Terrorism
Terrorism
is the use of force or violence against
persons or property in violation of the criminal laws of the United States for
purposes of intimidation, coercion or ransom. Terrorists often use threats to
create fear among the public, to try to convince citizens that their government
is powerless to prevent terrorism, and to get immediate publicity for their
causes.
Acts
of terrorism range from threats of terrorism, assassinations, kidnappings,
hijackings, bomb scares and bombings, cyber attacks (computer-based), to the
use of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons.
High-risk
targets include military and civilian government facilities, international
airports, large cities and high-profile landmarks. Terrorists might also target large public gatherings, water and
food supplies, utilities, and corporate centers. Further, they are capable of spreading fear by sending explosives
or chemical and biological agents through the mail.
In the immediate area of a
terrorist event, you would need to rely on police, fire and other officials for
instructions. However, you can prepare
in much the same way you would prepare for other crisis events.
1. Wherever you are, be aware of your
surroundings. The very nature of
terrorism suggests there may be little or no warning.
2. Take precautions when traveling. Be aware of conspicuous or unusual
behavior. Do not accept packages from
strangers. Do not leave luggage
unattended. Unusual behavior,
suspicious packages and strange devices should be promptly reported to the
police or security personnel.
3. Do not be afraid to move or leave if you
feel uncomfortable or if something does not seem right.
4. Learn where emergency exits are located in
buildings you frequent. Notice where
exits are when you enter unfamiliar buildings.
Plan how to get out of a building, subway or congested public area or
traffic. Note where staircases are
located. Notice heavy or breakable objects that could move, fall or break in an
explosion.
5. Assemble a disaster supply kit at home and
learn first aid. Separate the supplies
you would take if you had to evacuate quickly, and put them in a backpack or
container, ready to go.
6. Be familiar with
different types of fire extinguishers and how to locate them. Know the location and availability of hard
hats in buildings in which you spend a lot of time.
Cyber attacks target computer or telecommunication
networks of critical infrastructures such as power systems, traffic control
systems, or financial systems. Cyber attacks target information technologies
(IT) in three different ways. First, is a direct attack against an information
system “through the wires” alone (hacking). Second, the attack can be a
physical assault against a critical IT element. Third, the attack can be from
the inside as a result of compromising a trusted party with access to the
system.
1. Be prepared to do without services you normally
depend on that could be disrupted—electricity, telephone, natural gas, gasoline
pumps, cash registers, ATM machines, and internet transactions.
2.
Be prepared to respond to official
instructions if a cyber attack triggers other hazards, for example, general
evacuation, evacuation to shelter, or shelter-in-place, because of hazardous
materials releases, nuclear power plant incident, dam or flood control system
failures.
Explosions can collapse
buildings and cause fires. People who
live or work in a multi-level building can do the following:
1. Review emergency
evacuation procedures. Know where
emergency exits are located.
2. Keep fire
extinguishers in working order. Know
where they are located, and learn how to use them.
3. Learn first aid. Contact the local chapter of the American Red Cross for
information and training.
4. Building owners should keep the following items
in a designated place on each floor of the building.
• Portable, battery-operated radio and extra
batteries
• Several flashlights
and extra batteries
• First aid kit and
manual
• Several hard hats
• Fluorescent tape to
rope off dangerous areas
If you receive a bomb
threat, get as much information from the
caller as possible. Keep the caller on
the line and record everything that is said.
Then notify the police and the building management.
If you are notified of a
bomb threat, do not touch any suspicious packages. Clear the area around suspicious packages and notify the police
immediately. In evacuating a building,
don’t stand in front of windows, glass doors or other potentially hazardous
areas. Do not block sidewalk or streets
to be used by emergency officials or others still exiting the building.
Be wary of suspicious
packages and letters. They can contain
explosives, chemical or biological agents.
Be particularly cautious at your place of employment.
Some typical
characteristics postal inspectors have detected over the years, which ought to
trigger suspicion, include parcels that—
• Are unexpected or from someone
unfamiliar to you.
• Have no return address, or
have one that can’t be verified as legitimate.
• Are marked with
restrictive endorsements, such as “Personal,” “Confidential” or “Do not x-ray.”
• Have protruding wires or
aluminum foil, strange odors or stains.
• Show a city or state in
the postmark that doesn’t match the return address.
• Are of unusual weight,
given their size, or are lopsided or oddly shaped.
• Are marked with any
threatening language.
• Have inappropriate or
unusual labeling.
• Have excessive postage or
excessive packaging material such as masking tape and string.
• Have misspellings of common
words.
• Are addressed to someone
no longer with your organization or are otherwise outdated.
• Have incorrect titles or title without a name.
• Are not addressed to a
specific person.
• Have handwritten or poorly
typed addresses.
With suspicious envelopes
and packages other than those that might contain explosives, take these
additional steps against possible biological and chemical agents.
• Refrain from eating or
drinking in a designated mail handling area.
• Place suspicious envelopes
or packages in a plastic bag or some other type of container to prevent leakage
of contents. Never sniff or smell
suspect mail.
• If you do not have a container, then cover
the envelope or package with anything available (e.g., clothing, paper, trash
can, etc.) and do not remove the cover.
• Leave the room and close the door, or
section off the area to prevent others from entering.
• Wash your hands with soap
and water to prevent spreading any powder to your face.
• If you are at work, report
the incident to your building security official or an available supervisor, who
should notify police and other authorities without delay.
• List all people who were
in the room or area when this suspicious letter or package was recognized. Give a copy of this list to both the local
public health authorities and law enforcement officials for follow-up
investigations and advice.
• If you are at home, report
the incident to local police.
Leave the building as
quickly as possible. Do not stop to retrieve personal possessions or make phone
calls. If things are falling around
you, get under a sturdy table or desk until they stop falling. Then leave quickly, watching for weakened
floors and stairs and falling debris as you exit.
1. If there is a fire:
• Stay low to the floor and exit the building as
quickly as possible.
• Cover your nose and
mouth with a wet cloth.
• When approaching a
closed door, use the back of your hand to feel the lower, middle and upper
parts of the door. Never use the palm
of your hand or fingers to test for heat: burning those areas could impair your
ability to escape a fire (i.e., ladders and crawling).
– If
the door is NOT hot, open slowly and ensure fire and/or smoke is not blocking
your escape route. If your escape route
is blocked, shut the door immediately and use an alternate escape route, such
as a window. If clear, leave
immediately through the door. Be
prepared to crawl. Smoke and heat
rise. The air is clearer and cooler
near the floor.
– If
the door is hot, do not open it. Escape
through a window. If you cannot escape,
hang a white or light-colored sheet outside the window, alerting fire fighters
to your presence.
• Heavy smoke and
poisonous gases collect first along the ceiling. Stay below the smoke at all times.
2. If you are trapped in debris:
• Do not light a match.
• Do not move about or
kick up dust. Cover your mouth with a
handkerchief or clothing.
• Rhythmically tap on a
pipe or wall so that rescuers can hear where you are. Use a whistle if one is available. Shout only as a last resort when you hear sounds and think
someone will hear you—shouting can cause a person to inhale dangerous amounts
of dust.
Chemical and Biological Weapons
In
case of a chemical or biological weapon attack near you, authorities will
instruct you on the best course of action. This may be to evacuate the area
immediately, to seek shelter at a designated location, or to take immediate
shelter where you are and seal the premises. The best way to protect yourself
is to take emergency preparedness measures ahead of time and to get medical
attention as soon as possible, if needed.
Chemical warfare agents
are poisonous vapors, aerosols, liquids or solids that have toxic effects on
people, animals or plants. They can be
released by bombs, sprayed from aircraft, boats, or vehicles, or used as a
liquid to create a hazard to people and the environment. Some chemical agents may be odorless and
tasteless. They can have an immediate
effect (a few seconds to a few minutes) or a delayed effect (several hours to
several days). While potentially
lethal, chemical agents are difficult to deliver in lethal concentrations. Outdoors, the agents often dissipate
rapidly. Chemical agents are also difficult to produce.
There are six types of
agents:
• Lung-damaging (pulmonary) agents such as
phosgene,
• Cyanide,
• Vesicants or blister agents such as mustard,
• Nerve
agents such as GA (tabun), GB (sarin), GD (soman), GF, and VX,
• Incapacitating agents such as BZ, and
• Riot-control agents (similar to MACE).
Biological agents are
organisms or toxins that can kill or incapacitate people, livestock and
crops. The three basic groups of
biological agents which would likely be used as weapons are bacteria, viruses,
and toxins.
1. Bacteria. Bacteria are small free-living
organisms that reproduce by simple division and are easy to grow. The diseases
they produce often respond to treatment with antibiotics.
2. Viruses. Viruses are organisms which
require living cells in which to reproduce and are intimately dependent upon
the body they infect. Viruses produce diseases which generally do not respond
to antibiotics. However, antiviral
drugs are sometimes effective.
3. Toxins. Toxins are poisonous substances
found in, and extracted from, living plants, animals, or microorganisms; some
toxins can be produced or altered by chemical means. Some toxins can be treated
with specific antitoxins and selected drugs.
Most biological agents are
difficult to grow and maintain. Many
break down quickly when exposed to sunlight and other environmental factors,
while others such as anthrax spores are very long lived. They can be dispersed
by spraying them in the air, or infecting animals which carry the disease to
humans as well through food and water contamination.
• Aerosols—Biological
agents are dispersed into the air, forming a fine mist that may drift for
miles. Inhaling the agent may cause
disease in people or animals.
• Animals—Some diseases are spread by insects and animals, such as
fleas, mice, flies, and mosquitoes. Deliberately spreading diseases through livestock is also referred to as agroterrorism.
• Food and water
contamination—Some pathogenic organisms and toxins may persist in food and
water supplies. Most microbes can be
killed, and toxins deactivated, by cooking food and boiling water.
Anthrax spores formulated as a white powder were mailed to
individuals in the government and media in the fall of 2001. Postal sorting
machines and the opening of letters dispersed the spores as aerosols. Several
deaths resulted. The effect was to disrupt mail service and to cause a
widespread fear of handling delivered mail among the public.
Person-to-person spread of a few infectious agents is also
possible. Humans have been the source of infection
for smallpox, plague, and the
Lassa viruses.
•
Assemble a disaster supply kit and be
sure to include:
• Battery-powered commercial radio with extra
batteries.
• Non-perishable
food and drinking water.
• Roll
of duct tape and scissors.
• Plastic
for doors, windows and vents for the room in which you will shelter in
place—this should be an internal room where you can block out air that may
contain hazardous chemical or biological agents. To save critical time during
an emergency, sheeting should be pre-measured and cut for each opening.
• First
aid kit.
• Sanitation
supplies including soap, water and bleach.
1. Listen to your radio for instructions from
authorities such as whether to remain inside or to evacuate.
2. If you are instructed to remain in your
home, the building where you are, or other shelter during a chemical or
biological attack:
• Turn off all ventilation, including furnaces,
air conditioners, vents and fans.
• Seek shelter in an internal room, preferably
one without windows. Seal the room with duct tape and plastic sheeting. Ten
square feet of floor space per person will provide sufficient air to prevent
carbon dioxide build-up for up to five hours.
• Remain in protected areas where toxic vapors are reduced or
eliminated, and be sure to take your battery-operated radio with you.
3. If you are caught in an
unprotected area, you should:
• Attempt to get up-wind of the contaminated area.
• Attempt to find shelter as quickly as possible.
• Listen to your radio for official instructions.
Immediate
symptoms of exposure to chemical agents may include blurred vision, eye
irritation, difficulty breathing and nausea.
A person affected by a chemical or biological agent requires immediate
attention by professional medical personnel.
If medical help is not immediately available, decontaminate yourself and
assist in decontaminating others. Decontamination is needed within minutes of
exposure to minimize health consequences.
(However, you should not leave the safety of a shelter to go outdoors to
help others until authorities announce it is safe to do so.)
1. Use extreme caution when helping others who
have been exposed to chemical agents:
• Remove all clothing
and other items in contact with the body. Contaminated clothing normally
removed over the head should be cut off to avoid contact with the eyes, nose,
and mouth. Put into a plastic bag if possible. Decontaminate hands using soap
and water. Remove eyeglasses or contact lenses. Put glasses in a pan of
household bleach to decontaminate.
2. Remove all items in contact with the body.
3. Flush eyes
with lots of water.
4. Gently wash face and hair with soap and water;
then thoroughly rinse with water.
5. Decontaminate other body areas likely to have
been contaminated. Blot (do not swab or scrape) with a cloth soaked in soapy
water and rinse with clear water.
6. Change
into uncontaminated clothes. Clothing stored in drawers or closets is likely to
be uncontaminated.
7. If possible, proceed to a medical facility for
screening.
In many biological
attacks, people will not know they have been exposed to an agent. In such
situations, the first evidence of an attack may be when you notice symptoms of
the disease caused by an agent exposure, and you should seek immediate medical
attention for treatment.
In some situations, like
the anthrax letters sent in 2001, people may be alerted to a potential
exposure. If this is the case, pay close attention to all official warnings and
instructions on how to proceed. The delivery of medical services for a biological
event may be handled differently to respond to increased demand. Again, it will
be important for you to pay attention to official instructions via radio,
television, and emergency alert systems.
If your skin or clothing
comes in contact with a visible, potentially infectious substance, you should
remove and bag your clothes and personal items and wash yourself with warm
soapy water immediately. Put on clean clothes and seek medical assistance.
For more information,
visit the website for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
www.bt.cdc.gov.
Nuclear and Radiological Attack
Nuclear
explosions can cause deadly effects—blinding
light, intense heat (thermal radiation),
initial nuclear radiation, blast, fires started by the heat pulse, and
secondary fires caused by the destruction. They also produce radioactive particles called fallout that can be carried by wind for
hundreds of miles.
Terrorist use of a
radiological dispersion device (RDD)—often called ”dirty nuke” or “dirty
bomb”—is considered far more likely than use of a nuclear device. These radiological weapons are a combination
of conventional explosives and radioactive material designed to scatter dangerous and sub-lethal amounts of radioactive material over a general area. Such radiological weapons appeal to
terrorists because they require very little technical knowledge to build and
deploy compared to that of a nuclear device.
Also, these radioactive
materials, used widely in medicine, agriculture,
industry and research, are much more readily available and easy to obtain
compared to weapons grade uranium or plutonium.
Terrorist use of a nuclear
device would probably be limited to a single smaller “suitcase” weapon. The strength of such a weapon would be in the range of the bombs used during
World War II. The nature of the effects would be the same as a weapon
delivered by an inter-continental missile,
but the area and severity of the effects would be significantly more limited.
There is no way of knowing
how much warning time there would be before an attack by a terrorist using a
nuclear or radiological weapon. A
surprise attack remains a possibility.
The danger of a massive
strategic nuclear attack on the United States involving many weapons receded
with the end of the Cold War. However,
some terrorists have been supported by nations that have nuclear weapons programs.
If there were threat of an
attack from a hostile nation, people living near potential targets could be
advised to evacuate or they could decide on their own to evacuate to an area
not considered a likely target.
Protection from radioactive fallout would require taking shelter in an
underground area, or in the middle of a large building.
In general, potential
targets include:
• Strategic missile sites
and military bases.
• Centers
of government such as Washington, D.C., and state capitals.
• Important
transportation and communication centers.
• Manufacturing,
industrial, technology and financial centers.
• Petroleum
refineries, electrical power plants and chemical plants.
• Major
ports and airfields.
Taking
shelter during a nuclear attack is absolutely necessary. There are two kinds of shelters—blast and
fallout.
Blast
shelters offer some protection against blast pressure, initial radiation, heat
and fire, but even a blast shelter could not withstand a direct hit from a
nuclear detonation.
Fallout
shelters do not need to be specially constructed for that purpose. They can be any protected space, provided
that the walls and roof are thick and dense enough to absorb the radiation
given off by fallout particles. The
three protective factors of a fallout shelter are shielding, distance,
and time.
• Shielding. The more heavy, dense materials—thick walls,
concrete, bricks, books and earth—between you and the fallout particles, the
better.
• Distance. The more distance between you and the
fallout particles, the better. An
underground area, such as a home or office building basement, offers more
protection than the first floor of a building.
A floor near the middle of a high-rise may be better, depending on what
is nearby at that level on which significant fallout particles would
collect. Flat roofs collect fallout
particles so the top floor is not a good choice, nor is a floor adjacent to a
neighboring flat roof.
• Time. Fallout
radiation loses its intensity fairly rapidly.
In time, you will be able to leave the fallout shelter. Radioactive fallout poses the greatest
threat to people during the first two weeks, by which time it has declined to
about 1% of its initial radiation level.
Remember
that any protection, however temporary, is better than none at all, and the
more shielding, distance and time you can take advantage of, the better.
In addition to other
effects, a nuclear weapon detonated in or above the earth’s atmosphere can
create an electromagnetic pulse (EMP), a high-density electrical field. EMP acts like a stroke of lightning but is
stronger, faster and briefer. EMP can seriously damage electronic devices
connected to power sources or antennas.
This include communication systems, computers, electrical appliances,
and automobile or aircraft ignition systems.
The damage could range from a minor interruption to actual burnout of
components. Most electronic equipment
within 1,000 miles of a high-altitude nuclear detonation could be
affected. Battery powered radios with
short antennas generally would not be affected.
Although
EMP is unlikely to harm most people, it could harm those with pacemakers or
other implanted electronic devices.
1. Learn the warning signals and all sources of warning used in
your community. Make sure you know what
the signals are, what they mean, how they will be used, and what you should do
if you hear them.
2.
Assemble and maintain a disaster
supply kit with food, water, medications, fuel and personal items adequate for
up to 2 weeks—the more the better. (See
the “Emergency Planning and Disaster Supplies” chapter for more information).
3.
Find out what public buildings in
your community may have been designated as fallout shelters. It may have been years ago, but start there,
and learn which buildings are still in use and could be designated as shelters
again.
• Call your local emergency management office.
• Look for yellow and black fallout shelter signs
on public buildings. Note: With the end
of the Cold War, many of the signs have been removed from the buildings
previously designated.
• If no noticeable or
official designations have been made, make your own list of potential shelters
near your home, workplace and school:
basements, or the windowless center area of middle floors in high-rise
buildings, as well as subways and tunnels.
• Give your household
clear instructions about where fallout shelters are located and what actions to
take in case of attack.
4.
If you live in an apartment building
or high-rise, talk to the manager about the safest place in the building for
sheltering, and about providing for building occupants until it is safe to go out.
5. There
are few public shelters in many suburban and rural areas. If you are considering building a fallout
shelter at home, keep the following in mind.
• A basement, or any underground area, is the
best place to shelter from fallout.
Often, few major changes are needed, especially if the structure has two
or more stories and its basement—or one corner of it—is below ground.
• Fallout
shelters can be used for storage during non-emergency periods, but only store
things there that can be very quickly removed.
(When they are removed, dense,
heavy items may be used to add to the shielding.)
• See the “Tornadoes”
section in the “Thunderstorms” chapter for information on the “Wind Safe Room,”
which could be used as shelter in the event of a nuclear detonation or for
fallout protection, especially in a home without a basement.
• All
the items you will need for your stay need not be stocked inside the shelter
itself but can be stored elsewhere, as
long as you can move them quickly to the shelter.
6.
Learn about your community’s
evacuation plans. Such plans may
include evacuation routes, relocation sites, how the public will be notified
and transportation options for people who do not own cars and those who have
special needs. See the “Evacuation”
chapter for more information.
7.
Acquire other emergency preparedness
booklets that you may need.
1. Do not look at the flash or fireball—it
can blind you.
2.
If you hear an attack warning:
• Take cover as quickly as you can, BELOW GROUND
IF POSSIBLE, and stay there unless instructed to do otherwise.
• If you are caught
outside, unable to get inside immediately, take cover behind anything that
might offer protection. Lie flat on the
ground and cover your head.
• If the explosion is
some distance away, it could take 30 seconds or more for the blast wave to hit.
3.
Protect yourself from radioactive
fallout. If you are close enough to see
the brilliant flash of a nuclear explosion, the fallout will arrive in about 20
minutes. Take shelter, even if you are
many miles from ground zero—radioactive fallout can be carried by the winds for
hundreds of miles. Remember the three
protective factors: shielding,
distance and time.
4. Keep a battery-powered radio with you, and
listen for official information. Follow
the instructions given. Local
instructions should always take precedence:
officials on the ground know the local situation best.
What to do after a nuclear or
radiological attack
In a public or home
shelter:
1. Do not leave the shelter until officials
say it is safe. Follow their
instructions when leaving.
2. If in a fallout shelter, stay in your shelter
until local authorities tell you it is permissible or advisable to leave. The length of your stay can range from a day
or two to four weeks.
• Contamination from a radiological dispersion
device could affect a wide area, depending on the amount of conventional
explosives used, the quantity of radioactive material and atmospheric
conditions.
• A “suitcase” terrorist
nuclear device detonated at or near ground level would produce heavy fallout
from the dirt and debris sucked up into the mushroom cloud.
• A missile-delivered
nuclear weapon from a hostile nation would probably cause an explosion many
times more powerful than a suitcase bomb, and provide a greater cloud of
radioactive fallout.
• The decay rate of the
radioactive fallout would be the same, making it necessary for those in the
areas with highest radiation levels to remain in shelter for up to a month.
• The heaviest fallout
would be limited to the area at or downwind from the explosion, and 80% of the
fallout would occur during the first 24 hours.
• Because of these facts
and the very limited number of weapons terrorists could detonate, most of the
country would not be affected by fallout.
• People in most of the
areas that would be affected could be allowed to come out of shelter and, if
necessary, evacuate to unaffected areas within a few days.
3. Although it may be difficult, make every effort
to maintain sanitary conditions in your shelter space.
4. Water and food may be scarce. Use them prudently but do not impose severe
rationing, especially for children, the ill or elderly.
5. Cooperate with shelter managers. Living with many people in confined space
can be difficult and unpleasant.
Returning to your home
1. Keep listening to the radio for news about what to do, where to go,
and places to avoid.
2. If your home was within the range of a bomb’s
shock wave, or you live in a high-rise or other apartment building that
experienced a non-nuclear explosion,
check first for any sign of collapse or damage, such as:
• toppling chimneys, falling bricks, collapsing
walls, plaster falling from ceilings.
• fallen
light fixtures, pictures and mirrors.
• broken
glass from windows.
• overturned
bookcases, wall units or other fixtures.
• fires from
broken chimneys.
• ruptured
gas and electric lines.
3. Immediately clean
up spilled medicines, drugs, flammable liquids, and other potentially hazardous
materials.
4. Listen to your
battery-powered radio for instructions and information about community
services.
5. Monitor the radio
and your television for information on assistance that may be provided. Local, state and federal governments and
other organizations will help meet emergency needs and help you recover from
damage and losses.
6. The danger may be aggravated by broken water
mains and fallen power lines.
7. If you turned gas, water and electricity off
at the main valves and switch before you went to shelter:
• Do
not turn the gas back on. The gas
company will turn it back on for you or you will receive other instructions.
• Turn
the water back on at the main valve only after you know the water system is
working and water is not contaminated.
• Turn
electricity back on at the main switch only after you know the wiring is undamaged
in your home and the community electrical system is functioning.
• Check to see that sewage lines are intact
before using sanitary facilities.
8. Stay away from damaged areas.
9. Stay away from areas marked “radiation
hazard” or “HAZMAT.”
For more information relevant to terrorism
consult the following chapters:
• The “Earthquakes” chapter for information
about protecting yourself when a building is shaking or unsafe and the Fire
chapter for tips on fire safety.
• The “Hazardous Materials Incidents” chapter
for information about sealing a home.
• The “Emergency Planning and Disaster Supplies”
chapter for information about preparing a disaster supply kit.
• The “Shelter” chapter for measures regarding
water purification.
• The “Evacuation” chapter for information about
evacuation procedures.
• The “Recovering from Disaster” chapter for
information about crisis counseling.