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Oct. 8, 1966
October 8, 1966

Governor Romney declares statewide emergency; evacuation orders in effect for downriver suburbs

Southwesterly winds and inversion conditions have necessitated the expansion of the evacuation zone to include the Downriver suburbs of Detroit [1]. Public health officials have stated that the number of individuals reported to have been stricken with radiation poisoning is now over 1,000.

Accompanying the evacuation orders was a declaration of a statewide emergency by the governor. Governor Romney took to television and radio last night to make a public announcement regarding the emergency. Romney has ordered the Michigan Army National Guard and state police to aid in the evacuation of affected areas. Every school bus, truck, and non-emergency vehicle in southeastern Michigan and northwestern Ohio has been commandeered into service to ensure evacuees can be quickly and safely sent out of harm’s way. Also as part of the declaration, Governor Romney has banned the sale of milk produced in Monroe and Wayne counties [2].

Federal officials are monitoring the spread of radiation from the plant. President Johnson has been briefed on the situation and said that he has “assured Governor Romney that all possible help will be made available.” [3] In Canada, the evacuation efforts have been marred by disorder, and the normally polite and law-abiding citizens have become common thieves. The mayor of Windsor, Ontario, John Wheelton [4], has called for calm after looting broke out in that city’s downtown last night. Windsor police say that the rampant theft will not be tolerated.

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[1] “And by the next day, the wind had shifted to 220 [degrees], a course that we take any radioactive fallout smack into the lap of Windsor and much of Detroit…During these days, the weather grows less and less cooperative, with the wind shifting so that any escape of radiation would cover the maximum population of Detroit and its spreading suburbs. The day of the accident marked the beginning of a warm spell, so any escaping radiation would … lazily under the nocturnal inversion conditions.” WALD, p. 211

[2] A major source of contamination in OTL: http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2017/ph241/dadabbo1/ and http://users.owt.com/smsrpm/Chernobyl/glbrad.html

[3] In 1966, disasters were considered to be a state issue, not a federal one: https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2018/12/04/how-federal-government-became-responsible-disaster-relief/?noredirect=on

[4] http://www.windsorpubliclibrary.com/?page_id=62911
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