Suppose a US City Gets Nuked. . .

B

beezaur

Joined
Jul 31, 2002
Messages
430
And yes, I am serious.

First let me say that I don't take myself very seriously about all my preparedness gear. It is useful, and I actually do intend to rely on it should the need arise, but primarily this is a hobby. Preparing for the end of the world is fun for me, and darn it, I like the toys and enjoy practicing the skills.

But, I know this middle-aged professional who is through-and-through a political animal, to the extent of being somewhat connected at high levels. He basically thinks I'm a nutcase. If anything bad is going to happen it is going to be economical, and you will need your political connections, not your woodworking tools and 500 lbs of rice and beans. We all know the type.

Now all of a sudden he is worried that a US city will be nuked. And he's seriously worried too, not just the political issue of the month, but real, legitimate, voice-gets-soft-discussing-it concern.

Why? Why would a politically semi-connected professional, who has never been a preparedness freak of any sort, suddenly be worried about a city going away?

So it got me thinking, suppose a US city does get nuked. Let's say just a small device, like one of the two that ended World War Two ;) , vaporizes the core of the large city nearest you. What is the situation in the aftermath? How chaotic do you think things would get? How would you deal with long term utility outages, overwhelmed authorities, and possibly having to fend for yourself?

In other words, how would you deal with it?

Scott
 
I'd assume bush and the gang would employ some sort of martial law so your ability to move long range woud likely be impared slighty(evasion skills)

id also assume you would need to watch out for F.E.M.A. roundups, you dont wanna be stuck in some camp while the shite hits the fan.

im also gona assume the safest place to be after that would be in some back water, 2 bit town.

the biggest threat is gona be your common man after he shites himself and realizes he has no way to protect himself and his family and then shorts out and reverts too animal reactions and looses all reason and logical thought function.

id be sleepin in your shoes and keepin the gun loaded.
 
durbanposion said:
you would need to watch out for F.E.M.A. . . .
Click to expand...

There probably won't be any FEMA, literally. The Katrina Inquiry has recommended it be abolished and replaced with something else. For once, the federal government actually seems intent on dealing with large disasters efficiently. (Are they expecting something?)

I agree about the backwater small towns. Of course getting a place to live would be more challenging. People who live there (like me) would not be so enthusiastic. . .

Scott
 
I'm pretty sure I'd be staying put. I live in the middle of a densely populated region, with a couple of million people between me and anything that resembles a backwater town. There's also only a couple of roads in and out of here. So unless one of my pilot friends is willing to load me and my family up in a small plane and fly us the heck out of here, I'll be hunkering down in my house.

The good news is, I'm jammed up against the west coast, so the prevailing winds should push any radioactive fall-out away from me. The bad news is, I'm close enough to downtown San Jose that, in your scenario, I might be affected by the radiation/blast anyway should the bad guys decide to nuke that cow-town for some unfathomable reason.

My number one survival strategy given all of this would be to hook up with the city, and through them the state for access to emergency supplies. While my primary concern is earthquakes, I recently undertook CERT training through the city, which makes me "known" to the emergency responders in my city and county. I also helped start and run a neighborhood association so that if the SHTF, we don't all have to deal with it in isolation. IMO, getting out and hanging with your neighbors is a great way to prevent having to shoot them if bad things happen.

In the event of a nuclear blast and resulting martial law, I don't think there's any amount of resources and/or ammunition that can help in the long run, if the situation indeeds turns into a long-run. Your only hope is to out-survive everyone else who is, presumably, less prepared than you are. The idea here is to ride out the "die-off" until the availability of resources versus the size of the local population balances out.

I would really like to know more about why "a politically semi-connected professional, who has never been a preparedness freak of any sort" is suddenly worried about a city going away. These kinds of little rumors are the sort of thing that get me checking my water supply....
 
There probably won't be any FEMA, literally. The Katrina Inquiry has recommended it be abolished and replaced with something else. For once, the federal government actually seems intent on dealing with large disasters efficiently..... Well, I read the article on this that was in the New York Times and they seem to be planning to "restructure" and not replace. There is talk of increasing their budget to twice of what it is now. They or somthing similar will be around but I would not rely on them to do much. I have a book on this stuff "Nuclear war survival skills" there is a lot of good info. Most of the advice is to have some kind of a fallout shelter already in place because evacuation could expose you to radiation. I am unsure what I would do in this case but I think that I might start planing because I have been reading some scary things on the www. A web site some of you may get some info off of is www.infowars.com, some good investigative journalism. Check it out.
Wade
 
bulgron said:
I would really like to know more about why "a politically semi-connected professional, who has never been a preparedness freak of any sort" is suddenly worried about a city going away. These kinds of little rumors are the sort of thing that get me checking my water supply....
Click to expand...

It could be that this is his version of a mid-life crisis. I didn't ask him if he knows something because he wouldn't tell me if he did. It has me checking my water supply too. And crisis-resistant liquid assets. And transportation plans. And . . .

Scott
 
At this point I would hope it landed right on my fuckin head. But if not I suppose it will be a real mess. I agree that martial law would be called into order and in that event It would be nice to have some out of the way place in some backwater town or away from people all together. But basicly I'm just waiting for the flash above my house. Sorry my lfe just hasn't been the greatest this week. Pay no attention...blah blah blah
 
The biggest lesson this country should have learned from was the Katrina clusterfuck that went on. Most unprepared minded people wouldn't know what the hell to do. They would shit themselves. This country is still to lax when it comes to preparedness for diaster. I live in the boonies far enough away from the unprepared morons.
Scott
 
People panic about all sorts of stuff. For example "terrorism", which was no less prevalent before 9/11 than after; people just realized that it existed and might be a remote threat, and freaked out. Likewise a city being nuked; we lived for decades with a much greater nuclear threat than 'terrorists' will ever be able to mount, and relatively few people chose to adequately prepare for that. Why start worrying now if not then? I guess it's better late than never, but people tend to get caught up in a narrow range of potential 'threats' and don't properly plan their preparations to cover a wide range of eventualities.

A basic level of preparation should be a matter of course, then it doesn't matter what's coming (or not coming), you're ready no matter what.
 
If this were to happen in one city there would no doubt be a ripple effect as people in other cities panic and decide to leave. In terms of actual destruction a small nuclear device would most likely do less than hurricane Andrew or Katrina in terms of total destruction. The terror effect would be enormous.

With a hurricane, people who are far away have very little fear. With a nuclear blast it is anyones guess which city could possibly be the next target. The fear factor is much higher.

If you have enough food an supplies on hand to weather a two to three week mass confusion I would say just stay put and wait out the insanity.

One of the lessons from countries far more broken, like Brazil and Argentina, is that isolated farms and ranches are far less likly to see the kind of petty street crime and such of city dwellers. However, when such isolated places are invaded it is invariably a bloody and drawn out nightmare. The best place to be is outside of a major population center but with neighbors close enough to band together for mutual support. A small tightly knit community is your best bet. Mac
 
If it doesn't hit right next to us, we'll be making our way out of the way of radiation if necessary. Living on the west coast, jet stream varies considerably and paying attention to where the winds are blowing will be a priority for awhile.
 
Self-reliant preparedness is not highly valued in our society.

We live in a nation where the typical household has inadequate resources to:
>pay their current credit card debt;
>retire without government dole;
>survive a few days with no electricity;
>survive loss of employment for six months.

Nothing new, if worse in degree: people not ready for things that have happened and will happen to a virtual certainty. (Well, you may die before you retire I suppose, but that's a tough strategy to adopt.)

Risks of nuclear strike are MUCH lower than forty years ago (numberthree - :thumbup: ). We were at Defcon 1 in 1961 and the Soviets at their version -- enough BANG to end most life, all aimed and ready to go. That was then.

Risks of a flu pandemic are exactly the same. Strains of animal flu have changed into versions that spread amongst people over and over and over. "Asian Flu." I got "Asian Flu" - a mutated form of avian flu - in 1961. Turns out that when they mutate, they "tend" to devolve to the mean -- less fatal. So we have survived repeated mutations of animal flu with an annual death toll of 30-40,000 -- primarily due to failure to get the "flu shot" (Although they have mis-guessed on what strain was coming a couple of times.) And we pretty much know what will happen 'cause it happened - in 1918-1919 -- the worst form of flu ever experienced in historic times killed millions -- 100,000's in the U.S. Society did not break down. The world as we knew it went on. (They will cancel rock concerts. No loss.)

Terrorists were grabbing planes and ships and murdering the passengers generations ago. A TV "talking head" speculated in the 1970's that they might crash a jet into the Capital Building. Terrorists shot up the Congress in the 1940's. Bombs have been going off in public places for decades. Add up the death toll. 9/11 looks minor -- except it was in our city.

Heck, 100,000's died in civil unrest in the 1860's in the U.S. alone.

I do regret the low quality of today's doomer porn. It was far better decades ago. Anyone ever read "The Scarlet Plague"? Anyone read any of Brown's books that explained the coming total colapse of the world economy by 1970 (1975, 1980, 1985, etc. etc.)? There were the legion of books, movies, and TV programs on the end of the world in nuclear fire/winter!!! (The LCS Doomsday Clock at 20 seconds to midnight!!!) And you had to love the unannounced "duck and cover" drills in schools every month. (Real story. We had one drill in fifth grade -- and seconds later, as we huddled under our desks, a Marine jet from El Toro M.C.A.F. with a full fuel load hit a lima bean field less than two miles away. The sound of running liquid was poor Miss Finch.)
 
Its not the blast you have to worry about (unless you are at ground zero) its the fallout contaminating everything around you. No food, no water, no soil to grow more all the while you collect radiation poisoning no amount of iodine will fix etc.....

YOu could live in timbuck 3 but if those winds go your way you are screwed.

When buying property the winds in relation to targets should be your first area of study. ;)

Skam
 
numberthree said:
People panic about all sorts of stuff.
Click to expand...

You got that right. I live in the Seattle area and last winter we got about an inch of snow in the outskirts of the city. You would not believe the rush to the grocery store, all the bread and milk was gone. Stuff like hamburger, chicken and lunch meats were next. Some of the grocery stores were out of stock on some things for a few days. People just panic and run all about like it's their last chance for a bologna sandwich and a glass of milk. Good thing I was there for chips and beer. ;-)

Ric
 
You know, all this sounds like the stuff that went on just before Y2K when all the computer guys ran out a bought up all the class 3 machine guns, assault rifles and camo on the market. I remember Ron Hood saying something about his video sales tripled about a year to six months before Y2K and the folks buying were all high tech computer people.

Ric
 
beezaur said:
And yes, I am serious.

First let me say that I don't take myself very seriously about all my preparedness gear. It is useful, and I actually do intend to rely on it should the need arise, but primarily this is a hobby. Preparing for the end of the world is fun for me, and darn it, I like the toys and enjoy practicing the skills.

But, I know this middle-aged professional who is through-and-through a political animal, to the extent of being somewhat connected at high levels. He basically thinks I'm a nutcase. If anything bad is going to happen it is going to be economical, and you will need your political connections, not your woodworking tools and 500 lbs of rice and beans. We all know the type.

Now all of a sudden he is worried that a US city will be nuked. And he's seriously worried too, not just the political issue of the month, but real, legitimate, voice-gets-soft-discussing-it concern.

Why? Why would a politically semi-connected professional, who has never been a preparedness freak of any sort, suddenly be worried about a city going away?

So it got me thinking, suppose a US city does get nuked. Let's say just a small device, like one of the two that ended World War Two ;) , vaporizes the core of the large city nearest you. What is the situation in the aftermath? How chaotic do you think things would get? How would you deal with long term utility outages, overwhelmed authorities, and possibly having to fend for yourself?

In other words, how would you deal with it?

Scott
Click to expand...

I go 42 miles west and 36 miles north to my " camp" , where I was two nights ago :cool:
I have enough stuff for about a year if need be and that's without growing anything.

Enjoy the police state.
Tell'em Doug went fishing..

The swamp is a harsh place( insects) but the weather is good and food VERY abundant.
 
ranger88 said:
I was right in the middle of it with Katrina, and still am. first, let me say, for the record, New Orleans got off lucky. What happened to Mississippi was the closest to a nuke you will ever get without the radiation. That being said, let me say this. If it's a nuke, or another natural disaster. When and if 80% of your state is suddenly without power, YOU'RE ON YOUR OWN, for a week to a month depending on how fast you can get out of the area. (I went to Knoxville for 3 weeks.) Forget about batteries, they wont last, period. candles and oil lamps, get some. knives are good to have, but you better have a good chainsaw, because you will be clearing any fallen trees that are blocking the road. And if you plan on driving your car, you better have extra gas on hand. (5gallon cans) PSK's are good, but get a good tent, because you might be living in it. We still have people in tents down here, 7 months after Katrina.
sooner or later. Good people will bring in food and supplies, and of course, MRE's. THANKS EVERYONE!!!
But you'll have to make it till then. In the event of a nuke - God forbid - just get out as fast as you can. You'll have to go where the food is.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately you are a " veteran" now.
I'm glad y'all are OK.. as you now know " well" would be incorrect, and likely never fully attainable. You're a vet now...
Your statements are correct.

Forget balisongs and ninja suits.

I was in Hugo, in St Croix...89
Andrew..1992.. I lived on Old Cutler road at ground zero,
Irene 1989 flood zero.24 inches in 20 hours.
Katrina and Wilma, ground zero, Homestead
Total days without power, collectively....83 days !
 
Can I pick the city? It may actually help the country out a bit.
Actually anyone my age remembers the "the nukes are coming" train of thought. We had to grow up with it every day.
You can prepare for it, plan for it, and even practice it. But you can't be really prepared for facing the results. Mental prepareness will be the hardest goal to reach.
 
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