Shipping Container Disaster Relief Outpost

Hello, my name is Dexter Opps, and I go to Powell High School in Powell Wyoming. In my area, there has been a lot of flooding. I have helped repair flood-damaged buildings, and it is a lot of work. So when I saw the Make It Modular Challenge, I thought that shipping containers would make for a perfect disaster relief outpost. They are inexpensive, durable, portable, and the right size. A company like the Red Cross could implement an entrepreneurial pop-up like this to help coordinate rescue efforts. Even if families had emergency supplies, natural disasters can ruin the supplies, so these outposts could be very helpful. The design has plenty of shelving space for emergency supplies. It also can be equipped with a solar array and battery backup to provide power for disaster relief efforts.

Materials

• Shipping container
• Steel square tube (for shelves)
• 1/8 in thick steel plate (for shelves)
• Paint
• Blankets
• First aid kits
• Meal kits
• Hygiene kits
• Clothes
• Flashlights
• Water bottles

Optional

• Solar panels
• Battery backup
• Electrical inverter
• Satellite dish

Tools

• Welder
• Metal saw
• Drill/driver

Cut the holes in the side and the front of the container.

In this step you paint the container. I chose white so it would be noticeable.

In this step you add the shelves to the container walls. The flat part of the shelves is designed to be made of 1/8 in steel sheet; there are also supports to help keep the plate from bending.

Stock the shelves with emergency supplies including but not limited to:

• Blankets
• First aid kits
• Meal kits
• Hygiene kits
• Clothes
• Flashlights
• Water

Next you label everything for easy access.

Now you can mount the solar panel, battery backup, lights, satellite communications dish, and air conditioning.

Most of the model is 3d printed and hot glued together. The solar panel in the model functions, and has a working battery backup system. The simplicity of the model shows how easy it would be to mass produce these outposts.

Designing and prototyping this model has taught me a lot about CAD design and other very powerful tools. I would love to see something like this implemented into disaster relief efforts; thank you for following my instructable, and have a great day.