It's absolutely, unequivocally unthinkable, yet, it might happen. The blast wave, the "kill zone", will be 10 miles. I live in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, a likely target; my mother lives in Waterloo to my northwest, the home of John Deere. From launch to detonation is about 30 minutes; it will probably take Norad 5 minutes to detect and verify the launch, another 5 minutes to sound the civil defense. We're planning on going straight to our car without even locking our doors, and leaving as fast as we can.

Any other advice, not only for my and my family's survival, but yours, also? Again, unthinkable, but we are going to make a short plan anyways. If the unthinkable happens, I am going to try to survive.

All out nuclear war is like two men locked in a room throwing hand grenades at each other.

There is nowhere to go.

I am going to try anyway. I figure that if I can get 10 to 15 miles to my east and survive the blast wave that I will have 30 to 45 minutes before the radioactive fallout begins; hopefully, we can find something underground; that will probably be the hard part. Staying in that spot for a few days will be even harder.

Any brick or concrete building will work, it doesn't need to be underground (and there's alot of reasons not to go mole man in this event). Lay down face first on the ground or floor with your head towards the direction of the blast and..ideally, something between your head and the direction of the blast - and you'll want to be away from electronics. Cover your genitals with your hands. It's not for your genitals, it's for your hands - you don't want to try to do any kind of survival exercise with fucked up hands. Ditch your clothes afterward, all of it, even if you think/hope you haven't been contaminated. Wash yourself down but do not touch your eyes, nose, or mouth. Shelter in place for 24 hours and after that, follow whatever guidance emergency response gives you, if any.

You do not want to be caught attempting to flee the blast zone in a car in this situation unless explicitly ordered to evacuate.

I'm planning on being a long goddamn way from any strategic targets.

Fun, personal fact: when watching the musical growing up, I never made the connection to WWII. I was beyond innocent, and the storyline mattered little to me compared to the singing.

You die ....The end ....Or you wish you had died .....

go to Antarctica.

Good luck with that

I live in NZ. Like some other places in Oceania, there is expected to be something left after the fallout falls out. Sommat to do with wind patterns and ocean currents, I'm told.

Boru