Top federal officials on Monday issued their most pointed advice since Sept. 11, 2001, on precautions the public should take against terrorist attacks, warning that every home should be stocked with three days’ worth of water and food in case of a strike with chemical, biological or radiological weapons.
They also recommended that families consider designating a room where they will gather in the event of such an attack and have on hand duct tape and heavy plastic sheeting to seal it, as well as scissors, a manual can opener, blankets, flashlights, radios and spare batteries. The officials said they believe Al Qaeda terrorists are particularly targeting New York and Washington.
Ranking officials of the Department of Homeland Security said at a media briefing that Americans must take some personal responsibility for protecting themselves, but emphasized that people should not feel panicked or abandoned by government.
“We see information on citizen preparedness as prudent planning,” said Gordon Johndroe, the department’s spokesman. But given Al Qaeda’s interest in obtaining weapons of mass destruction, he added, “it’s appropriate for citizens to be informed about how to respond to a terrorist attack, much as people have prepared for years to be ready for tornadoes, hurricanes or floods.”
David Paulison, the U.S. fire administrator who is also a top civil defense planner for the new department, said, “You have to talk to your family, and plan how you’re going to communicate with each other” after a terrorist attack.
For example, he said, families could designate a third party with whom telephone messages can be left.
Department officials were offering what one acknowledged was “a complex message” with several elements.
The first is that people must mentally rehearse for a future attack, even though it’s an unsettling exercise. Yet officials want citizens to remain calm and not to view the situation as dire.
Law-enforcement and homeland security officials have come under some criticism since soon after the Sept. 11 attacks for offering the public frightening but vague warnings, and at the same time giving little guidance about what people can do.
Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge and Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft have often said Americans should “be vigilant,” and on New Year’s Eve, people were advised to “avoid crowds.”
Terrorism experts said that given large amounts of new intelligence, especially from Europe, suggesting that Americans could be targeted by weapons of mass destruction, U.S. government officials faced the same public relations quandary they have faced in the past, but with higher stakes this time.
“They’re not trying to scare people, but to educate people,” said Randall Larsen, director of the private Anser Institute for Homeland Security, who teaches security studies at the National War College. U.S. officials have studied the Israeli government’s citizen-preparedness campaign before the Persian Gulf war, when Israeli families were given gas masks and plastic sheeting to protect them from possible chemical attacks by Iraqi Scud missiles, he said.
“The Israelis learned one main task is psychologically preparing the population,” Larsen said. “Americans need to be prepared the way the Israelis are. The most important message we could send to terrorists after the next attack is get up and go to work the next morning.”
Paulison also laid out a vision of post-attack paralysis that made some other department officials wince.
“People are going to be on their own for the first 24 or 48 hours,” he said, reflecting on his experience with hurricanes as the former fire chief for Miami-Dade County.
