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Oct. 7, 1966
October 7, 1966
Fermi evacuation radius expands; hundreds sickened by radiation.
As the Fermi plant continues to burn slowly, many people living near the plant have been hospitalized with symptoms consistent with radiation exposure. Monroe Mayor Morton Cohn [1] has ordered an evacuation of the city of Monroe, just five miles west of the Fermi plant. Residents of Berlin and Frenchtown Townships have also been given evacuation orders. Children and pregnant women are at particular risk. In Ontario, evacuations have been ordered for rural areas of southern Essex County, between Amherstberg and Kingsville [2].
The wind is expected to shift from southwesterly to south-southwesterly around 5 P.M. this afternoon and will remain south-southwesterly for the remainder of this evening and all of tomorrow [3]. This has prompted voluntary evacuations for the entire Downriver area. Residents of the City of Detroit are asked to stay indoors for the entirety of the day tomorrow.
On a better note, Vice President Humphrey was released from the hospital early this morning. Doctors state that he exhibits no signs of radiation sickness. He will fly back to Washington, D.C. for further testing. Assuming Humphrey receives a clean bill of health, he then will resume his nationwide pre-election tour, supporting Democratic candidates in Pennsylvania.
[2] At the time, no recommended evacuation zones existed around nuclear power plants in either the U.S. or Canada. It was not until 1970 that “emergency planning zones” around nuclear power plants were established in the U.S. (I couldn’t find anything for Canada): https://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/emerg-preparedness/history.html
[3] Hourly wind direction data for Detroit Metro Airport (the nearest weather station) for 1966 is not publically available. However, wind data are available for Windsor, Ontario on a Canadian government website: