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CIVIL DEFENSE: I guess official Washington isn't talking about this so as to prevent panic. But one thing seems pretty obvious to me. Whatever military initiative we now mount, there will surely be a response. If the people behind this attack were smart enough to have come up with this first strike, it's surely possible that they will have anticipated a response and have at least a game-plan after that for counter-attack. Last Tuesday was a warning: that they can do anything. That "anything" could surely include a devastating nuclear, chemical or biological attack on civilian centers in this country. So shouldn't we take precautions as a matter of extreme urgency? We need to dust down air-shelters and build many, many new ones. We need gas-masks widely distributed. We need security at reservoirs and any place where chemical or biological agents could be swiftly disseminated. We need mass inoculations against any number of toxins or viruses. I'm not a security expert but there must be a list of civil defense procedures applicable to such a situation. It should surely be in place before our retaliation begins. Why is this not being done?

-- Anonymous, September 17, 2001

Answers

Why isn't this being done? Because a large number of the decision makers still Don't Get It. And because it Costs Money to secure buildings and Brain Cells to figure out what needs to be secured and how to secure it. As I've written before, we're on our own when it comes to personal protection, and it's up to each of us to take some time to assess the risks we face during our daily routines and to alter those routines when the risk is unacceptable. Barefoot mentioned on another thread about staying away from malls, and that's an example of the sort of decision making we have to do.

Sure, it's not fair and smacks of paranoia, but to me, this is the current reality for those of us still living and working in urban areas.

-- Anonymous, September 17, 2001

Stay away from a mall? LOL! (I'm not really laughing) I hate malls anyway.

I am lucky in some strange sort of way in the fact that one of my primary data centers is in a underground bomb shelter. It isn't a bomb shelter anymore but my data center. I know that I have a safe place to go if I get the message of incoming. Trouble would be to get my son from his school and get back in time. If I was at home, think I'd stay there as it is so far out. Unless it were the glow in the dark kind.

My freezer is full, my pantry stocked. I wondered if I should fill up my 55 gallon drums with water again, but now I have a well. I figure the well is way better protection than the plastic.

Everyone needs to carefully look around them to see what is available for them in the event of a disaster on the scale of WTC. Where can you go to protect yourself? How are your supplies protected. Look for ways to get into the underground utility tunnels (if they have them in your area), as a last resort.

-- Anonymous, September 17, 2001

...raising my hand...

Git's question of "why is this not being done" is purely rhetorical, and the answer is...because the Sheeple (not our Sheeple of course!) would be faced with too much reality and can't be trusted to react constructively.

Once again, we have to read between the lines (although the ink isn't as illegible as our last go around) to understand that we are on our own and won't be spoon fed what an appropriate personal response would be.

Damn. There are things I didn't do until Tuesday night. There are additional things I'm not likely to do until the next event. If it happens "there" rather than "here", I just might have some time to put them into action.

-- Anonymous, September 17, 2001

Brooks, that's a good answer, too. I'm back with a small crowd of doomers and sorta-doomers, and I forget that our outlook is not that of the general population (and trust me, that's one of the best aspects of being home: I don't have to come up with a cover story as to why I'm carrying water and camping equipment in my trunk.) I suspect that there are still members of the general population who are in shock or who just haven't accepted the events of last week as being "real," if that makes sense. Over and over, I heard people comparing the tragic pictures of the WTC to movies. That's our mass culture, I think. Life, for some, has taken on the quality of a 30- minute sitcom. Unfortunately, this sitcom doesn't have a happy ending.

-- Anonymous, September 17, 2001

Sheeps, THANKS! I had been trying to remember that I wanted to look for maps of the steam tunnels in various areas. I won't say more, but I'm sure a lot of you have older buildings in your areas that may contain unused steam tunnels. These need to be checked both for security and possible emergency use.

-- Anonymous, September 17, 2001

Another thing...

Search your city/county/state web sites. Try to gather information on any old civil defense sites that used to exist. They are probably still there, maybe not as maintained as they were decades ago. Dig for the information, it should be there.

I've considered trying to get a meeting up with the few neighbors on the street. I've only met two or three of them since I moved, and well let's say that my new digs aren't in the most friendly of places. (Fine with me, as I won't have them dropping over at all times to borrow eggs and the like ;) ) I think that we need to possibly plan what we as a street are gonna do if indeed TSHTF here in OKC (or at the base). Don't wanna let them know I'm as prepped as I am. I also don't wanna let them know that my husband is currently gone. I'm still thinking about how to pull this off, and if I should at all.

Sheeps

-- Anonymous, September 17, 2001

Sheeps, same cautions as with Y2K. Don't tell ANYbody what you have or anything about your husband's job or what you have stashed. If anyone DOES see anything, just mumble something about living in hurricane country and not being able to get out of the habit of having some supplies on hand. You might find someone with your mindset, but I guarantee you there will be a hundred or thousand times more who think it can't happen to them.

-- Anonymous, September 17, 2001

I remember there were cautions pre-rollover about staying away from the crowds. My nearest civil defense unit is probably the National Guard facility 2-3 miles away. Problem is, too many people might end up there, with resultant crowd control problems. My approach continues to be STAY AT HOME!

Right now, the only thing I have shared is the joys of a BOB. AFAIK, I have made exactly one convert, but I'm very proud of that victory.

-- Anonymous, September 17, 2001

OG,

My neighbors don't need to know about his job. Job... what job? LOL

Sheeps

-- Anonymous, September 17, 2001

Great site, with a whole lot of info on civil defense, etc.:

http://www.fema.gov/library/civilpg.htm

[link fixed, compliments of the staff]

-- Anonymous, September 18, 2001

My brain needs an infusion, sorry about the non-hot link. I will just put the URL here: http://www.fema.gov/library/civilpg.htm

-- Anonymous, September 18, 2001