In what is some shocking news, a Senate committee was informed on Tuesday that should a 10 kiloton nuclear bomb explode at the White House, a lot of damage would occur to our fine state city. They were also briefed on the lack of readiness by our government for such an attack. And here all along I thought we were completely safe since 9/11 due to our “war on the axil of evil”, the spiffy color coded terror alert system, and the addition of a few air marshals on our airplanes. No?
According to the article:
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Dr. Cham Dallas, a public health expert at the University of Georgia, presented a map of downtown Washington, D.C., showing that there would be 100,000 deaths within just a few square miles of the White House.
Casualties would extend from the Washington Monument through Georgetown and north toward the Washington Zoo. There would be massive debris from damaged buildings, including shattered glass.
In Chicago or New York City, which have more concentrated populations, the damage could be four to eight times as bad.
I have to wonder, is this something we can really prepare for? A catostrophic disaster such as this, especially in our nation’s capital, would cause such a panic around the country and around the world, 9/11 would pale in comparison.
What do you think, DC? How safe and prepared do you think we really are? Or is it best not to even worry about it because if a nuke goes off we’ll be instantly burnt into crispy critters? I’m just glad I live nice and close to the White House.
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs