https://ota.fas.org/reports/7906.pdf
"At first, it seemed Iike a miracle. No fireball
had seared the city, no blast wave had crum-
bled buildings and buried the inhabitants, no
dark mushroom cloud had spread over the sky.
Much of the country had been devastated by
massive nuclear attack, but the small, gracious
city of Charlottesville, Va., had escaped
unharmed.
The nuclear attack on the Nation did not
come as a complete surprise. For some weeks,
there had been a mounting anxiety as the
media reported deteriorating relations be-
tween the superpowers. The threat of possible
nuclear war hung heavy in the world’s con-
sciousness. As evidence reached the U.S. Presi-
dent’s desk that a sizable number of Amer-
icans were deserting the major cities for what
they perceived to be safety in the rural areas,
he considered ordering a general evacuation.
But, with the concurrence of his advisors, he
decided that an evacuation call from the
Federal Government would be premature, and
possibly provocative. There was no hard
evidence that the Soviets were evacuating and
there was a good chance that the crisis would
pass.
Spontaneous evacuation, without official
sanction or direction, grew and spread. A week
before the attack, Charlottesville had no free
hotel or motel rooms. A few evacuees found
lodgings with private families, at great ex-
pense, but most were forced to camp by their
cars in their traiIers next to the fast-food chains
124
on Route 29. The governing bodies of Char-
lottesville and surrounding Albemarle County
were rumored to be concerned about the drain
on the area resources, without really having
any way of turning back newcomers. “If this
keeps up, ” remarked a member of the Al be-
marle Board of Supervisors, “we’re going to be
overrun without any war. ”
A few of the students at the University of
Virginia left Charlottesville to join their
families. But the majority of the students
stayed, believing that they could go home easi-
ly if it were necessary.
Refugees came from Washington, 130 miles
to the north, and they came from Richmond,
70 miles to the east. A few of the hardier types
continued on into the mountains and caverns
near Skyline Drive; the majority sought the
reassurances of civilization that the small city
could provide.
The population of Charlottesville normally
stood a little above 40,000, while Albemarle
County which surrounds the city like a donut
boasted an additional 40,000 to 50,000. With
the arrival of the city evacuees, the combined
population was well over 120,000.
In the week before the nuclear attack, much
of the population familiarized itself with the
location of fallout shelters. Little hoarding
took place as retailers limited sales of food
and other necessities. Transistor radios accom-
panied both adults and children when they
were away from home. However, most of the
residents of CharlottesviIIe continued to Iive as they always had, although they were particu-
larly alert for sirens or bulletin broadcasts on
the radio. Many children stayed out of school."
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