I have always felt pretty safe living here in Evansville, IN, especially in regard to “big city” crime. You see stories on the news about mass shootings, bombings, terrorist threats, etc, but I’ve never really worried about that kind of thing happening here. I may have reason to be concerned about a nuclear attack, though. Let me explain.

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A map released by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) back in 2015 has resurfaced recently and is getting some attention, especially in the wake of the escalating situation between Russian and Ukraine.

Federal Emergency Management Agency from 2015
Federal Emergency Management Agency from 2015
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The map above shows areas of the country that have been identified as likely targets in the event of a nuclear attack against the United States. To give you a better idea of what you're looking at - the purple triangles represent an area that is most likely to be hit during a first-strike scenario (with approximately 500 missiles). The black dots represent areas that are likely to be targeted in a full-blown warhead scenario (with about 2,000 missiles).

Federal Emergency Management Agency from 2015
Federal Emergency Management Agency from 2015
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You can see the eastern half of the county is covered in purple triangles and black dots, and Indiana is right in the middle of all that madness. We're certainly not as "popular" as the east coast, but we're also not just sitting back and twiddling our thumbs if (God forbid) we ever hear those sirens go off.

Federal Emergency Management Agency from 2015
Federal Emergency Management Agency from 2015
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Are We Safe in Southern Indiana?

If you believe what the map is saying, then Southern Indiana is NOT the safest place to be in the event of a nuclear attack. I'm not saying that Evansville is a direct target, but there is one of those pesky purple triangles near us, and there are three black dots that are a little too close for comfort.

Keep in mind that this map was released in 2015, so it's very possible that this information has changed in the last several years. I'll admit the map is a little startling, but I am certainly not going to lose any sleep over it and I wouldn't recommend that you do either.

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