I recently saw a comment chain about nuclear bombs, and that led me to thinking about this. Say there is a nuclear explosion in the downtown of my US city. I survive relatively fine, but obviously the main part of the city has been destroyed, while major zones extending from the center were also badly damaged. What would be a good response to (a) survive and (b) help out the recovery effort?

  • NeatNit@discuss.tchncs.de
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    2 months ago

    This brings to mind something David Mitchell said once on Would I Lie To You (British panel show):

    In response to Kelvin MacKenzie’s claim that the “This Is My” guest had built him a nuclear bunker:

    David Mitchell: If there’s a nuclear war, I don’t want to live…I have no skills. Okay, society is destroyed by a nuclear war, we’re basically - we’re back to the bronze age…how long is it gonna be before people start pitching panel shows again? It’s gonna be at least 2000 years!

    (as quoted by TVTropes)

    Watch it here if you want, it was annoyingly hard to find.

    However I don’t think David - who is a comedian - is precisely right about how such a war would affect the state of technology. If there are survivors, I don’t think we’d really be back to the bronze age. Even if all technology was destroyed (which it wouldn’t be), give humans a few decades, we’ll have some sort of modern technology back up and running. Maybe not computers, but some certainly some analogue electronics - the knowledge isn’t lost. Communications would be one of the first points of focus, so television would follow closely behind.

    • volvoxvsmarla @lemm.ee
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      2 months ago

      Thank you for the clip! I once found the show on youtube by accident, it is such a gem. It all started with the cabbage feud. (But I have come to notice that James Acaster only tells true stories, alas.)

      I absolutely don’t get the point system though but nevermind.

      • NeatNit@discuss.tchncs.de
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        2 months ago

        I never tried to keep track, but I always assumed each correctly identified lie/truth gets a point, and each mistake gives a point to the other team. Keep in mind that the show gets edited down and you don’t see everything that the audience did, while the score probably includes those things you didn’t see.

        But like, absolutely no one watches this show for the score, so who cares? It might as well be QI’s scoring system :)

    • peopleproblems@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      The longest stretch would likely be chip fabs. You need precision electronics and hazardous chemicals and plenty of power.

      But considering that some form of electronics will survive, and it wouldnt take long for people to get rudimentary electricity going, I don’t see why we couldn’t have world Internet within a decade.

      • NeatNit@discuss.tchncs.de
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        2 months ago

        Yeah, chip fabs are exactly why I think computers would need more time. I’m not super familiar with this, but I’d wager such a factory can only be built using tools and machines that come from other specialized factories, and so on maybe 3 levels down before you get to a relatively rudimentary manufacturing process that can be reasonably achieved within a few years. It would take a lot to get that back up and running.

        • Zoot@reddthat.com
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          2 months ago

          However… Just think about how many chips are currently just sitting around… Between scrapping and searching you would likely be just fine for a few decades.

        • intensely_human@lemm.ee
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          2 months ago

          By the time nuclear war happens, most chip manufacturing capability will be underground or in hidden sites and therefore not targeted.

    • dohpaz42@lemmy.worldEnglish
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      2 months ago

      The thing is, people inherently want to live. It’s instinctual. Secondly, everybody - regardless of skill level - can learn to be handy and useful. If everything is destroyed, and society is to be rebuilt, a lot of manual labor will be needed for cleanup and rebuilding. Even the “I pick things up and put them down” guy is perfectly suited for this type of work.

    • grue@lemmy.worldEnglish
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      2 months ago

      Counterpoint:

      A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.

      -Robert A. Heinlein

      • uid0gid0@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        When you’re functionally immortal like Lazarus Long you’ll have time to learn all that. Most people only live long enough to master one profession.

  • Toes♀@ani.social
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    2 months ago

    Assuming your home isn’t on fire. Seal everything, do not go outside! If possible, stay inside for as long as possible. Fill everything with water your bathtub, every cup, bucket, etc. Monitor the radio for emergency broadcasts for what to do next. AM stations are more likely to work. If you have a CB radio handy, (depending on your country) you can talk to authorities on Channel 9.

      • tiredofsametab@kbin.run
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        2 months ago

        Generally, the worst intensity stuff is actually over in the first 48-72 hours depending upon various factors. That’s not to say outside is completely safe after that (it wouldn’t be), but the level of danger is very different.

    • Fondots@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      The CB radio thing is going to be very location specific, I work in 911 dispatch, I think the state police around me theoretically monitor channel 9 on the highways, but in practice I wouldn’t have a lot of confidence in that, they barely look at info we send them over the computer, CB also has a somewhat limited range, so you’re counting on them having an officer somewhat nearby or you being close to their station.

      As for local police, around me I suspect a few of them probably still have a CB antenna on the roof of their station and maybe even an old radio stashed somewhere in a closet but not hooked up and not being monitored, and the officers definitely don’t have them in their vehicles.

      I’m in a pretty dense suburban area outside of a major city, they might still get some use in more rural areas where cell signals aren’t as reliable, though you’re probably going to run into the same issues with range limitations, in normal ideal conditions, you might get a range of about 20 miles or so, depending on atmospheric conditions, geography, etc. you might get only a fraction of that.

    • neidu2@feddit.nl
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      2 months ago

      Tip regarding radio: 2182kHz near the coast. Those frequency is monitored by authorities globally. It’s the MF equivalent of maritime VHF ch16.

      Source: I have a GOC

      • RattlerSix@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        CB radio has really short range and there’s little likelihood that authorities would be monitoring it.

        2182 kHz is long range marine radio and only good if you’re on a boat. I don’t know that anyone you talk to would care about a person on land while they’re handling their own maritime emergencies.

        If someone really wants emergency radio I’d suggest ham radio or GMRS.

    • litchralee@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
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      2 months ago

      There is also amateur radio (aka ham radio), which can legally and practically operate at higher output powers if necessary, and on far more frequencies than CB. Although doomsday people often say to just buy a ham radio and use it without a license, I don’t advise that, simply because having the radio is only half the challenge.

      The other half is the ability to competently operate the radio to effectively communicate and organize aid. And this only comes with practice, in the form of regular participation in radio nets and emcomm activities. Emergency radio isn’t even limited to voice transmissions, with digital modes and even fax modes being an option that can transmit quicker and farther.

      While some people will make ham radio a lifelong hobby, others obtain their license simply for small-talk, or for a SHTF scenario, or as longer-distance walkie-talkies when camping in heavily wooded forests. The possibilities are endless, but it all starts with a first radio and some basic training on radio handling.

      Ham radio clubs across the USA and the world are generally very welcoming of new folks, so it’s worth looking up your nearby club or drop in on an in-person club meeting.

  • wabafee@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Probably just get away from the city or away from the radiation, forget about helping recovery effort as initial response. That can happen once your safe.

  • skillissuer@discuss.tchncs.de
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    2 months ago

    if you’re gonna die in nuclear strike, it’ll be most likely because a building you’re in collapses. unless you’re very close to a target that might get a ground burst or small nuke, like airport, large transit node like cargo railroad terminal, high level military command hq or such, you shouldn’t worry too hard about radiation either. in any other case, if you’re within fatal radiation dose range, then you’re also deep within overpressure-that-will-collapse-any-building range and instant-third-degree-burn-and-beyond range. at smaller yields you’ll see fireball range greater than fatal radiation range. play around with https://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/ to get the idea

    if you’re outside, you’ll get thermal burns and might be thrown around but as long as nothing falls on you, and ignoring burns, you should be mostly fine. there won’t be utilities, no power, no water, no communications, so you better have some batteries. if you have shelter, then if you have water and food to weather it out, and if you’re upwind of groundbursts if any, then you’ll probably survive

    …long enough to be drafted, because in space of day we went from peace to total war

  • piyuv@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    If you survive (big if) find Steve Huffman, he thinks he’ll be a good leader in a post apocalyptic earth

    • memfree@lemmy.ml
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      2 months ago

      I’ll bet you an upvote that there’s several bunkers damn close to you. All you need to do is figure out who’ll let you use one.

      • Riven@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        2 months ago

        I can guarantee that’s one of the cities in the US that has anti nuke defenses. The US has a tone of those. I haven’t checked but I also bet nobody is allowed to just randomly fly over the city or else they get shot down, and anybody who hijacks a passanger plane that does have clearance to fly over wouldn’t be able to smuggle a nuke onto it anyways.

  • fine_sandy_bottom@discuss.tchncs.de
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    2 months ago

    Everyone is talking about radiation but IMO having food and water is more important.

    In a large city, things would turn to shit within hours. There would be violence.

    Honestly, if you don’t have a relative on a farm within a days walk, then your best bet is a refugee camp.

  • Zorsith@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
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    2 months ago

    Don’t use certain cleaning products when bathing; I forget if it’s shampoo or conditioner, but one will bind radiation to you hair and scalp.

  • pelletbucket@lemm.ee
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    2 months ago

    I live on the coast so I’m stealing a fucking boat. I’ll check the pharmacies first, but that’s the most likely place that people are going to be killing each other over stuff.

  • foggy@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Man I’ll probably die but I’m just gonna walk north. Idk. good as any other direction.