# PSA for NYC residents about what to do in case of a nuclear attack **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 14, 2022, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psa-for-nyc-residents-about-what-to-do-in-case-of-a-nuclear-attack/967914 "2022-07-14T02:56:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2022, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psa-for-nyc-residents-about-what-to-do-in-case-of-a-nuclear-attack/967914/41 "2022-07-14T22:55:15Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > the air supply was still coming from outside the shelter. If you’re enough of a prepper, you’ve handled that with some sort of filtration. Oxygen, nitrogen and other gaseous components are not going to become radioactive. It’s the particulates you need to worry about. > [@pkbites](#): > > A nuke just went off. Take a bath! > Why bother showering when the water was possibly contaminated? > How would one stay tuned when most electricity would be knocked out and most battery operated electronics probably wouldn’t function either? As far as bathing: that’s advice I’ve heard before. The idea is to wash off particulates that are stuck to your hair and clothing. The water might be an issue, or might not, depending on where it came from, but chances are any radiation will be less concentrated than stuff stuck to your skin (and don’t use hair conditioner; that’ll trap debris). Electronics: yeah. There might be some broadcasts from hardened, or quickly-repaired, sources. But an EMP might have knocked out everything you personally own. > [@nearwildheaven](#): > > It obviously couldn’t have been real, because it wasn’t in real time (FWIW, the 1938 broadcast of “The War Of The Worlds” wasn’t either) and like the Hawaiian alert several years ago, it was only on that channel. The real thing would have been everywhere, to put it lightly I did see the show. They had a crawl going across the bottom of the screen for most of it, saying “THIS IS FICTION, DO NOT PANIC” or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2022, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psa-for-nyc-residents-about-what-to-do-in-case-of-a-nuclear-attack/967914/42 "2022-07-14T23:54:39Z")
ISTR a similar crawl when “The Day After” first aired, or at least a “This is fiction” disclaimer several times during the broadcast. (Few advertisers would touch that program with a 10-foot pole at the time.) ---
**Author:** ![arles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/71c47a/32.png) [@arles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/arles)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2022, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psa-for-nyc-residents-about-what-to-do-in-case-of-a-nuclear-attack/967914/43 "2022-07-15T00:16:14Z")
My favorite website whenever a discussion or article pops up on nuclear bomb attacks: [https://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/](https://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/) If you enter New York for location and select Little Boy for the yield, you can see how little of NYC is initially in the kill zone. But then scroll down to the yield option, select Tsar Bomba well the greater NYC area is toast. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2022, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psa-for-nyc-residents-about-what-to-do-in-case-of-a-nuclear-attack/967914/44 "2022-07-15T01:00:01Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Not all nuclear explosions produce EMP. One set off at ground level will not. IOW, the classic terrorist bomb in a Ryder van or in a shipboard 40-foot shipping container. Even the EMP from a high-altitude nuclear detonation has been hyped by Hollywood (and defense contractors) into a magic off switch for all modern devices even though it’s not really clear that it’d be _that_ powerful. It would definitely cause some problems but the idea that it would instantly plunge society into the 19th century is, IIRC, not very well founded. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2022, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psa-for-nyc-residents-about-what-to-do-in-case-of-a-nuclear-attack/967914/45 "2022-07-15T01:08:27Z")
I would not go quite that far. An attack designed specifically to create EMP could do a lot of damage to a hefty fraction of the USA nearly instantly. Much of which might take months or years to repair. As we’re seeing with COVID and supply chain issues now, the repercussions from a disruption can last a lot longer than the initial disruption. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2022, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psa-for-nyc-residents-about-what-to-do-in-case-of-a-nuclear-attack/967914/46 "2022-07-15T04:31:03Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > We had tons of literature and fallout shelter plans and we went over it all in school. It all narrows down to old wooden schoolroom desks being invulnerable to nuclear blasts. Then, as now, I suspect the people in power knew that anyone in the fallout zone was screwed, but needed to put out a plan as a panacea to the population so they would believe they had a chance. If it ever occurred that they were in a position to find out the truth, well, the fecal matter had already impacted the air circulation equipment and everyone had bigger problems to worry about and there would be no White House or pentagon to storm the gates to lodge a complaint. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2022, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psa-for-nyc-residents-about-what-to-do-in-case-of-a-nuclear-attack/967914/47 "2022-07-15T04:43:58Z")
I also remember the evacuation routes that people were supposed to use in the event of an attack. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2022, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psa-for-nyc-residents-about-what-to-do-in-case-of-a-nuclear-attack/967914/48 "2022-07-15T05:01:57Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > I get the theory, and it’s not as stupid as it sounds, but it felt kind of stupid anyway. They might have been trying to be merciful. > **[Duck and Cover - Terminal Lance](https://terminallance.com/2022/03/01/duck-and-cover/)** > > You don't need me to tell you that the situation with Russia and Ukraine has gone off the rails. (Or maybe you do, I don't know. I don't know where you get your news from.) What started as a classic "my troops were merely passing by" moment for... ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2022, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psa-for-nyc-residents-about-what-to-do-in-case-of-a-nuclear-attack/967914/49 "2022-07-15T05:41:27Z")
Terminal Lance is still a thing?! I remember reading it back when it first started, 2010 I believe and then forgetting about it within a year. Good to see he finally added color to it. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2022, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psa-for-nyc-residents-about-what-to-do-in-case-of-a-nuclear-attack/967914/50 "2022-07-15T11:57:47Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > They might have been trying to be merciful. Yeah, probably so. What I said wasn’t even the half of it. I should dig up the field manual, but in addition to lying low and putting your fingers in your ears, afterward squad leaders were to make sure everyone cleaned their rifles, counted and reported their ammunition, just aggressively doing normal things as if to forget that something extremely abnormal just happened. Prior to that, I did not fully grasp that there were decades in the mid-20th century when nukes weren’t seen (or sized) as civilization-ending superbombs. Just really large artillery pieces, suitable for smiting an entire mechanized armored brigade that’s bearing down on your flank. For a long time Army doctrine seemed pretty sanguine about the expectation that there’d be nukes raining down on the battlefield and we were supposed to just… suit up and fight through it. I’m not up on current training and doctrine but it may still be that way. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2022, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psa-for-nyc-residents-about-what-to-do-in-case-of-a-nuclear-attack/967914/51 "2022-07-15T17:07:34Z")
It probably hasn’t gotten much emphasis recently, but for darn sure a ground battle between Russia and NATO someplace this decade where the two sides abut has a very distinct possiblity of including “tactical” nuclear fires. The Russians totally believe nukes are just bigger bombs with no special emotional or strategic import. NATO thinks … otherwise. The consequences of that doctrinal asymmetry are destabilizing and unpredictable to say the least. I personally was charged in the 1980s with hand-carrying said nuclear fires into eastern Europe if need be. It didn’t end in the “mid 20th century.” Per open sources, it isn’t ended now. Sleep well. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2022, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psa-for-nyc-residents-about-what-to-do-in-case-of-a-nuclear-attack/967914/52 "2022-07-16T01:38:52Z")
Back in my mid-1980s nuclear-freeze days, the local chapter wanted volunteers to come in and do phone surveys. They handed us stacks of 3x5 cards with names and phone numbers on them, and we were to ask them about nuclear weapons, and how important did they rate this issue, from 1 (most important) to 5 (not important at all). The most emphatic “1” I got was from a guy who sounded like he was about my age, 20-something, and he said, “It’s the most important political issue this world has ever faced! I’m in the reserves, and we have to go to classes where they tell us how to survive this, and we all know it’s BS.” ---
**Author:** ![Bootb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19b73/32.png) [@Bootb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootb)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2022, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psa-for-nyc-residents-about-what-to-do-in-case-of-a-nuclear-attack/967914/53 "2022-07-16T14:01:05Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > Even the EMP from a high-altitude nuclear detonation has been hyped by Hollywood (and defense contractors) into a magic off switch for all modern devices even though it’s not really clear that it’d be _that_ powerful. It would definitely cause some problems but the idea that it would instantly plunge society into the 19th century is, IIRC, not very well founded. You might try doing some research on this, starting with Starfish Prime. > Just after 11 p.m. Honolulu time on July 9, the 1.45-megaton hydrogen bomb was detonated thirteen minutes after launch. Almost immediately, an electromagnetic pulse knocked out electrical service in Hawaii, nearly 1,000 miles away. Telephone service was disrupted, streetlights were down and burglar alarms were set off by a pulse that was much larger than scientists expected. > **[Going Nuclear Over the Pacific](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/going-nuclear-over-the-pacific-24428997/)** > > A half-century ago, a U.S. military test lit up the skies and upped the ante with the Soviets ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2022, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psa-for-nyc-residents-about-what-to-do-in-case-of-a-nuclear-attack/967914/54 "2022-07-16T14:05:01Z")
I’m aware of [Starfish Prime](https://foreignpolicy.com/2013/05/24/the-empire-strikes-back/): > Now, as I say, Starfish Prime did do [some damage](http://stinet.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=A955411&Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf), even if Waikiki’s luau schedule was uninterrupted. The electromagnetic pulse and other effects probably killed off two or three satellites in orbit, which was bad enough. The explosion may also have damaged some telephone equipment, but there were no telephone outages. (Military communications and test instrumentation all worked fine.) Some street lights on Ferdinand Street in Manoa and Kawainui Street in Kailua also went out. Of course, street lights and telephone systems experience everyday failures, too. You’d be surprised at [how hard it is to demonstrate](http://www.ece.unm.edu/summa/notes/SDAN/0031.pdf) that street light failures are the result of an electromagnetic pulse rather than, say, faulty fuses. (Apparently, the answer turns on fascinating questions like “How many clear plastic washers were in transformer cutouts that failed?”) Contemporary reports mention continuous radio coverage of the event with no outages. > > So let’s be clear: Starfish Prime did not “turn off the lights over a few million square miles in the mid-Pacific.” It did not shut down any radio stations or cars or burn out the telephone system. Hopefully we never have a chance to get more data points. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2022, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psa-for-nyc-residents-about-what-to-do-in-case-of-a-nuclear-attack/967914/55 "2022-07-16T17:33:29Z")
Starfish Prime was inadvertent. And was not really anywhere near the ideal location on Earth nor configuration of explosion to maximize the effects. But the consequences were eye-opening, even for the low voltage low frequency low tech infrastructure of the equatorial Pacific at the time. Further reading here is suggested for anyone interested. > **[Homepage](http://www.empcommission.org/)** > > Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack This is the best unclassified data and analysis we’re going to get. It’s a few years old, but AFAIK not much has changed in the understanding of the physics. What _has_ changed, and significantly for the worse, is the number of players who might have enough weapons to pull this off, but not enough weapons to devastate the North American continent in the more conventional nuclear air-burst / ground-burst mode. Yes, that would be a suicide move for whichever government does it. But plenty of personalist authoritarian regimes end with the personal authoritarian megalomaniac going out in a blaze of self-inflicted “glory”. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2022, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psa-for-nyc-residents-about-what-to-do-in-case-of-a-nuclear-attack/967914/56 "2022-07-25T17:28:08Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > Duck down, put your head between your knees, and kiss your ass goodbye! That’s the advice that I remember. > [@pkbites](#): > > How would one stay tuned when most electricity would be knocked out and most battery operated electronics probably wouldn’t function either? You can buy little radios that have hand cranks that produce just enough electricity to run them. > [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](#): > > These instructions seem to be based on the idea that your phones, televisions, and so on would work after an EMP pulse. I once saw our county’s planned emergency response for an EMP. All of the instructions started with “if you have been notified that there will be an EMP attack . . .” ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2022, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psa-for-nyc-residents-about-what-to-do-in-case-of-a-nuclear-attack/967914/57 "2022-07-25T18:23:24Z")
> [@arles](#): > > My favorite website whenever a discussion or article pops up on nuclear bomb attacks: > > [https://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/](https://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/) Thanks for this link. This site is The Bomb! ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2022, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psa-for-nyc-residents-about-what-to-do-in-case-of-a-nuclear-attack/967914/58 "2022-07-27T18:13:09Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > The Russians totally believe nukes are just bigger bombs with no special emotional or strategic import. NATO thinks … otherwise. The consequences of that doctrinal asymmetry are destabilizing and unpredictable to say the least. I think Russia now understands the situation very well. If they didn’t, by now, Ukraine would be a lot more scorched than it already is. It is true that the Soviets built their Cold-war battle doctrine around the idea that they could sterilize an enemy position with tactical nukes and then occupy it while it’s still hot. That’s one reason they’re failing in Ukraine, they’ve subtracted the nukes from that equation but otherwise still expect to rely on overwhelming artillery prep to make things safe for a mediocre army to occupy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psa-for-nyc-residents-about-what-to-do-in-case-of-a-nuclear-attack/967914.md?page=2)