State Legislature Revisits Nuclear Attack Emergency Plans

Did you know prior to 1984, many Washington state cities and counties had their own nuclear war-disaster emergency plans? Then the legislature and state officials passed a ban on such preparedness. As a long time Richland resident, I remember seeing the fallout shelter signs in the old Richland City Hall. Bet you have seen them in other old buildings as well.

The reason it was done is because they believed emergency plans insinuated that a nuclear attack or war was survivable.

But now, according to the Spokesman Review Newspaper and KEPR-19 TV, the legislature has taken up a new bill that would again allow cities to create their own 'doomsday' plans.

It's interesting to see what some cities originally had on their books in case of such an event. Spokane had planned on busing or sending as many people to Pullman as possible in case they were hit, but Pullman's plan was to send THEIR people to...you guessed it-Spokane.

One of the City of Seattle plans was to put as many people as possible on Metro transit buses and sending them to Yakima. Well, that's better than sending them here, said one commenter.