Hawaii’s preparation for possibility of North Korea nuclear bomb is MADness

Today the news is of fears of a North Korean nuclear attack.

You have to admit, those of us living in Honolulu have more reason than most to be a tad touchy about being bombed.

Dec. 7, 1941, as President Franklin Roosevelt declared, was “A date that will live in infamy,” as Japan attacked military bases on Oahu. A total of 2,335 military personnel were killed along with 68 civilians — and World War II was underway.

Within the week, Oahu’s citizens were ordered by the Army to dig bomb shelters.

“Each male citizen will be required to construct a shelter for his protection and for the protection of his family, with his own tools and materials,” the order read, according to a Dec. 15, 1941, Star-Bulletin report.

If the generals said “start digging,” it really wasn’t up for debate because by the afternoon of the attack, Hawaii was under martial law.

Now the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency is rolling out its own cautions about a nuclear strike.

According to the state’s defense department, the emergency management agency has been putting together plans since 2016.

In some ways, there is a sense of grim futility to the exercise.

The “frequently asked questions” section of the state report addresses the question of why even worry since we will all be blown up anyway despite nuclear preparations — but somehow the state is discounting the damage.

“Current estimates of human casualties based on the size (yield) of North Korean nuclear weapon technology strongly suggests an explosion less than 6 miles in diameter.

“More than 90% of the population would survive the direct effects of such an explosion,” the state report says.

Ninety percent alive means 10 percent, or about 100,000, dead immediately. That is beyond staggering.

Also, a 6-mile diameter blast centered on Pearl Harbor means that areas that would be blown off the map would include: Pearl City, Aiea, Waimalu, Salt Lake, Halawa, Pearlridge center, Waipio, Waikele, Waipahu, West Loch, Ewa Villages, Ewa Beach, Hickam, Honolulu Airport, Kalihi-Palama and the Sand Island Treatment Center.

Also gone would be Pali Momi Medical Center and Tripler Army Medical Center.

Given that the warning time if the North Koreans fired an ICBM at Honolulu would be “less than 12 to 15 minutes before missile impact,” according to the state warning, the only option is “shelter in place.”

There is also some nightmarish speculation from the state about where a missile might land; for instance, would the neighbor islands be safe?

“We do not know. North Korean missile technology may not be adequately advanced to accurately target a specific island or location. Although most analysts believe the desired target will be Oahu given the concentration of military and government facilities, a missile may stray and impact the open ocean or even a neighbor island,” the state says.

From the Cold War days of schoolchildren practicing “duck and cover” drills, to now the state assembling tips on surviving nuclear war with North Korea, it seems that the acronym MAD in “mutually assured destruction” just begins to touch the madness of nuclear weapons.

Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays. Reach him at 808onpolitics@gmail.com.