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Original poster

To ask how long it will take to die if we do get nuked

383 replies

MagicalRealist · 29/08/2017 14:15

Just this really. How quick? I know the warning, if there is one, will only be a few minutes so nowhere near enough time to get to school and be with DC. But when the bombs hit, is it just a flash of light and then oblivion? Or a longer scarier process? Obviously I hope none of this will actually happen.

OP posts:
BeyondLimitsAndWhatever · 31/08/2017 09:36

(It's old now, but still brilliant)

KeiraKnightleyActsWithHerTeeth · 31/08/2017 10:03

That time lapse video mapShock

Colinfarrellsarse · 31/08/2017 11:38

Watched threads. Jesus. The worst part for me is thinking what if me and dh died and children didnt.

RuggerHug · 31/08/2017 12:01

m.youtube.com/watch?v=yVCboudN0ok

For anyone thinking of watching threads, here's the review/warning. Spoilers of sorts but you already know what it's about.

TracyBeakerSoYeah · 31/08/2017 15:19

Blimey I didn't know that so many nuclear bombs had been tested!
What's the point of all that testing?
The powers that be know how much damage a nuclear bomb will cause.
Or is it a case of my nuclear bomb is bigger than yours?

Ifailed · 31/08/2017 15:37

What's the point of all that testing?
Willy waving.

LurkingHusband · 31/08/2017 15:43

What's the point of all that testing?

Er, because there's a world of difference between theory and practise. Especially if you are relying on the practice to keep you safe.

But generally willy-waving. "Look how big ours is."

If nothing else, all that testing has ensure anyone born since 1945 has been exposed to goodness knows what in the form of nuclear fallout.

BeyondLimitsAndWhatever · 31/08/2017 15:47

Over 1500 detonations before I was born - assuming I'm not disintegrated, I'm gonna assume it works like the hygiene hypothesis and I'll be fine Grin

SeaEagleFeather · 31/08/2017 17:20

Basecamp21 interesting post, thank you. What are the plans for ensuring some sort of peace keeping force? Would one realistically function? And plans how to grow crops etc and possibly even keep medical skills alive - are they formulated, and if so, for how far into the future?

itshappening · 31/08/2017 17:33

You are free to contemplate this and discuss it, obviously. It might help if you try to see it in the same light as other possible deaths or disasters that may be coming your way. I don't really know that anyone can say what is more likely when it comes to this, but if the experts tried they would probably say it is much more likely you and your family will die in a car crash or something like that. So if it helps you to think about these things, you might want to dwell on how long you will be in the wreckage, what will happen if one child survives and no one else does etc. You could campaign for road safety issues.

SeaEagleFeather · 31/08/2017 18:30

was that to the OP or to me, itshappening?

I'm interested in the whole process of disaster planning and logistics. My guesswork is just that, my guesswork. Hearing from people whose responsibility it is to face this sort of grim possibility and plan for it, is worth much more!

itshappening · 31/08/2017 18:56

Sorry SeaEagle it was to the OP, I hadn't seen your post. I agree as a special interest area it could be fascinating.

cafeaulaitpourvous · 31/08/2017 19:09

My biggest fear is not for myself but for my daughter - she is in her 20s and has SEN.

She also has type 1 diabetes.... I worry that if there was some sort of war (nuclear or not) things like medicines would be rare and to go without insulin would be fatal within a few days.

Funny I am not worried about food or water or anything else - I am just fixed on the bloody insulin!!!!!

user838383 · 31/08/2017 20:02

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ShoesHaveSouls · 31/08/2017 22:04

I never saw any Protect and Survive TV ads/leaflets either, as a child in the 70s/80s. I think they were only made to be shown in the event war was imminent - and we never got that close. Either that or they were shown very late at night.

I do remember some graffiti scrawled on a wall at the end of our road: "PROTEST AND SURVIVE".

I asked our lodger (a grown up family friend) who I was with at the time, what it meant, and she just mumbled something about 'oh, it's just a silly protest thing.' NOW I know what it meant.

AcrossthePond55 · 31/08/2017 22:07

I grew up during the '60s and have vivid memories of 'duck and cover' drills and 'where is your nearest nuclear shelter' shit. Why anyone would have believed that cowering under my desk with my head tucked between my knees would have done one ounce of good to prevent injury or death is beyond me! And did we really think there would be an orderly evacuation to bomb shelters? Sure! Just like that orderly evacuation of the Titanic, where most of the lifeboats left 1/2 to 3/4 full! It's going to be 'every man for himself/his own' for the majority of people, that's human nature in a panic.

The thing is, it's all 'security theatre'. No nation can really prepare for a full scale nuclear attack. They'll get the 'important people' (heads of state, top brass, etc) where they will be safe and the rest of us will be left to fend for ourselves.

That's one of the reason why it will never happen. Too many people in critical positions realize that they are not one of the VIPs that will be whisked away to a deep mountain bunker. They know that in order to save themselves and their loved ones they need to prevent escalation from happening in the first place.

So relax, have a drink. Watch your children play. Enjoy the sunset. We aren't going anywhere!

TracyBeakerSoYeah · 31/08/2017 22:15

Hear hear Across
From a poster loving the sky in Helsinki iykwim 😊

AcrossthePond55 · 31/08/2017 23:12

Tracy 🍾🍷🌅👍🏻

TracyBeakerSoYeah · 31/08/2017 23:33

Across Wine too. Oops hope I've not hijacked the thread.
Anyway it's down right annoying if not a little bit scary with this posturing from North Korea.
If only the idiotic dictator could see what a wonderful country he could have & the benefits he could bring if he was a normal benevolent man rather than a psychopath/ sociopath.

Ribrabrob · 01/09/2017 00:11

Pethais a silly question but what would a warning signal sound like? How would we all hear it? As a pp said, I've never seen a signal/alarm - what are they hooked up to?

Kursk · 01/09/2017 00:22

Ribrabrob

I am not sure what it would sound like, there are no sirens anymore. I assume that it would be a combo of a government TV takeover and mass text alert.

AcrossthePond55 · 01/09/2017 01:15

This video is what it sounds like. This is what we heard before duck and cover drills.

I can't find a video of the 'all clear', but I seem to remember it being three shortish blasts of the same type of siren, a pause, then three more. Beeeeep....Beeeep.....Beeeep...long silence....Beeeep...Beeep.....Beeep

AcrossthePond55 · 01/09/2017 01:23

I have a feeling today that there would be a 'reverse 911' type thing (or reverse 999 in the UK). Do you have that?

Do you all have an Emergency Broadcast System in the UK? This is what we would hear in the US.

TRIGGER ALERT!!!! This link below is a mock up of an announcement of a nuclear strike. Please use discretion in listening if you might be upset by it and please DO NOT LISTEN WITH YOUR CHILDREN IN THE ROOM!!!!!

ibbleobbleblackbubble · 01/09/2017 01:51

I've heard that everyone will get a text message...or something along those lines?

ShoesHaveSouls · 01/09/2017 02:23

Japan got a text message and the sirens - presumably the siren system they have for tsunamis?

I don't think we have a country-wide siren system in the UK anymore. I guess the ones we have would go off. TV break-ins on every channel as well I think. I've heard reports that if Radio 4 ever goes off air, we should worry (!)

We'd probably find out from Twitter these days... In reality I'm with Acrossthepond - I just have to believe it's never going to happen. It's a bit like being scared by a horror film and wondering what you'd do in that situation. I personally find chatting about it alleviates anxiety - but DH won't engage with me, "well, we'd die". Nor will mum, "not worth worrying about" - so MN can be a little occasional outlet for me.