Sweet Dreams: Official Predicts “Chaos” and “Panic” if Washington, D.C., Attacked

By Ken Silverstein

From Jeff Stein at CQ:

Darrell Darnell, director of the District of Columbia’s Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency, says there would be “a lot of panic, a lot of chaos” if a small nuclear bomb detonated near the White House, which would most likely prevent an evacuation of the city as radiation spread. In an hour long interview, Darnell also said the major lesson from June 13, when a power substation failure shut off traffic lights, a fire broke out in a Metro station, and massive gridlock stymied D.C. police and emergency crews, is that “we need to do a better job coordinating agencies.”

“We didn’t do a very good job of getting MPD (Metropolitan Police Department) and DDOT (District Department of Transportation) there,” he said. “We’ve also got to communicate better.” Darnell, however, could not name a single alternative his office has come up with to prevent a repeat of the chaos that enveloped downtown for several hours on June 13.

I’ll sleep better tonight knowing this.