| Plague Disaster Project |  |
It
was reported in March 2005 that US plans to cope with "doomsday
scenarios" had been inadvertently published by The Homeland Security
Department.
Here are some likely terrorist-initiated scenarios.
| 1. Flu Pandemic | This scenario begins
in southern China and spreads within months to four leading American
cities. Casualities: 87,000 dead, 300,000 in hospital. |
| 2. Nuclear bomb | A ten-kilotonne nuclear bomb driven by van into a big city before being detonated would be the most expensive, costing hundreds of billions of dollars, according to the planners. Casualties: “could vary widely.” |
| 3. Chemical and Biological - ground attack | Terrorists spray anthrax with aerosols from a van as
they drive through three cities. They would be able to hit another
two shortly afterwards before authorities were able to grasp what
was happening. Casualities: 13,000 dead. Cost billions of dollars. |
| 4. Chemical and Biological - contamination | Anthrax could be used to contaminate batches of ground
beef and orange juice. Casualties: 300 dead, 400 injured. Cost to economy: millions of dollars. |
| 5. Chemical and Biological - foot and mouth | Farm animals infected by terrorists. Disease spreads
as animals are transported around the country. Casualities: none to humans. Cost to economy: hundreds of millions of dollars. |
| 6. Chemical and Biological - airborne attack | Terrorists using a small aircraft to spray chemical
blister agent over a packed college football stadium. Casualities: 150 dead and 70,000 taken to hospital. Cost $500 million (£261 million). |
| 7. Chemical and Biological - ventilation spread - plague | Release of pneumonic plague into an airport washroom, a sports arena and a train station in a big city, spreading rapidly. Casualities: 2,500 dead and 7,000 injured. Cost millions of dollars. |
| 8. Chemical and Biological - ventilation spread - sarin nerve agent | Release sarin gas into the ventilation systems of three
large office buildings. Casualities: 6,000 dead, 350 injured. Cost $300 million. |
Several scenarios envisage terrorists using explosives to trigger wider disasters. |
|
| 9. Explosives - chlorine | Blowing up a storage tank of chlorine gas and releasing
a large quantity downwind. Casualities:17,500 dead, 10,000 severely injured and 100,000 taken to hospital. |
| 10. Explosives - oil refineries | Exploding containers ignite cargo ships carrying toxic
chemicals. Casualities: 350 dead, 1000 injured. Cost to economy: billions of dollars. |
| 11. Explosives - Dirty Bombs | Bombs with radio-active cesium-137 set off in three
cities and contaminate 20,000 people. Casualities: 180 dead, 270 injured. Cost to economy: billions of dollars. |
| 12. Explosives - Improvised bombs | Car or truck bombs and suicide belts used to attack
hospitals and sports stadiums. Casualities: 100 dead, 450 injured. |
| 13. Cyber attack | Attacks on computers over several weeks on US financial
infrastructure. Casualities: none directly. Cost to economy: millions of dollars. |
Clark Ervin, a former Homeland Security inspector-general, denied that
the list helped terrorists by revealing the nation’s vulnerabilities.
“The terrorists know what their objectives are. They know what the
vulnerabilities are,” he said. The report was likely to deter attacks
in these areas because it showed that the US was on its guard, he said.
“And if attacks occur it’s likely to minimise the damage.”
| Published by ZigZag Education www.zigzageducation.co.uk |
Written by Duncan
Grey www.putlearningfirst.com |