Whether it's the threat of the Yellowstone supervolcano or an attack against NORAD, Denver -- like any city -- has its own special brand of potential safety risks. So what would we do in the case of a real emergency?
It's pretty much a given that Denver could never become the victim of a ruthless hurricane like what Texas and Florida just experienced. But potential threats -- both nature and otherwise -- do exist. Of course, conspiracy theorists like to jump on those, and we're not here to add fuel to that fire! But the fact remains that if something disastrous were to happen in our city and we were all forced to get outta Dodge (er, Denver), we'd need to know what to do -- preferably before the emergency. So here's the thing. According to Denver's Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security, if something were to occur that would require the evacuation of the city, residents would need to leave via the north, east, and south highways or Interstates. "We do not evacuate through the mountains on a normal basis just because of the crowd limit and the capacity limitations," Ryan Broughton, the department's executive director, told 9News. If you divide the city into four quadrants, using Broadway and Colfax as the pinnacle, then you would evacuate accordingly (northwest residents would primarily take I-25 north, southwest residents would take I-25 south, northeast residents would take I-76, and southeast residents would exit using I-70). The whole process would take about 18 or 19 hours, if each car held three or four people. [caption id="attachment_23684" align="aligncenter" width="480"]
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"Our road capacity in our Denver area is about 34,400 cars per hour," Broughton estimated.
Alerts for emergencies could be communicated via the city's outdoor warning siren system, through radio and television (radio station 850 KOA [AM] is Denver's designated emergency alert station), and through wireless device notifications.
"I can draw on a map, a circle around the Broncos stadium for example, identify that they should shelter in place or evacuate, and then provide that to every mobile device within that geographic area," Broughton said. That's pretty cool technology, if you ask us!
So what kind of things could be considered threats? From a derailment of a train carrying hazardous materials (an estimated 230 companies in Denver use hazardous materials), to a devastating earthquake, from a terrorist missile launch, to the catastrophic failure of the Cherry Creek Dam, there are always countless things that could go wrong, so it's important to know what to do in these situations.
Colorado is actually considered at risk for earthquakes, and if the volcano underneath Yellowstone National Park would erupt, the Denver area would find itself digging out of about four inches of ash. Will these things happen? Hopefully not. But when you remember the recent hurricane evacuations and even the fires ravaging the western states, it's always good to keep some perspective -- that anything is possible and the least we can do is be prepared.
Good news for us, the Denver Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security has outlined what we can do in preparation for every potential threat, on their website. And since September is National Preparedness Month, it's a good time to visit the Office of Homeland Security's resources and utilize their preparedness tools.
The most important thing in the case of an emergency? Remain as calm as possible and follow the instructions given by the authorities. These guys are trained in this stuff, and letting them lead the way to safety will always be our best bet.
