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Gimme shelter?
By JOHN BARRY
Published November 5, 2005
You're better off dead, by about a third, than in a Pinellas County storm shelter.
Pinellas has enough shelter space to accommodate 70,000 people in a hurricane. But only if each evacuee, plus blanket, cooler, flashlight, first aid kit, water jug, board game and teddy bear, takes up a spot just 2 feet wide by 5 feet long.
Ten square feet. A funeral casket is 15.2 square feet.
Here's how shelter space compares with other tight squeezes:
Porta-John toilet: 11.7 square feet.
Beach towel: 12.5 square feet.
Office cubicle (Silicon Valley): 30 square feet.
San Quentin prison cell (for two): 70 square feet.
Source of measurement comparisons: www.wired.com)
[Last modified November 4, 2005, 10:00:07]
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