Preparation | If there was an airstrike in Helsinki, do you know where you would go to take shelter?

Jos If there had been a war in Finland a few decades ago, Helsinki would have been evacuated by district if necessary. From Torkkelinmäki you would have gone to Halsua, from Meilahti to Multia and from Mellunmäki to Saarijärvi.

The strategy has been updated, and the city will no longer be evacuated. If war came, the vast majority of Helsinki residents would rush to the bike cellar or cage warehouse with sirens blaring.

“In Helsinki, we have the most comprehensive shelter system in Finland, which was made for war. If the situation came up, we would use it and not tell you to leave the city”, Petri Parviainen says. He heads the preparedness and civil defense management services unit at the Helsinki Rescue Service.

Finland's population shelters have space for 4.8 million people. The location of the shelters is focused on big cities, where housing is dense and buildings are larger.

Helsinki has 660,000 inhabitants. There are shelter places for 900,000. Of those, 720,000 are in shelters, that is, precisely in cage storage, garages and bike cellars. If necessary, they should be emptied within three days when the authority gives the order.

“If the housing association takes care of its affairs properly, it has an emergency plan and information about where the residents take shelter,” says Parviainen.

In some neighborhoods of Helsinki, such as Merihaa and Jätkäsaari, residents have a common rock shelter. The metro stations from Sörnäis to Ruoholahti are also equipped as population shelters.

We stand On the slope of the Merihaan parking garage. There are twenty meters of rock above and somewhere behind the doors is a floorball hall, a play cave and a wrestling arena.

The tunnel leading to the parking garage is winding for a reason. If there was an explosion at street level, the pressure wave would weaken every time it hit the curve wall. Finally, there is a blue, heavy pressure door that stops the final force of the wave. There is still a sealed gas door behind it.

If a bad situation were to come, the sea people would take shelter here. Suoja attracts 6,000 people, a third of whom would get a bed. The sleeping lavers are three-story bunk beds, the service corridor can accommodate 180 toilets. There is no shower, and the house does not provide food.'

There are 180 toilets in the shelter of Merihaan. Picture: Katriina Pajari HS

The Internet should work, but its use would probably have to be limited so that there is enough bandwidth for everyone, says Parviainen.

“Everyone would bring with them what they would need for three days. Food that doesn't need to be cooked or heated, a light source, a backup power source, medicines.”

Merihaka is the second last common shelter built by Helsinki. Now we are focusing on building shelters, which are also in public buildings, hotels and shopping centers. The last joint shelter was built in Jätkäsaari.

Common shelters are often parking garages, subway stations or sports facilities built underground: swimming pool, microcar track, shooting range, parking garage, storage space. Parviainen says that it is good for everyone that the shelters are in active use.

“We will be informed immediately if something is not right. And of course also rental income.”

Before The population shelters were often perceived as a burden after the Russian invasion. Stopping the construction of population shelters was hinted at in the political discussion. The proposal to relax the construction obligation was, for example, related to the housing policy measures of Sipilä's government program.

The additional cost of Väestönsuoja in a residential building is about 25 euros per living square.

According to a recent report by the Ministry of the Interior, population shelters were not considered important. Their maintenance and periodic inspections had been neglected very often.

The expansion of the war in Ukraine changed the attitude. Now in Helsinki, the renovation of two population shelters is underway, and the renovation of the next three will start soon.

Parviainen points out that even when Finland's protections are bad, they are better than the protections of almost any other country. Last year, 250 different international groups visited Finland to learn about population protection.

On the day of the interview, there were groups from NATO, Ukraine and the UN.

“Of course, preparation costs money, but freedom and independence are priceless.”

Correction February 4, 2024 at 11:06 AM: Corrected the section about the additional costs of building a civilian shelter.