New Hampshire, by all accounts, has become reluctantly accustomed to living with a high risk of terrorist attack.
Government officials call it level Orange, the fourth most serious of five threat levels.
Residents are less familiar with what would happen if Washington declares a level Red alert. That would be an immediate and severe risk of terrorist attack.
N-H-P-R correspondent John Milne reports
The Department of Homeland Security would declare a level Red alert only if authorities obtain information about a specific terrorist act. It would involve a specific target. The alert is likely to be in effect for a short period of time.
So what would that mean in New Hampshire?
Jim Van Dongen, a spokesman for the Governor’s Office of Emergency Management, says the most noticeable would be a restriction on interstate travel:
Van Dongen/track 2/
Codered 1
The red alert, which is the highest level, would essentially mean a shutdown of the entire country for the duration – pretty much what you saw the evening of September 11, 2001 is what will happen. Air traffic shut down, marine traffic in and out, borders closed, all of that stuff would be shut down.
Look for an expanded police presence, possibly State Police patrols on the roads and possibly protection of bridges. The part-time border station in Pittsburg would be closed.
Residents would be able to commute to work.
However, security would be increased at public buildings, and guards would ask for identification. Private companies would be asked to restrict access to employees and others who have business there.
Parents would have to identify themselves before they could pick up their children at school.
Yet Homeland security officials have taken a low-key approach in New Hampshire. Authorities in other states have drawn a more drastic picture. For example, New Jersey’s director of counter-terrorism in New Jersey has said his state would be under a 24-hour curfew. Many residents would be ordered to stay home.
But New Hampshire’s safety commissioner, Richard Flynn, believes residents will find conditions, in his words, “pretty normal.”
Flynn/track 1
Codered2
I think they may see more coverage out there, where there are fire and police out on the highways and around certain locations that we think are locations that we think should get additional coverage.
Officials say the type of security activity will depend on the nature of the specific danger.
A bioterrorism threat, for example, could result in smallpox vaccinations for every person in the state. Officials say that would take about 10 days.
Van Dongen said the governor could, if the threat warrants, activate the National Guard.
Codered 3
As far as activating the Guard into state service, that would take some kind of incident in which they would actually be needed.
So if trouble comes, Van Dongen says the state is far more prepared than it was on 9-11. Hospitals and other first responders have more training.
A chemical attack or other release of hazardous material would meet trained responders who can already protect two-thirds of the population. A mutual aid system would get help to people in the rest of the state, primarily in the North Country.
But Van Dongen cautioned that New Hampshire cannot rely simply on public officials for help.
CodeRed4
There’s no such thing as making anybody totally 100 per cent secure. That’s impossible.
For N-H-P-R News, I’m John Milne
