| Terrorism Predicted By Old Testament? - "Life for life,
Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe." -
Exodus, 21.23
It is a vision of the possible, some say of the inevitable.
The ratcheting-up of terrorism - an attack on the nation's capitol, followed by a mass exodus from the metro area.
Most American's seem to focus on New York City as a terrorism destination, particularly since media gave secondary reporting to the 9-11 attack on Washington.
It conjures images of bombed-out cities during World War II, civilians traveling aimlessly to a place of safety, far away from the disaster.
The West Virginia Department of Transportation says it is in full training mode for a possible Washington disaster that could pour millions of motorists to the Mountain State and beyond.
Chuck Runyon, the Executive Assistant to the secretary of the DOH, says if a disaster were to happen, one of the first things the DOH would do is to put 12 emergency response trailers throughout the state.
This also includes shutting highways and interstates down with message boards, and posting evacuation routes.
The Department of Transportation's supervisory staff has taken the National Incident Management System training to prepare them for command.
Runyon says "We want to keep the people traveling through the state of West Virginia safe and keep our roads open as much as possible."
Barbara Miller of the Jefferson County Homeland Security office has led those efforts because her county would be the first place many evacuees would see after a terrorist incident.
Miller says 60 percent of Jefferson's working population is in the D.C. area.
"We would do pass through as long as we can, but with roads in that area we think it would come to a standstill and we'll have to deal with some sheltering," Miller said.
She says there are two strategies, "One, for people to come to the eastern panhandle and the second one would be to evacuate the eastern panhandle if the event came close enough to us that it would be safe for our people to stay."
"Stock up on some things and have an idea on where you would go if you got an evacuation order."
West Virginia is working with at least seven other states on a large plan focusing on how to handle the rush of millions of residents.
Ohio Department of Public Safety Director Henry Guzman has been in constant contact with the Mountain State on this issue. "I think it's important that we understand all of the issues that would impact our individual states, but also how to impact the states that would be on the receiving end."
Guzman is calling for the state's to enter into memorandums of understanding. saying he anticipates West Virginia would be a pass-through state for evacuees, but Ohio would be a place where many may decide to stay.
State Police Superintendent Colonel Dave Lemmon says state code gives him the power to marshal forces. "We have multi-jurisdictional opportunity to bring various sheriff's departments under our disposal," he said.
Lemmon says the biggest problem for State Police would be to keep the traffic going, indicating they're looking at establishing fueling stations.
Lemmon says while he is aware of the criminal element, "Cars will break down, people will become ill, babies will be born along the way. It's all going to depend on the numbers of people."
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