Well, this is terrifying. 

I grew up in the 80s during the Cold War and can vividly remember the anxiety caused by the threat of nuclear war. It was at the top of many people’s minds back in those days. 

The made-for-TV movie The Day After came out when I was 10 years old in ‘83 and it pretty much threw gas on the fire that fueled everyone’s worries. And while I didn’t watch it (and still haven’t to this day), it was all everyone was talking about in the weeks after it came out.

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A few years later, the Berlin Wall came down and everyone figured at that point, we and the Russians were good buddies, and the threat of nuclear war was gone. 

And we were wrong. 

For one thing, tensions have been high between the U.S. and Russia over the last few years, especially since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. There’s also the fact that several other nations have nuclear weapons as well, many of which aren’t necessarily our closest allies. 

I guess that’s why FEMA published a map that shows potential U.S. targets in the event of a nuclear strike. The dots represent potential targets in a 2,000-warhead scenario. The triangles show targets that would most likely be hit in a 500 warhead strike. 

As you can see, a smaller strike would be focused on the most populated areas of Texas, while a larger strike would also include many of the cities that house military installations. 

Let’s all hope and pray that never happens.

FEMA via Reddit
FEMA via Reddit
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