Head for the hills during national disasterdefense officials
By Kathy Chenault
A test pattern appears on the television
screen, accompanied by a continuous, high
frequency noise. After 60 seconds, an an
nouncer Identifies the station, but he
doesn 't conclude with the usual, "This
was only a test. "
This time, the announcer says the na
tional security of the United States has
been threatened and citizens of metropoli
tan communities and designated target
areas should prepare to evacuate.
These citizens would be acting in ac
cordance with the crisis relocation portion
of the nuclear civil protection program.
A change of emphasis concerning na
tional protection has taken place since the
late 1960s and early 70s, resulting in a
two-fold plan to provide protection from
the effects of a nuclear weapons attack.
THE FIRST OPTION, community shel
ter planning would be used only if little or
no warning were given before an attack,
said Dennis Kumm, assistant coordinator
of emergency services for the Lincoln
Lancaster County Civil Defense Agency.
"Community shelter planning would in
clude updating fallout shelters for protec
tion during immediate disasters," Kumm
said. "It also involves putting out emergen
cy public information on what to do and
where to go if people have to seek shelter
on short notice."
The primary emphasis is placed on the
second option, a process of relocating
people who live in predetermined high-risk
target areas, according to Kumm.
"Because of the worldwide arms situa
tion, a surprise nuclear attack against the
United States is considered unlikely," he
said.
"WE FIGURE WE would have a short
amount of time-a couple of days-warning
before an attack takes place. With satel
lites and reconnaissance, we think we'll be
able to tell when nations are preparing to
attack and we'll have enough time to evac
uate people from the target areas would
John Tracy, a nuclear civil protection
planner with the Nebraska Civil Defense
Agency, said the process is designed to get
people as far away from a blast as possible.
"Most of the shelters in cities aren't
blast shelters, they are fallout shelters. The
actual number of people who would
survive a blast would be low," Tracy said.
"That's why we're more interested in the
relocation plan."
Target sites are divided into three cate
gories depending on their strategic impor
tance. Category 1 targets are offensive mili
tary bases, Category 2 targets are other
military bases or major industry sites, and
Category 3 targets are population centers.
THERE ARE FOUR areas of the state
considered high-risk and the state civil
defense agency is working on rinding host
areas to move people to in a national crisis.
Nebraska's only Category 1 target is the
Warren Air Force Base located in the
southwest Panhandle region of the state.
Tracy said plans currently are being made
to ensure there is enough shelter space and
food and water resources in the five coun
ties designated as the host area.
Omaha is the state's only Category 2
target site. Tentative plans have been made
to move residents of Douglas and Sarpy
counties to host areas to the west along
Interstate 80 and to some areas to
the north and south of the state's. largest
metropolitan area.
RESIDENTS OF LINCOLN, a Category
3 target site, would be hosted in nine coun
ties to the west as far as Hastings and to
the south into Gage County .
The state's other Category 3 target site ;
is located in Dakota County because it is
across the state border from Sioux City,
Iowa, considered a metropolitan area.
Dakota County residents would relocate to
the west in Cedar and Dixon Counties.
Tracy said the most important aspect of
the relocation system would be coordinate '
in efforts of the defined target sites with
local government officials in the host areas.
"We're talking about making provisions
for about half , the state's population, .
Trscy. tzii. "We have to make rare there
are cnoui resources for these people in
these artas.V
TRACY SAID THE- decision to evac
uate people fomr the target areas would
come from the national government, lie
added that on a national level It would take
72 hours to relocate people to host areas,
but only about one 'half as long to
complete the process in Nebraska.
"In this part of the country we Would
have no problem relocating people in 36
hours," Tracy said. "The reason for this is
that we are keeping the -ratio of people
being relocated to people in host areas as
low us possible."
Both Kumm and Tracy emphasized that
crisis relocation is a voluntary plan.
"No one will be forced to evacuate,"
Kumm said. "There will always be some
people who don't want to leave their
homes, but I think the majority of the
population will choose to relocate for their
own safety."
HE SAID THAT not all people will
choose to go to the designated 'areas.
"There will be a large percentage of
people who will go stay with relatives and
friends in safe areas. Some key people
such as law enforcement officers and
utility service people also will stay in
town."
Tracy estimated that about 80 percent
of the population in target areas would
choose to relocate to host area's. .
"In fact, we think that as international
tensions increased as we predict they
would before a nuclear attack, about 15 to
20 percent would already have headed fori,
the hills," Tracy said. . :
He said the goal of the program is to
make conditions as safe as possible for
people during a nuclear disaster. ' ,
"Living conditions would be pretty au
stere. People probably wouldn't be able
to eat as much as they would want, but the
main thing is it would keep them alive."
Unorthodox cellar is shelter from nuclear storm
By Brenda Moskovits
It looks like an ordinary basement-a
repository for forgotten and seldom-used
items, among them a green couch, a stand
ing lamp, two coffee pots, two vacuum
cleaners, some unmatched luggage, a stack
of back issues of National Geographic
Magazines, a black and white portable tele
vision set and an ironing board.
Peering around the corner to the laun
dry room it seems equally ordinary: a.
washer and dryer, a furnace and humidif
ier, a hot water heater, a water softener, a
sink, a toilet and an old wringer washing
machine.
But the eastern end of the laundry room
at 4701 High St. in Lincoln differs from
most. Sandwiched between two wooden
storage closets is a passageway. A sharp
right turn and then a left reveals a 10 by 20
foot room encased in 8-inch thick concrete
block walls, a poured concrete floor and
even a concrete ceiling over the rafters.
THIS IS LINCOLN attorney Richard
Vestecka's civil defense shelter, where he
and his family would retreat during a
nuclear attack to escape radioactive fallout.
It houses a two-week supply of food and
water for four people.
Vestecka added it to his home about 20
years ago while he was civil defense direct
or for Lincoln and Lancaster County. It
cost about $800.
This was shortly after Sputnik," Vest
ecka. explained, when Americans began
worrying about a possible nuclear attack
from the Soviet Union.
"I was a civil defense director and ( was
telling people they should have a shelter
wherever they are. They sure wouldn't
listen if I didn't have a shelter myself."
Vestecka said he went as far as trying
unsuccessfully to have a legislative- bill and
Industry. . .
city ordinance introduced that would re
quire builders to include the shelter in new
buildings.
Since then, civil defense strategies have
shifted from personal to community
shelters, he said. Even so, he still maintains
"you need shelters everywhere," because
notice of a nuclear attack could be as short
as IS minutes.
INTEREST IN HOME shelters peaked
during the Berlin and Cuban Missile Crisis,
but has since disappeared the said.
Vestecka doesn't comment on the prob-
ability of having to use the shelter for its
intended purpose, acknowledging that his
family has used it only for tornado warnings-
and they often store liquor there.
'The possibility of it happening is there
and it's still there," he said. "We're in the
battleground with our missile capability
and our nucelar capability. We have the
capability to exterminate the human race.
"It's like fire insurance only on a more
basic level."
He said a Lincoln Air force base which
operated until 1966 contained B47 planes
with nuclear warheads "that could be used
to attack Russian cities," making Lincoln a
target for nuclear attack. The Air Force is
presently discussing rebpening the base.
An air defense missile station on High
way 33 between Lincoln and Crete which
contains missiles "to stop purported
nuclear missiles from Russia from hitting
Lancaster County" also points to the
nuclear reality, Vestecka said .
HE EXPLAINED HOW the shelter was
constructed. First, "we selected the place
with the maximum belowground level."
The east end of the basement is I to 2 feet
underground.
The contractor then set up sawhorses,
laid plywood over them and then put 1-
inch steel bars over the wood. Large jacks,
similar to those used to raise a car to
change a tire, were placed under the saw
horses. Ten inches of cement were then poured
over the wood and steel and allowed to dry
for a week. Hie jacks then were raised, lift
ing the reinforced concrete sheet to the
ceiling. Concrete blocks were stacked and
mortared together along two walls to
wedge the sheet against the rafters.
Two staggered concrete block walls
were built at the entrance, buffering the
shelter against radioactive fallout, which
like light, cannot travel around corners.
Nor can fallout travel through 8 inch con
crete. (It takes 12 inches of brick and 16
Inches of wood to afford the same protect
ion, he said.)
A HAND-CRANKED, filter air pump is
built into one wall to bring fresh air into
the shelter. An airexhaust to outdoors is
stuffed with black cloth to keep out ,the
cold. A bare bulb is wired to the ceiling.
Four sleeping bigs, four folding chairs, a
5 -gallon water canteen and covered buckets
for human waste disposal are situated
inside or directly outside the shelter.
Two four and one-half pound cans of
General Mills MPF, Multi-Purpose Food
sitting on a shelf, will nourish four people
for two weeks, Vestecka said. MPF is a
heavy, protein -enriched cereal.
Other canned goods once were stored in
the shelter, but would get old and needed
rotation, he said. Now, canned goods are
stored in a kitchen cabinet beside the base
ment stairs and can be carried ' to the
shelter in the event of an attack.
Although Vestecka said he is secure that
his family would survive a nuclear attack in
the shelter, he added l i way, you're
kind of .despondent that there is a possi
bility you might have to use it."
Continued from page 3, -
Nebraska got its share of defense spend
ing in World War II, a war that saw the
state make its first large industrial contri
butions to America's war efforts, according
to Riley.
Outside of grain and meat production,
Nebraska's only major war-time industry
during World War II was the potash refiner
ies near Antioch in Sheridan County, Riley
wrote. " " ' V tV
A GENERATION LATER America
fought in the world's second global war,
and 'though most Nebraskans were oppos
ed to America's entry into 'ii ; World War
II, community,- leaden in Omaha and
Lincoln began seeking defense industries as
early ti May, 1940 " R&y wrote.
la 1940, Belevue was chosen as the site
of the Glenn L llirtia Company bomber
plant, and began producing B-26 Marauder
bombers in January 1942, Riley wrote.
Late to 1943, the plant switched to making
B-29s. ,
. Like Omaha, Lincoln was actively pro
ducing war materials during World War II.
The Lincoln Steel Works produced moor
ing buoys and cargo barges, Riley wrote.
One defense industry was established on
what is now part of the UNL campus. A
branch plant of the Elastic Stop-Nut Co.,
of Union, NX, was set up in a warehouse
that is now part of Nebraska Hall at 16th
and W streets. The plant produced tiny
self4ocidng rrsts, IOJ0OO of which were
used in a single bomber to reduce vibrat
ion. v - .
IN BEATRICE, THE Dempster Co.
manufactured one and one-half million
90mm shells duringodd War IL
The Cornhusker Ammunition Plant was
established during World War II along with
two other army ordnance plants at Mead
and Sidney and a giant naval depot east of
Hastings, according to Riley . ;
The plants shut down after the war, but
reopened during the Korean War. Ihe
Grand Island plant was the only one of the
four producing weapons during the
Vietnam War, Jones said.
According to the World-Herald, after
the Vietnam War, the Cornhusker Am
munition Plant shut down for the third
time in a generation, a "casualty of peace."
However, the World-Herald reported the
plant did not lie dormant when it shut
down. Industries bid for peaceful use of
the Plant's buildings, and some of the"
plantV 19-square -miles were used for agri
culture and grazing. The ammunition plant
remained productive in peace, as it had
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