The Garden Island published an article on page A6 on Jan. 16, three days after the horrible mess caused by the warning we all suffered from on Saturday, Jan. 13. It was put out by the Red Cross and written by the CEO, Coralie Chun Matayoshi. I have quite a few issues with it that I will cover shortly.
My background is from working in a defense-commercial company for 33 years in their test labs as an engineering technician. I also subscribe to several science magazines and read them cover to cover.
Now back to your printed article, titled: “Here’s what to do if missiles are inbound.”
No. 1 (third paragraph)
“Government agencies in Hawaii do not try to open shelters in case of nuclear missile attack, as the estimated timeline of about 15 to 20 minutes would not be sufficient for people to get there.”
I feel that this is a great injustice to those thousands of us who may live within, say, two miles of a designated shelter, if we had any, who would be saved by arriving in the time allotted. The government or the Red Cross needs to rethink this one.
No. 2 (top of second column)
“If you are indoors, stay indoors well away from windows.”
You would be safer to be in a space that has no windows because the flash from the detonation is so bright that you will be blinded. In Japan when we dropped the “big one,” the flash burned the concrete, except where the people once stood outside, leaving a permanent shadow. The shadows of these people are still visible today. The people were burned to ash.
No. 3 (next item)
“If you are outdoors, seek immediate shelter in a building, preferably a concrete structure …”
As long as you can find a space with no windows or openings. A wood structure might be destroyed by the pressure wave (speed of sound, five seconds per mile) from the blast. It arrives shortly after the flash (speed of light).
No. 4 (next item)
“If you are driving, pull safely to side of the road and stop. If a shelter is very close, shelter in that structure. If not, remain in your car and lay on the floor.”
With the small amount of space inside cars these days, how do you lie on the floor? See No. 3 above. For two weeks?
Nos. 5, 6, 7 and 8 (next four items)
These items all suffer from the same related communication problems:
No. 5 “… told it is safe to leave …” By whom and how?
No. 6 “Listen to local radio stations for official …” See item Nos. 7 and 8.
No. 7 “Cell phone, television, radio and internet services will be severely disrupted or unavailable.”
No. 8 “Walkie-talkies may give you communications …”
A nuclear detonation releases an EMP (electrical magnetic pulse) that will destroy all most all electronic systems within many miles. This also affects most of the newer autos and power-
generating plants. So there will not be any power, running cars, boats, cell phones, phones, water pumps for domestic water systems, etc. The walkie-talkies might be saved if they are stored inside a closed steel toolbox like I do, when the bomb goes off. But a walkie-talkie has a very limited distance capability, about half to one mile clear line of sight only.
I wish the best to all and hope the worst never happens here. Aloha.
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Eric N. Campbell of Kalaheo is a member of CERT (Community Emergency Response Team).
