

That didn't answer the question, though: are there community fallout shelters still in operation in WNY? After doing some digging the website waymarking.com gave 20 locations around the Niagara Region that have, allegedly, working fallout shelters.

Locations include:

• Burchfield Penney Art Center at Buffalo State College
• Buffalo Fire Department Shelter in Buffalo
• East Aurora Middle School 
• Hamburg Town Hall

As far as the others, click here to see the list: waymarking.com 

Ultimately, the recommendations seem to be to get inside, below ground, away from windows, and wait for instructions. chances are you won't have to worry about any of this, but if you were curious we hope this helps.