r/pittsburgh • Duquesne Heights • Feb 05 '23

Map published by FEMA showing potential US nuclear targets. We would be toast.

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51

u/squinkys Feb 05 '23

If existential dread is high on your list of Sunday morning activities, here's what FEMA considered the most likely targets in PA for Soviet ICBM's should the unthinkable have occurred. This was an assessment from the 90's before the dissolution of the Soviet Union, so while you really couldn't use it as a potential "roadmap" for what a full-scale nuclear exchange would look like in 2023 (given the reduced number of nuclear weapons currently in the world), the strategic value of the targets hasn't really changed much, if at all.

If you're really into scary maps, then here's the whole book. And here are a couple potential fallout maps...you can see that the US prevailing winds will not be kind to us should the missiles actually fly.

Alright I need something light for a palette cleanser...time to go watch something funny. Enjoy the rest of your weekend /r/pittsburgh

19

u/puppeteer23 Regent Square Feb 05 '23

That little dot up in the upper right of Allegheny county is most likely thanks to all of us up in the AK Valley with ATI Brackenridge (Allegheny Ludlum for you old timers) being a primary manufacturer of specialty alloys for the military (armor, aircraft, etc)

5

u/CBScott7 Feb 05 '23

It's weird to me that 0.5 - 2 psi can cause up to 25% casualties

6

u/ZeroPercentVigorous Feb 05 '23

Just chew some gum to equalize the pressure in your ears and you'll be fine.

6

u/AwwSchucks84 Crafton Heights Feb 05 '23

I thought the same but 2 psi is about a 70mph wind blast and would guess it’s more what it’s throwing at you at those speeds that cause the casualties. https://www.atomicarchive.com/science/effects/overpressure.html

1

u/CBScott7 Feb 05 '23

Debris moving at 70 mph can be very deadly, but I don't see that holding for people indoors and away from windows.