FEMA wanted to conduct an emergency preparedness drill on the Las Vegas Strip or nearby, which would simulate terrorists detonating a nuclear bomb. That didn’t go over well with local leaders, such as the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) and the Nevada Development Authority (NDA), both of which agreed that FEMA’s timing for the exercise was wrong. Senator Harry Reid and local business leaders called the Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, and pressured FEMA to cancel the drill by sending opposition letters.
The general concern posed by area business leaders is the timing of the drill during tough economic times. They think that having a mock nuclear bomb in Vegas with the way the economy is going is not smart. The NDA president was also concerned about the negative publicity that the FEMA drill would generate:
” We wrote a letter in opposition to that exercise…The last thing we need to do is to be on national TV and no matter what happens here they are gonna put us on national TV and it’s gonna be a mock nuclear bomb.”
The desire for FEMA to conduct a nuclear bomb drill should cause all of us to take note of our emergency preparedness plans as it relates to a nuclear attack. Are you prepared?
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