Disaster Recovery
Recovering after a disaster is usually a gradual process. Safety, mental health and physical wellbeing are a capital matters. Having assistance available and knowledge about obtaining assistance makes the process faster and less stressful. This section offers some general advice about measures to be taken after a disaster, in the process of returning home, your community and your life back to normal.
What health and safety guidelines must I follow?
What should I do to clean, repair or rebuild my damaged house safely for the future?
What precautions should I have to return home?
Where can I get help?
How can I handle the emotional effects of a disaster?
How can I help children handle the emotional effects of a disaster?
How can I help other people affected by a disaster?
Nuclear or radioactive attack
Explosions may have deadly effects – a blinding light, intense heat (thermal radiation), initial nuclear radiation, fires caused by the heat impulse and secondary effects caused by destruction. They may also produce radioactive particles called radioactive precipitation that may be carried by the wind for thousands of miles.
Terrorist use of a radioactive dispersion device (RDD) – often called a “dirty nuclear bomb” – is considered much more likely than a nuclear device. These radioactive weapons are a combination of conventional devices and non-lethal radioactive materials over a general area. Such radioactive weapons are attractive to terrorists since little technical knowledge is required to build and use them compared with a nuclear device. In addition, these radioactive materials widely used in medicine, agriculture, industry and research, are easier to obtained compared to uranium and plutonium classified for weapons.
Terrorist use of a nuclear device will probably be limited to a single, smaller “suitcase” weapon. The potency of such weapon would be within the scope of weapons used during World War III. The extent of the effect would be the same as a weapon sent by an intercontinental missile, but the area and severity of the effects would be considerably more limited.
There is no way of knowing how long the warning will be issued before a nuclear terrorist attack. There is the possibility of a surprise attack.
The danger of a strategic and massive nuclear attack in the United States implying weapons diminished at the end of the Cold War. However, some terrorist receive the support of nations with nuclear weapon programs.
If the threat of an attack from a hostile nation were present, people residing near the possible objectives would be advised to move to an area not considered as a possible objective. Protection against radioactive precipitation will require seeking shelter underground or at the center of a large building.
In general, the possible targets include:
• Projectile sites and strategic military bases.
• Government centers, such as Washington, D.C., and state capitals.
• Important transportation and communication centers.
• Manufacturing, industrial, technological and financial centers.
• Oil refineries, electric power plants and chemical substance plants.
• Main ports and airports.
Seeking shelter during a nuclear attack is absolutely necessary. There are two types of shelters – detonation and precipitation.
Detonation shelters offer some protection from the detonation pressure, initial radiation, heat and fire, but even a detonation shelter is not able to resist a direct hit from a nuclear detonation.
Precipitation shelters don’t need to be built specifically for this purpose. It can be any sheltered space, as long as the walls and roof are thick and dense enough to absorb the radiation emitted by precipitation particles. The three protection factors of a precipitation shelter are protection, distance and time.
• Protection. The stronger and denser the materials are – thick walls, concrete, bricks, book and earth – between you and the precipitation particles, the better it will be for you.
• Distance. The more distance between and the radiation source, the better it will be for you. An underground area, such as a basement, offers more protection than the first floor of a building. A floor near the center of a building with several floors could be better, depending on what is near that level in which a significant number of precipitation particles could accumulate. Flat roofs accumulate more particles; therefore, the last floor is not a good choice, as well as a floor adjacent to the flat roof of a neighboring building.
• Time. Radiation precipitation will lose its strength very quickly. In time, you will be able to exit the precipitation shelter. Radioactive precipitation poses the most threat during the first two weeks. At that point, it will have decreased to 1% of its initial radiation level.
Remember that any protection, however temporary, is better than none, and the more protection, distance and time you can take advantage of, the better it will be for you.
Electromagnetic pulse
Beside other effects, a nuclear weapon detonated in or over the atmosphere of the earth can create an electromagnetic pulse, a high density electromagnetic field. The EMP acts like a lightning, but is stronger, faster and denser. The EMP may seriously damage the electronic devices connected to electricity sources or antennas. This includes communication systems, computers, appliances and ignition systems in cars and aircrafts. Damage may vary from a minor interruption to burning of components. Most electronic devices within an area of 1.000 miles of a nuclear detonation at high elevation could be affected. Battery radios with short antennas are usually unaffected.
Although the EMP will probably not damage most people, could cause damage to people with heart pacemakers and other implanted electronic devices.
What to do before a nuclear or radioactive attack
1. Learn the warning signs and all warning sources used in your community. Make sure you know what the signs are, what they mean, how they will be used and what to do if you hear them.
2. Gather and keep a disaster supply with food, water, medication, fuel and personal items for two weeks – the more, the better.
3. Learn what public buildings in your community have been designated as precipitation shelters. It may have been many years ago, but begin there and find out what buildings are still at use and may be designated as shelters again.
• Call your local emergency office.
• Look for yellow and black signs designating precipitation shelters in public buildings. Note: At the end of the Cold War, many of these signs have been removed from previously designated buildings.
• If there are no visible or official designations, make your own list of possible shelters near your home, workplace and school: basements, or windowless central area in the middle floors of a building, as well as underground paths and tunnels.
• Give your family clear instructions of the location of the shelters and what they should do in case of an attack.
4. If you live in an apartment building, talk to the manager about the safest place of the building to take shelter and to provide assistance to the occupants until it is safe to go out.
5. Many suburban and rural areas have some public shelters. If you are considering building a radioactive precipitation shelter in your home, consider the following.
• A basement or underground area is the best place for a precipitation shelter. Some changes are needed often, especially if the structure has two floors or more and a basement, or a corner of it is underground.
• Precipitation shelters can be used as storage as long as an emergency does not arise, but only store things that are easy to remove. (When removed, dense and heavy items may be necessary for more protection.)
• All items needed during your stay do not have to be inside the shelter itself, but may be stocked elsewhere, as long as they can be moved into the shelter quickly.
6. Learn evacuation plans in your community. Such plans may include evacuation routes, relocation places, how the public will be notified and transportation options for those who don’t own a car and those with special needs.
7. Get other emergency preparedness brochures you may need.
What to do during a nuclear or radioactive attack
1. Do not look at the flash or ball of light, it may blind you.
2. If you hear an attack warning:
• Seek shelter as soon as you can, UNDERGROUND IF POSSIBLE, and stay there unless instructed otherwise.
• If you are outdoors and cannot go inside immediately, seek shelter behind something that may offer protection. Lie on the ground and cover your head.
• If the explosion is at a distance, it could take 30 second or more for the wave to reach you.
3. Protect yourself from radioactive precipitation. If you are close enough to see the flash of a nuclear explosion, the precipitation will reach you within 20 minutes. Seek shelter, even if you are several miles away from ground zero, since radioactive precipitation may be carried by the wind for several miles. Remember the three protection factors: Protection, distance and time.
4. Keep a battery radio with you and listen to official information. Follow given instructions. Local instructions should always have priority: Local officials know what the situation is better than anyone.
What to do after a nuclear or radioactive attack
In a public shelter or at your home:
1. Do not abandon the shelter until officials say it is safe to do so. Follow instructions when going out.
2. In a precipitation shelter, stay in the shelter until official authorities suggest going out. The duration of your stay may vary from a day or two to four weeks.
Contamination from a radioactive dispersion device may affect a large area, depending on the amount of conventional explosive used, and the amount of radioactive material and atmospheric conditions.
A terrorist nuclear “suitcase” device detonated at or near ground level might produce a strong precipitation and rubble vacuumed towards the mushroom cloud.
A nuclear weapon activated from a projectile from a hostile nation would probably cause an explosion many times larger than a suitcase bomb and would produce a larger cloud of radioactive precipitation.
The decomposition rate of radioactive precipitation would be the same, making those in higher levels of radiation remain in the shelter for up to a month.
The strongest precipitation would limit to the area or downwind from the explosion and 80% of the precipitation will happen within the first 24 hours.
Due to this data and the very limited number of weapons that terrorists are able to detonate, most of the country would be unaffected by the precipitation.
People in most areas affected would be able to get out of their shelters and, if necessary, would be evacuated to areas not affected a few per day.
3. Although it may be difficult, try to keep sanitary conditions in your shelter.
4. There may be a food and water shortage. Use them wisely, but do not impose severe rations, especially for the children, the ill and the elderly.
5. Cooperate with the shelter managers. Living with a lot of people in a confined space may be difficult and unpleasant.
When returning home
1. Continue listening to the news on the radio about what to do, where to go and places to avoid.
2. If your home is within the bomb’s hit wave, or you live at an apartment building that experienced an explosion, verify if there is a sign or collapse first, such as:
• Broken chimneys, fallen bricks, collapsed walls, detached mortar from the ceiling.
• Fallen lamps, paintings and mirrors.
• Broken glass from the windows.
• Fallen bookcases, wall units and other belongings.
• Burst gas and electric lines.
3. Clean medication, flammable liquids, and any other potentially dangerous spilt material immediately.
4. Listen to instructions in your battery operated radio and information about community services.
5. Listen to local radio or television stations to get information about assistance that may be available. Local, state and federal governments will help you satisfy emergency needs and will help you recover from damage and loss.
6. Danger may worsen with burst water pipelines and downed power lines.
7. If you shut off electricity, gas and water at the main switch and valves before going to the shelter:
Do not restore the gas. The gas company will restore it or you will receive other instructions.
Restore water at the main valve only if you know that the water system is working and the water is not contaminated.
Restore electricity at the main switchboard only if you know that the wiring is not damaged at your home and the electric system is working in your community.
Verify that the sewage lines are intact before using the sanitary facilities.
8. Stay away from damaged areas.
9. Stay away from areas marked “radiation danger” or “HAZMAT” (hazardous materials).
