Article – Scientists Know How You’ll Respond to Nuclear War—and They Have a Plan

It will start with a flash of light brighter than any words of any human language can describe. When the bomb hits, its thermal radiation, released in just 300 hundred-millionths of a second, will heat up the air over K Street to about 18 million degrees Fahrenheit. It will be so bright that it will bleach out the photochemicals in the retinas of anyone looking at it, causing people as far away as Bethesda and Andrews Air Force Base to go instantly, if temporarily, blind. In a second, thousands of car accidents will pile up on every road and highway in a 15-mile radius around the city, making many impassable.

That’s what scientists know for sure about what would happen if Washington, DC, were hit by a nuke. But few know what the people—those who don’t die in the blast or the immediate fallout—will do. Will they riot? Flee? Panic? Chris Barrett, though, he knows.

I don’t think you need to be a rocket scientist to figure out what happens to survivors, behavior-wise, if someone cracks atoms over a major US city – some folks will flood the streets in a run-for-you-lives moment, some will frantically roam the area looking for loved ones, and a very, very small percentage will have their poop in a group and grabe their gear, evac to a pre-assigned rally point, link up with their fellows or leave messages there, and move to a safer location. I idunno about you but I know which group I’d like to be in.

We’ve seen this behavior counteless times in the past….9/11, Katrina, etc….some folks stampede, some function optimally. Normalcy bias is a killer but having a plan and sticking to it can make a difference.

7 thoughts on “Article – Scientists Know How You’ll Respond to Nuclear War—and They Have a Plan

  1. Terrain choice is obviously key. Don’t be places where gunfights, riots, or nuclear detonations are likely to occur. Anyone going to spend the resources to nuke rural Maine? I doubt it.

    Fallout from more distant strikes is certainly possible/likely, but that aspect can be mitigated.

  2. I can only hope it’s a small nuke over the base 1.5 hrs (drive) to my west. Riots and etc are a low probability here but while everyone is at the Wal-Mart I’ll be at either Tractor Supply or the Ag Co-op.

    But the ultimate move is to not be there in the first place.

  3. Like most things, the devil is in the details….how big an explosion, air or ground, where it is and where you are, a real nuclear weapon or an improvised or RDW…

    But the best plan is not to be there.

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