One has to worry about the firestorms, so metal roof or earth roof. Earthquakes will take out most conventional buildings. Metal, flexible, would be OK. Tents would too, but would burn up in under the petro drop. Might be better to have materials stockpiled and wait until afterwards to construct. Live in tent until ground stops shaking. Old tires and dirt would work well on all fronts. Or the technique using stacked hay bales covered with plaster?
Learning basic first aid techniques and CPR would be helpful.
Hurricanes, even tornadoes, things are not touched when the shelter is below the surface of the earth. This is why tornado protection is just lying down flat in a ditch. Under a tires and dirt shelter, with a metal roof firmly attached, will be like a hill to the winds, but won't be heavy enough to fall during quakes! Perfect!
Only protection from tidal waves is being in deep water or away from the shore. Wave height decreases with water depth. Tidal wave data has shown that coastal valleys are not a good place to be as they magnify the effects of the tidal bores.
Firestorms, under an earth or metal roof. Be OK.
Does anyone remember the show Gilligan, well they rigged up a bicycle type thing, could this actually be done on shifts of maybe 15 minutes. If you have a bunch of people you could recharge your batteries. It's exercise, plus one could listen to a lecture or chat at the same time. Take alternators and batteries out of cars/trucks to come up with this via the bicycle. Look how many bikes are around. Anyone, even Third World countries, could put such a rig together! Anyone can find an old bike frame and for a few pennies get it working. That way we wouldn't have to worry about assembling a windmill right away
Temporary shelters, out of straw and the like. Third World countries know how to build these.
How to identify and prepare edible plants? One of the easiest and best protein gathering tools will be a large, small mesh fishing net.
Those who survived the PS on their own for a period of time should have an emergency backpack for just such a situation.
If the rotation of the Earth has stopped, and folks are waiting, biting their nails, for the PS, then they would not want to be in a building that would fall on them, collapse. What about a tent kind of thing, under a metal roof. The roof would only be there to protect from rain and firestorms. Like if you cut a metal barrel in half, down the middle, and laid each side cut side on the ground. Then this gives a smooth surface for wind to move over, doesn't lift with the strong winds, and gives protection from the firestorms. I think the military uses these, too. Of course, the barrel is not used, its just the shape. One could take metal sheeting, slightly curved like maybe the kind that they make vats out of, water reservoirs or to hold gasoline or a large liquid container. Put the curved pieces of metal on the ground, so they curve into the ground, and hide under that curve during the high winds and firestorms possibilities. Like the letter U upside down, like that, but more flattened so the winds just roll over it. Now, that would also force folks to lie down, which they should be doing anyway.
Hiding below the surface just ahead of the Pole Shift is a good idea.
A portable potty would be handy for that waiting period, so that folks could stay under the metal roof, just get up and sit on it for a moment, then lie back down. Like the little potties they have for boats.
Watch movies of natural disasters. Tune everything else out but what is on that screen. Imagine you are a victim in the movie. What would you do? Rehearse this in your mind several times. Feel it! Then when the time comes, your response will be learned, almost instinctive.
The key to survival, both for folks and mechanical equipment one wants to survive, is to not have to move more than a few feet, for one. Right? Think of the gravity fall. In air, you fall 200 feet and die. In water, you drop 200 feet and hardly feel it when you touch bottom. All movement is slowed and cushioned. If one doesn't have far to roll or fall then the jolt comes, rolls along the ground only 2 feet or so, then one only gets a bruise.
What about a tin roof over a trench with dirt piled on top. What if one is hiding under a metal roof, curved into the ground on both sides which the wind can't life up, packed with earth, closed on both ends so the wind can't get a grip. Geodesic domes are good as wind passes over! Won't lift up and fly away just as you need the metal roof.
What about a raft on water with pontoons of inflated tires. Water can protect. Being submersed in water is the very best way. One might take a ride if the water moves overland, but other than that, less of a bump. No bruises. What about going swimming in some lake at the time. Lakes don't have tides, at least not big ones. With the movement of water though, you could possibly be thrown against an underground rock or such. And there will also be debris in the water. The water might move, but the cushioning is greater.
What if the raft were staked in shallow water, by many nylon ropes, so that it bobs and lurches around, but stays in one place. Kind of like those rides that one goes on at the fairs. Perhaps one could get pulled under. A raft in shallow water would be OK as long as the movement of the earth did not cause huge waves. Perhaps, an artificial basin, full of water, but all covered. How about some bungee cord ... four strands four posts and computer slug in cradle in the middle.
Oh, the winds one must deal with by being under the surface. Dig a wide trench, cover with a metal sheet, put earth over that so that there is no edge the winds can pick up. Use mesh nets to secure the roof, putting the mesh into the sod roots on either side of the roof. Plus, have a big boulder inside with you so if anything collapses, that boulder will hold it up. The trench should not be that deep, only just below the surface. The metal roof same as the ground surface.
Have more than one entry/exit possibility, like all those little rodents that burrow - they have alternative exits in case snakes come after them. A metal roof, earth on it. Metal holds, earth slows the debris. And if one's oxygen supply holds up during the digging out process. That is why lots of trapped miners die, they run out of oxygen. One could have alternative holes, very small for air supply. A few might get covered but not all. Think about it. With pipes sticking out, or like those pipes used in submarines, something on top that closes the pipe when there's danger. Submarines close the hatch. One could construct a hatch in the metal roof, and then just open the hatch, or more than one hatch, is best!
Hole/trench sounds OK but located where it can not easy fill with water, say a slope, as there may be torrential rains too, drainage should be considered. Perhaps a trench on a slope, with a drain hole at the far end. We will be coming up against very strong winds and rains, so precautions have to be taken when constructing this