Posted on 02/10/2003 9:41:40 AM PST by Salvation
120 Cities Most at Risk For the past few years, the federal government has been providing training and assistance to police and emergency response workers in the 120 cities considered most at risk of terrorist attacks. A complete list of those cities appears at the end of this report. As you will see, the list includes major government centers (Philadelphia, Miami, Sacramento, Washington, D.C.), cities with extensive industry (Detroit, Houston, San Jose), major business centers (Chicago, Miami, Philadelphia), important media centers (New York, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C.), major seaports (Newport News, Oakland, San Diego, Tampa), and important military facilities (Colorado Springs, Honolulu, Long Beach, Norfolk, San Francisco). The federal government is providing extensive training for police and emergency workers in these 120 cities, including preparation for conventional (e.g., bomb), biological, chemical, and radiological (dirty bomb) attacks. However ... Are the At Risk Cities Now Prepared?The short answer is no, they are not. So if you live in or within 50 miles of these cities, you should consider yourself at significant risk for the duration of the War on Terror, which President Bush says could last as long as 50 years. Fifty miles should be considered the minimal safe distance from an at risk city. The reason is that in event of even a small radiological or nuclear attack (5-20 kiloton weapon), lethal radiation and fallout will be carried by prevailing winds at least that far. In plain English, if the winds are blowing away from you, you will probably survive if you are 10-20 miles away. However, if winds are blowing toward you, you will probably be dead in a few days. Similarly, in event of a major biological attack, winds and fleeing survivors could easily carry pathogens at least 50 miles. In the event a more serious attack, you may need to be as much as 100-300 miles away from a target city to survive. While the government is now attempting to train emergency personnel in the 120 cities at greatest risk, please recognize it will take many years before most cities are even minimally prepared. Even then, government assistance is absolutely no guarantee that there will be enough drugs, water and food to go around for everyone in the event of a radiological, nuclear, or biological attack, which could put hundreds of thousands, even millions of people at risk. In many cases, the consequences will be nationwide. Furthermore, there are many biological weapons for which no effective treatments exist, and the only protection is to not be anywhere in the area when people are exposed, and to get out before you and your family are exposed. Also, in a crisis, expect emergency facilitiesincluding hospitals and medical clinics to be quickly overwhelmed. In fact, they are likely to be reservoirs of disease and contagion. Dark Winter: What to Expect in the
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120 Cities Most at Risk
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State | City |
Alabama | Birmingham |
Mobile | |
Montgomery | |
Alaska | Anchorage |
Arkansas | Little Rock |
Arizona | Phoenix |
Mesa | |
Tucson | |
California | Anaheim |
Bakersfield | |
Fremont | |
Fresno | |
Glendale | |
Huntington Beach | |
Long Beach | |
Los Angeles | |
Modesto | |
Oakland | |
Riverside | |
San Bernardino | |
San Diego | |
San Francisco | |
Santa Ana | |
San Jose | |
Sacramento | |
Stockton | |
Colorado | Aurora |
Colorado Springs | |
Denver | |
District of Columbia | Washington |
Florida | Fort Lauderdale |
Hialeah | |
Jacksonville | |
Miami | |
Orlando | |
St. Petersburg | |
Tampa | |
Georgia | Atlanta |
Columbus | |
Hawaii | Honolulu |
Illinois | Chicago |
Indiana | Fort Wayne |
Indianapolis | |
Iowa | Des Moines |
Kansas | Kansas City |
Wichita | |
Kentucky | Lexington |
Louisville | |
Louisiana | Baton Rouge |
Metaire | |
New Orleans | |
Shreveport | |
Maryland | Baltimore |
Massachusetts | Boston |
Springfield | |
Worcester | |
Michigan | Detroit |
Grand Rapids | |
Warren | |
Minnesota | Minneapolis |
St. Paul | |
Mississippi | Jackson |
Missouri | Kansas City |
St. Louis | |
Nebraska | Lincoln |
Omaha | |
Nevada | Las Vegas |
New Jersey | Jersey City |
Newark | |
New Mexico | Albuquerque |
New York | Buffalo |
New York | |
Rochester | |
Syracuse | |
Yonkers | |
North Carolina | Charlotte |
Greensboro | |
Raleigh | |
Ohio | Akron |
Cincinnati | |
Cleveland | |
Columbus | |
Dayton | |
Toledo | |
Oklahoma | Oklahoma City |
Tulsa | |
Oregon | Portland |
Pennsylvania | Philadelphia |
Pittsburgh | |
Rhode Island | Providence |
Tennessee | Chattanooga |
Knoxville | |
Memphis | |
Nashville | |
Texas | Amarillo |
Arlington | |
Austin | |
Corpus Christi | |
Dallas | |
El Paso | |
Fort Worth | |
Garland | |
Houston | |
Irving | |
Lubbock | |
San Antonio | |
Utah | Salt Lake City |
Virginia | Arlington |
Chesapeake | |
Newport News | |
Norfolk | |
Richmond | |
Virginia Beach | |
Washington | Seattle |
Spokane | |
Tacoma | |
Wisconsin | Madison |
Milwaukee |
FYI and speculation!
If you live in the United States, and live somewhere near any city, or if you fly on airplanes, or ride on trains, or buses, or drive a car over a bridge or through a tunnel, you are at risk of a terrorist attack.
If you eat lots of bacon and eggs, you are at risk of a heart attack.
If you eat lots of beans...gas attack risk.
If you drive past a McDonalds...that's right, a Big Mac Attack.
Don't watch Fox...that's When Animals Attack.
And worrying about which cities are most at risk will put you at risk of an anxiety attack.
Please don't take this as a flame. Its not directed at you but at whoever would pull out an atlas and make a list of the most populous cities in each state and call it a list of cities at risk.
"Be careful near big cities." Not helpful.
The correct list of cities actually tracks the major commercial freeways of the country. And, with our foolish refusal to seal the dangerous Mexican border, it is probably already too late.
You're right. Its just a list of largest city by state. Its like, each state has some cities that are of significant size, and those could be targets. Here they are...
Interesting as a 4th grade geography unit exercise, but otherwise not too helpful.
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