There is a cheap, but labor intensive, shelter that was created by architect Nader Khalili that could be the answer for many people, and without government intervention.

The tools and materials needed: a shovel, a roll of barbed wire, a bunch of empty sandbags (standard size), a stick and a string, something to make a heavy door with a frame, and some concrete.

The dome-shaped shelter is designed to be partly below ground and partly above.

Pound the stick into the ground in the center of where you want to build the shelter. Form a loop in the string and put the loop over the stick, measure out the length to half the diameter you want the shelter to be (8 10' is suitable). Measure out the circle with the string, marking the circle with flour, dolomite or agricultural lime, or rocks.

Start digging inside the circle. With the dirt you dig out, fill the sandbags. Lay the sandbags end to end just outside the circle, leaving a gap for a door. When the first layer of sandbags are in position, hook two circles of barbed wire into the tops of the sandbags, spaced a few inches apart.

Set the next layer of sandbags on top of the first, on top of the barbed wire that will keep them in position without sliding, but set them over the joint of the previous layer. Go up a few layers, laying the barbed wire between every layer, then start gradually moving the sandbags inward with each layer to form the dome.

Install the door. I think he had some rebar or something joining the door frame to the wall of the dome. Dig out a couple of steps for access into the shelter.

Apply a relatively thin layer of concrete over the entire dome, maybe an inch or so, just for waterproofing. (If used in non-tornado country, such as for a wildfire shelter, you could probably get away with using heavy-duty plastic in place of the concrete.)

A sandbag, adobe or concrete block dogleg in front of the door would deflect a certain amount of wind, or radiant heat if it was used for a wildfire shelter.

Then mound at least a foot of soil (thicker would be better) over the whole thing (except for the door, of course), melding the shape into the landscape, avoiding any projections that the wind could grab. Plant the soil over the mound with a type of plant that has an intensive root system (not tap roots), like clover.

I cannot find a photo of this shelter online.

You can go to http://calearth.org/, Khalili's website (before he died, anyway) and look at the 'modern' ones, but they sit on top of the ground, use a specialized running sandbag (that looks like a pain to fill), requires trucked-in sand (you've got sand or dirt right at the site, use that), and needs more height (more cost, more labor, more soil over the top), but they give you an idea of what a shelter would look like. Just visualize it shorter, over a hole in the ground, and covered with soil and growing clover.

But this is for the people who don't expect the government to do it for them.

Sue