Your basement may be designated as a shelter point

Until now, shelters were associated with concrete bunkers from the Cold War era. The new regulations introduce something much more practical: a shelter point. It could be an ordinary basement in your block, an underground car park in a shopping centre, an underpass or a tunnel. A place that provides a roof over your head and protection from debris or sudden severe weather.

For you, this means that you do not have to look for a specialist military shelter. It is enough that there is an underground garage or a solid basement in your area—and that is precisely where you will be directed in the event of a threat.

The “Where to Hide” app—check the nearest place on your phone

The State Fire Service has launched the “Where to Hide” app and website. Instead of looking around blindly in a panic, you open the map and see the nearest shelter points. The system already contains nearly 84,000 such places—meaning that, statistically, each of us has a safe point somewhere nearby.

The app is already working. You enter your location and check where you can go. It is like Google Maps, except for a crisis situation.

What about your stairwell? Work is under way on the regulations

The Ministry of the Interior and Administration is working on legal solutions that will require building owners to make basements, car parks and other rooms available during a crisis. For now, it is a matter of the goodwill of your building manager—but the regulations are soon to address this.

Local governments have received more time and money for shelters

The amendment extends funding for defence programmes from 4 to 5 years. For you, this means that your municipality has more time to renovate an old shelter or prepare new shelter points. Instead of chaotic, rushed investments, there will be calm, considered preparations and the purchase of new rescue equipment.

What can you do today?

Visit the “Where to Hide” website or check the app.

  • See which shelter point is closest to your block.
  • Ask your building manager whether the basement has already been entered in the register.
  • Tell your neighbours about it—during a crisis, every second counts.