posted on August 12, 2002 12:40:40 PM new
The Feds may waffle about telling you that NYC and a number of other cities can't be successfully evacuated in case of a large scale attack, but local hospitals and local governments are preparing. FEMA may not like it, but the word is out on what should be found in your Doomsday kit. Will you compile one?
posted on August 12, 2002 01:01:49 PM new
Antiquary, I'm trying to fathom being locked for three days in a room with four cats and their litterbox and a husband who likes beer.
posted on August 12, 2002 01:21:25 PM new
That's part of what the respirators are for, saabsister.
That's a pisspoor doomsday kit, if I may say so. Almost a year since 9/11 and that's all the bureaucrats can come up with? They need to check some of the survivalist websites.
The Dreadnaught is patched, roof is done, tanks need epoxy patches, new tires, and that's it. When anyone comments on the age of my Dodge Dreadnaught, I just say it's a classic And SUVS? Hah! The Mothership has an air horn.
Now to come up with a non funky paint job. You have the right to an informed opinion -Harlan Ellison
posted on August 12, 2002 02:04:19 PM new
4 cats and a litterbox and beer in the same room sounds like biological warfare to me. You have the right to an informed opinion -Harlan Ellison
posted on August 12, 2002 03:15:20 PM new
To wreak havoc on a major city doesn't require the type of attacks that the article encompasses.
Just debilitating the entire water supply for 96 or more hours would make most cities unlivable. Imagine the havoc if there were no sewage system in a city like New York for 72 or more hours and the panic of no drinking water. It would also add to the panic if there was no credible information as to when the system would be back up.
I remember the gas lines in the 1970s. There were fights and shootings with people arguing over who gets gasoline. Just losing electricity for 24 hours in a major city causes panic and mayhem.
A conventional bomb or an airplane hitting a building we can handle, we've proved that, but few realize the critical utilities we take for granted on a daily basis without which the population couldn't exist. Even a dirty bomb or a bio/chem agent would be highly localized. The major problem with these types of attacks would be the panic and not the actual harm from the attack.
Has anyone ever considered how to evacuate New York when most city dwellers don't have cars ? If mass tranit isn't operating, how do the people get out ? Walk, Run ?
Give me control over the water and electricity for a city and I hold total control of that city and can make it unlivable in short order.
posted on August 12, 2002 03:25:04 PM new
Raemond, before 9/11 someone took a potshot at the electrical substsation about three miles from here. Nothing was damaged and the power company said that if the station had been taken off line, it would take about three months at a minimum to restore power to the area. This is one dinky station in the boonies.
posted on August 12, 2002 07:43:02 PM new
I have a doomsday kit but we prefer to call it our earthquake kit. Not going to lock myself in any tiny room with three rabbits,four cats and four dogs. No,no,no! A litterbox and four cats is nothing compared to what we'd be dealing with! LOL!
picture a dog unable to go "outside"...now picture four of them......on the upside we wouldn't have to worry about cleaning the cat boxes.......
posted on August 12, 2002 08:00:42 PM new
Those large transformers at substations can take months for delivery of a new one if one is damaged beyond repair, they are very expensive and aren't kept in inventory. If enough of the transformers are damaged, redundantcy and shifting loads won't solve the problem.
But I don't think that terrorists could impact the utility systems to great effect. It is too spread out and once one site was hit there would be immediate heightened security at the rest. However, the amount of supervisory controls of these systems now done with computers may pose a risk if they could hack the sysyems.
In any event, I am beginning to think that the 9-11 attack was pure dumb luck for the terrorists. If they were capable of sustained acts of terrorism on US soil, we would have been hit again by now. They certainly have the ill will to harm us, and without regard for their own lives. As long as we can keep the means of destruction out of their hands, I wouldn't worry too much about them.
posted on August 12, 2002 08:56:27 PM new"In any event, I am beginning to think that the 9-11 attack was pure dumb luck for the terrorists. If they were capable of sustained acts of terrorism on US soil, we would have been hit again by now. They certainly have the ill will to harm us, and without regard for their own lives. As long as we can keep the means of destruction out of their hands, I wouldn't worry too much about them"
Well hallaylooya! That has begun to dawn? It's near word for word what I said near a year ago.
What nation of warriors could take seriously a bunch of turbaned circus clowns who do their training in tutus and loose gowns. I laugh every time I've seen the supposedly threatening tape of streams of shieks leaping over barricades like night night sheep in beards melting in the sun. You know the tape? It's the one fox news always has in the background after commercials. Hilarious. There's no war to fight with them, and so all wwe have is a trumped up pretend war to use to fool the people into believing that great expenditures in the weapon industries are necessary. A farce.
And SUVS? Hah! The Mothership has an air horn.
