Not a training alarm: what to do in case of a missile strike

Фото: Depositphotos

What if an enemy rocket flies toward your country and you only have a few minutes to reach the shelter?

This is a scary thing to imagine, but this is exactly what the residents of Hawaii faced last Saturday when they were notified that a ballistic missile was flying towards Hawaii: “Go to shelter immediately. This is not a drill."

It all happened so unexpectedly that many later admitted on Twitter that they hid wherever they could - in the bathroom or under the bed.

But what are the official prescriptions for a missile strike?

Hawaii has been asking that question since last December, when the state resumed its monthly nuclear drill for the first time since the end of the Cold War.

The Hawaiian authorities, which are located in 7400 km from North Korea, have become uneasy since US President Donald Trump began to regularly exchange threats with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

So, the order of action for residents of Hawaii is:

• First, make sure that it really is a siren warning of a missile threat. It makes a floating (oscillating) sound, which should not be confused with the monotonous siren used by state authorities for warning of natural disasters;
• Secondly, do not tryto be to run. You will be much safer if you are in the building closest to you - preferably in the basement or basement;
• The most important thing — ensure maximum distance between yourself and radioactive fallout.

In social networks there were videos in which adults hid children in rain collectors. This is unsafe, as in such places there is a risk of drowning or suffocating from harmful fumes.

Estimates of how fast the North Korean rocket reaches will vary, but according to data from the largest daily newspaper in Hawaii in December Honolulu Star-AdvertiserThis time will be approximately 20 minutes.

Hawaii Emergency Management issued the following advice last November: "Go inside, don't go outside, listen to the media." Therefore, you must also turn on the TV or radio to wait for information or further instructions.

The US Department of Homeland Security advises citizens to visit a special government website. ready.gov, where you can find advice on how to survive various kinds of extreme situations - from an attack by an armed person to a volcanic eruption and an epidemic.

In case of a nuclear explosion there Recommend following:

• Basements and ground floors - at home or at work - present less danger than the first floors of a building;
• The more powerful and dense the material between you and the radioactive particles (thick walls, concrete, brick, books, or earth), the better.

There also are contained recommendations for thosewho wants to prepare in advance for nuclearmu attacksю:

• Find out if there are any public buildings in your area that are set aside for anti-nuclear shelters;
• If there are no special shelters in your area, make a list of potential places to hide (near your home, work, school), such as basements, subways, tunnels;
• Assemble an emergency kit that includes food, water, a working radio, and other essential items.

What measures are taken by other countries?

Hawaii isn't the only place making headlines for its missile alert.

On August 2017, residents were scared to death on a small island of Guam in the Pacific Ocean, where the US strategic airbase is located, when two local radio stations mistakenly sent an alarm, which also turned out to be false.

North Korean authorities claim that their nuclear missiles can reach this American territory at any time, as well as the territories of Japan or South Korea. Both of these countries have missile defense systems and warn the public about the threat.

Seoul, the capital of South Korea, is only 56 km from the North Korean border, so a national training alert is held there regularly.

Japan has stepped up its preparedness after North Korea fired missiles at it repeatedly in 2017, in what Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called an "unprecedented threat."

During the test launch of a North Korean ballistic missile last August, residents on the Japanese island of Hokkaido were warned to seek shelter in either a “stable structure or a basement.”

A nationwide recommendation on how to survive a nuclear strike says that if a rocket falls somewhere nearby, then people need to escape from there, closing their mouth and nose. Those in the building must move away from the windows in order not to get injured from broken glass.

Japanese alert system J-alert it is designed in such a way that it sends alerts to the public about a threatened attack through television, mobile phones, radio and street loudspeakers. Similar systems exist in many countries of the world.

On Hokkaido, the authorities reinsured even more: a recently published Japanese manga comic shows students hiding under their desks, running down the street, hiding in a public restroom, and farmers face the ground right in the field.

Read also on ForumDaily:

How to escape in the event of a nuclear war

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