Fearful Californians Prepare For A Nuclear Attack: "A Lot Of People Will Be Killed"

With each passing day and each new ICBM launch from a seemingly unhinged North Korean dictator, the fears of an attack on the U.S. mainland, though faint, increasingly weigh on the hearts and minds of Americans, particularly those in California.  As The Guardian points out today, those fears have even prompted a group of California public health officials and emergency responders to gather for a strategy session with Hal Kempfer, a retired marine lieutenant colonel, to discuss which areas are the most likely targets and how citizens should respond to an attack.

Hal Kempfer, a noted international security expert, is getting a roomful of California public health officials and emergency responders to think about the unthinkable – a nuclear bomb exploding at the port of Long Beach, about four miles away.

“A lot of people will be killed,” he said, “but a large percentage of the population will survive. They will be at risk and they will need help.”

“If you want to mess up southern California, if you want to mess up the west coast, if you want to mess up our country – where do you attack?” Kempfer asks. “If I’m sitting in North Korea and looking at possible targets, I’m going to be looking at Long Beach very closely.”

He talks about the port and downtown Long Beach being “toast” – no exaggeration, since the blast wave is likely to vaporize everything in its immediate path. But the city health department, the Long Beach airport and fire department might not be; they are all somewhat protected by a hilly area that is likely to halt the initial blast wave. And so the city can, tentatively, think about setting up a center of emergency operations.

Of course, the radioactive fallout created as the explosion gathers up tremendous quantities of dust and ocean water and spits them into the atmosphere would represent a secondary grave risk, especially in the first hours after an attack.

Not to mention the electromagnetic pulse that is likely to knock out electronic systems including phones and computers, the pile-ups expected on the freeways as drivers are blinded by the flash of the explosion, the rush for food, water and gasoline as millions of Angelenos attempt to drive out of the region, and the terror triggered by even the idea of a second, follow-up attack.

Meanwhile, lest you think this was all just a creative way for some public employees to skip work for a day, Ventura County, located just northwest of Los Angeles, has even taken the unusual step of prepping a 250-page plan on how to respond to the humanitarian crisis that would result from a nuclear attack in Los Angeles. 

In fact, their efforts even include this truly bizarre public service announcement that instructs folks to shelter in place and cover windows with plastic.

Of course, as we pointed out back in August, while a global nuclear confrontation is generally viewed as a bad thing, for Ron Hubbard, President of Atlas Survival Shelters in Los Angeles, it has resulted in an economic windfall as a staggering number of Californians have suddenly turned into doomsday preppers.

“It’s crazy, I’ve never seen anything like it,” Ron Hubbard, president of Atlas Survival Shelters, told Fox11. “It’s all over the country. I sold shelters today in North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, California.”

The company, based in Montebello in eastern Los Angeles, sells shelters priced from $10,000 to $100,000. Hubbard told the station that the shelters are designed to be buried 20 feet below ground and can sustain survivors for up to one year, depending on the size and model.

He told the station he had sold more than 30 units in recent days, including to customers in Japan.

All that said, Kempfer points out that there is a silver lining here because any attack from North Korea likely wouldn"t result in "your traditional nuclear apocalypse scenario" because Kim Jong-Un probably only has weapons capable of destroying about 1 square mile at a time.

Rather, it’s likely to be a Hiroshima-sized bomb – large enough to obliterate everything within a square-mile radius and kill tens of thousands of people, either immediately or through the lingering effects of radiation. But still leaving millions of survivors across the region who would need help.

“We’re talking about smaller North Korean things,” Kempfer emphasized, though the word “smaller” sounds very far from reassuring. “This is not your traditional nuclear apocalypse scenario.”

So, Californians at least have that going for them, which is nice.

"We're Back In The '60s Again" - Bomb-Shelter Sales Are Booming In The US And Japan

US-based bomb-shelter manufacturers should maybe think about buying Kim Jong Un a fruit basket.

According to McClatchy, sales have in both the US and Japan have risen dramatically this year as President Donald Trump and Kim have exchanged threats of nuclear annihilation. US and Japanese defense officials now believe the North is in possession of a nuclear warhead small enough to fit onto one of its ICBMS. The isolated country launched three short-range missiles into the East Sea Friday night – its first missile test in nearly a month – after US officials had praised Kim’s restraint earlier in the week.

Ron Hubbard, president of Atlas Survival Shelters, a firm based in Montebello, California, said he expects to sell 1,000 shelters this year at a price of $25,000 apiece, according to McClatchy.

"Sales and inquiries have spiked, according to several of the U.S. companies that make money from doomsday fears.

“The increase in demand is everywhere. We are getting hundreds of calls,” said Ron Hubbard, president of Atlas Survival Shelters, a firm based in Montebello, California. Inquiries have slowed down as tensions have eased over the last week, but Hubbard said he still expects to have a banner year, selling 1,000 shelters at an average price of $25,000 each.”

Sales in Japan have increased to the point where one manufacturer is opening a sales office in Osaka.  

“Hubbard reports there is intensified demand in Japan, where he has opened a sales office in Osaka. He’s also opening a new 400,000-square-foot plant in Dallas, largely to serve the Japanese market.

“We are back in the 1960s again,” said Hubbard, referring to the Cold War demand for bomb shelters. “We’ve got a crazy man on one side and Donald Trump on the other.”

Gary Lynch, general manager of Rising S Shelters in Murchison, Texas, has also seen a rise in demand for his products both in Japan and the US.

“"It is all due to the rhetoric on what is going on in North Korea,’ said Lynch, who said he has sold 67 bomb shelters internationally this year, mostly to Japan, compared to just nine for all of 2016.”

Lynch’s boss, Rising S owner Clyde Scott, told McClatchy that after Obama became president in early 2009, his company was inundated with orders from conservatives who were afraid Obama would try and take their guns. Now, Rising S is selling shelters to Democrat who are afraid Trump will start a war.

“In the United States, bomb shelter customers run the gamut. Some are homeowners recently alarmed about the threat of a nuclear strike. They also include survivalists and “preppers” — people preparing for man-made or natural disasters. Rising S is owned by a Texas prepper named Clyde Scott, who named his company after Jesus Christ, the rising son.

After Barack Obama was elected, Lynch said Rising S was contacted by customers worried about the government coming after their guns. After Trump was elected, a different clientele — Democrats — started calling. "People are worried that Trump would start a war," he said.”

Falling prices could be another reason for the bump in sales…

“Atlas markets 15 types of shelters, Hubbard said, but focuses on a corrugated steel pipe model, which can be decked out with luxuries or kept as a simple “man cave.” He said he’s brought his average price down from $100,000 to about $25,000 in the past six years.

“I think of myself as a modern-day Henry Ford, coming out with a shelter that everyone can afford,” Hubbard said.”

Instead of selling individual shelters, one California-based company built a doomsday bunker in Indiana and sold shares for $35,000 a pop. They’ve already sold out.

"Vivos, another California-based company, offers a completely different shelter experience. It sells shares in underground bunker complexes, a sort of doomsday condominium. Vivos — which means “to live” in Latin — says that its 80-person Indiana complex is completely sold out, with shares going for $35,000 per adult.

Even Kim and Kanye are buying…

“In their sales pitches, bunker companies also promise customers complete confidentiality. Rising S continues to fend off tabloid rumors that it"s building a bunker for Kanye West and Kim Kardashian.”

…but they"re trying to keep it quiet because people who own bunkers generally don’t want their neighbors to know they have one.

“Owners of shelters generally insist they don’t want their neighbors to know they have one, Hubbard said. “They would all be freaking out and banging on your door,” he said. “It is kind of like when a ship sinks — everyone swims to the floating life raft."

Demand for bunkers is rising even in South Korea, where residents have long since written off Kim Jong Un’s threats as empty rhetoric.

“There’s even increased interest in South Korea, he says.

“South Koreans generally don’t buy shelters because they are numb to the rhetoric coming out of North Korea,” he said. “But apparently Kim Jong Un has struck a chord.”

Though Trump promised during the campaign to adhere to an “America first” policy of nonintervention, he has repeatedly demonstrated a knack for military confrontation since taking office, having launched a missile strike on a Syrian government airfield and, just this past week, announcing that he would increase the number of troops in Afghanistan – a decision that reportedly inspired former staffer Sebastian Gorka to resign in protest.

In the absence of Bannon, as long as Trump continues to surround himself with generals like Chief of Staff John Kelly, the threat of thermonuclear conflict will linger.
 

"We Can Barely Keep Up" - Prepper Panic-Buying Begins As WWIII Fears Grip America

Authored by Mac Slavo via SHTFplan.com,

As is often the case, most people wait until the last minute to prepare for the worst.

As reported by CBS Detroit, one Army Surplus store owner reports that preparedness equipment is flying off the shelves:

“We’ve been very busy. Unusually busy, I’d say,” Orr told WWJ’s Sandra McNeill. “It’s definitely an increase, just in selling all the normal prepper stuff, end of the world stuff. A lot of water prep stuff, food, MREs — the military meals.”

And there’s been a substantial increase in the sale of a particular item they don’t sell much of — a so-called radiation antidote called potassium iodide.

…

“It actually stops your thyroid from absorbing any radiation. So, it fills your thyroid with iodine, which it normally does anyways,” said Orr.

…

Another popular request: gas masks. But most people looking for those will be out of luck.

“Gas masks are a big thing too, but we only sell them as novelty,” said Orr.

Ed Thomas, a spokesperson for TopTierGearUSA.com, which distributes high-end protective equipment for Nuclear, Biological and Chemical emergencies, says that their web site has seen a 1200% spike in orders in the last week.

We’re barely keeping up with the inflow of orders and our staff is working double shifts just to get everything shipped. People are concerned with North Korea, World War III and what President Trump might do.

I’ve never seen it at these levels.

Everything… Anti radiation pills, gas masks, body suits and respiratory filters… people are trying to get their hands on these critical supplies in case this really happens.

Our biggest concern is that our manufacturers won’t be able to keep up with demand.

And it’s not just preparedness supplies. As Zero Hedge reports, bunker sales in California have skyrocket:

While a global nuclear confrontation is generally viewed as a bad thing, for Ron Hubbard, President of Atlas Survival Shelters in Los Angeles, it has resulted in an economic windfall.  Here’s more from The Sacramento Bee:

“It’s crazy, I’ve never seen anything like it,” Ron Hubbard, president of Atlas Survival Shelters, told Fox11.

 “It’s all over the country. I sold shelters today in North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, California.”

As we’ve reported previously, the situation has gotten so serious that the island nation of Guam, recently threatened for annihilation by North Korea, has issued a nuclear emergency guide warning residents to not look at the flash or fireball following a nuclear detonation.

President Trump announced Friday that the U.S. military is “locked and loaded,” ready to respond to North Korean aggression.

With panic buying taking hold, it’s only a matter of time before prices for items like gas masks anti-radiation pills go through the roof. Following the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan, panicked U.S. West coast residents pushed prices for a single package to $200 on auction sites. Under normal circumstances, a package of the FDA approved pills sells for about $15.