If there was an Apocalyptic Event, What Would You Do?

[Esker-pades]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-13713798

A worried member of the public has forced Leicester City Council to admit it is unprepared for a zombie invasion.

The authority received a Freedom of Information request which said provisions to deal with an attack, often seen in horror films, were poor.

The "concerned citizen" said the possibility of such an event was one that councils should be aware of.

"We've had a few wacky ones before but this one did make us laugh," said Lynn Wyeth, head of information governance.

The Freedom of Information Act allows a right of access to recorded information held by public authorities.

Ms Wyeth said she was unaware of any specific reference to a zombie attack in the council's emergency plan, however some elements of it could be applied if the situation arose.

Other submissions to the council have included requests for records of paranormal activity and haunted buildings within the city.

"To you it might seem frivolous and a waste of time... but to different people it actually means something," said Ms Wyeth.

"Everybody has their own interests and their own reasons for asking these questions."

She added high-profile cases, such as the MPs expenses scandal, has raised public awareness of the right to request information records.

Ed Thurlow, who runs zombie website Terror4Fun, said he felt a zombie invasion in Leicester was highly unlikely.

"I think perhaps [the "Concerned Citizen"] has watched films like 28 Days Later a few too many times."

The letter:
Dear Leicester City Council,

Can you please let us know what provisions you have in place in the event of a zombie invasion? Having watched several films it is clear that preparation for such an event is poor and one that councils throughout the kingdom must prepare for.

Please provide any information you may have.

Yours faithfully,
Concerned Citizen

 

[LOL The Irony]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-13713798


The letter:
Dear Leicester City Council,

Can you please let us know what provisions you have in place in the event of a zombie invasion? Having watched several films it is clear that preparation for such an event is poor and one that councils throughout the kingdom must prepare for.

Please provide any information you may have.

Yours faithfully,
Concerned Citizen

No wonder they signed it Concerned Citizen

 

[Mutant Lemming]

Well a zombie attack isn't going to happen.......

….are you quite sure ?

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/exposed-drug-zombies-wrexham-bus-station/

 

[Strathclyder]

Yes it was Threads that did it for me too!

*shudder* The imagery in that film was such that one viewing was all I could handle. But it isn't a movie to be forgotten completely; if anything, it's more relevant now that at the time of it's first broadcast.

 

[trash80]

….are you quite sure ?

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/exposed-drug-zombies-wrexham-bus-station/

Yes quite sure, they don't seem to be attacking anyone in a hurry (or doing anything for that matter!)

 

[Tim R-T-C]

*shudder* The imagery in that film was such that one viewing was all I could handle. But it isn't a movie to be forgotten completely; if anything, it's more relevant now that at the time of it's first broadcast.

I think people get caught up in the idea of total destruction after a nuclear strike and forget that there probably would be a lot of survivors - but with most central authority and transport hubs gone, life would be pretty hellish. Threads and the earlier War Games do a good job of showing this.

The one thing I didn't like about Threads was the epilogue - it just seemed too depressing and pessimistic, as though people would simply give up on everything. Life has shown that humanity will survive and press on even in the worst circumstances.

 

[Bevan Price]

I think people get caught up in the idea of total destruction after a nuclear strike and forget that there probably would be a lot of survivors - but with most central authority and transport hubs gone, life would be pretty hellish. Threads and the earlier War Games do a good job of showing this.

The one thing I didn't like about Threads was the epilogue - it just seemed too depressing and pessimistic, as though people would simply give up on everything. Life has shown that humanity will survive and press on even in the worst circumstances.

The situation would be dreadful - no electricity supplies, no gas supplies, no pumped / purified water supplies, no petrol / diesel supplies for many years.
A lot of technical expertise lost; a lot of manufacturing industry gone.
So very limited transport facilities - no mechanised transport once surviving fuel stocks were used; back to the horse & cart for 20+ years.
Limited food supplies; much starvation; rampant disease but few - if any - medicines.
Maybe only 5 to 10% of those who survived the apocalypse would still be alive 5 years later.

 

[Mutant Lemming]

Yes quite sure, they don't seem to be attacking anyone in a hurry (or doing anything for that matter!)

They may just be waiting till there's enough of them

 

[Mutant Lemming]

I think people get caught up in the idea of total destruction after a nuclear strike and forget that there probably would be a lot of survivors - but with most central authority and transport hubs gone, life would be pretty hellish. Threads and the earlier War Games do a good job of showing this.

The one thing I didn't like about Threads was the epilogue - it just seemed too depressing and pessimistic, as though people would simply give up on everything. Life has shown that humanity will survive and press on even in the worst circumstances.

With weapons now that are vastly more powerful than those at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, along with the much greater numbers of them, everyone in the major UK population centres and those close to military bases and installations would most likely be killed in the initial explosion. Practically every building in the country would suffer blast damage and the high levels of radiation would see off the few who remain unscathed in the remote areas of mid-Wales and Scotland. The tiny numbers who did survive the first week would then succumb to a lack of fresh uncontaminated water. Bleak yes, but reality as opposed to pessimism - most of the apocalyptic films are often far too optimistic mainly because if everyone dies after the first 10 minutes there wouldn't be much of a film.

 

[trash80]

The one thing I didn't like about Threads was the epilogue - it just seemed too depressing and pessimistic, as though people would simply give up on everything. Life has shown that humanity will survive and press on even in the worst circumstances.

People hadn't given up, they just didn't have the budget to show the reconstruction that had begun but was mentioned onscreen.

 

[Cowley]

People hadn't given up, they just didn't have the budget to show the reconstruction that had begun but was mentioned onscreen.

All this talk of Threads has made me realise that I’ve never seen all of it.
This I have now rectified.
Although it’s terribly dated, I will probably still have nightmares..

 

[TurbostarFan]

This sounds like a post from someone up on specific charges...

Your honour, I was speeding and driving while drunk, but I had watched Dawn of the Dead while drunk and thought the zombies were real, so I assumed these laws had been slackened slightly....

If I were the Judge I would still find you guilty on the basis that what you have cited is not a defence to the charge. Speeding and driving while drunk are absolute liability offences, never assume these laws have been slackened off until it is confirmed in writing!

 

[TurbostarFan]

I'd stand on the left on an escalator.

There should be no overtaking of other citizens en route to the deep level shelters.

Bad idea, people will just push you out of the way in the heat of the moment.

 

[TurbostarFan]

Norwich City Council appear not to have confirmed whether they are prepared for a zombie apocalypse either way:

Dear Mr Potter,
Norwich City Council has a duty to have tried and tested plans in place to
respond to and support an emergency that might occur within Norwich city.
We work alongside the emergency services and other Norfolk Resilience
Forum partners to respond to an emergency and we would support our
communities in the recovery following an incident.

Our plans are proportionate to the risks contained in the Norfolk
Community Risk Register, which details the risk assessment of the
likelihood and the impact of a range of hazards within Norfolk. This then
ensures we are suitably prepared to respond to a broad range of incidents.

Kind Regards

Chris Lambert
Senior Democratic Services Officer

Source: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/zombie_invasion_3 - Freedom of information request made by myself on Whatdotheyknow website

This is probably because they aren't prepared for such an event but didn't want to publicly comment on that. What are your thoughts?

 

[70014IronDuke]

In thinking about such scenarios, people seem less unanimous than you'd imagine they might be, that what would happen would be: nearly everyone would let rip, and do as their impulses dictated -- rapine, robbery and mass-murder to the max. I seem to remember a thing from Neville Shute's novel On The Beach -- premise, the Cold War goes nuclear, and all life on earth is being wiped out by a deadly radioactive cloud; ...

One man's solution:

Get out of town, think I'll get out of town
I head for the sticks with my bus and friends,
I follow the road, though I don't know where it ends
Get out of town, get out of town, think I'll get out of town
'Cause the world is turnin', I don't want to see it turn away

"On the Beach" 1974 (Perhaps Neil Young had an optimistic view of Zombie character? Indeed, perhaps Zombies can be good for you?)

 

[najaB]

This is probably because they aren't prepared for such an event but didn't want to publicly comment on that. What are your thoughts?

Or, alternatively, they are prepared for it but don't want to admit that they consider it a likely event. What are they hiding?

 

[DarloRich]

This is probably because they aren't prepared for such an event but didn't want to publicly comment on that. What are your thoughts?

My thoughts are they have responded to your silly time wasting letter in the most polite way they can.

 

[jamesbwxm]

I'd head to The Winchester for a pint and wait for it to all blow over.

 

[jamesbwxm]

Steer clear of Wrexham bus station

It's really not as bad as it looked.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I'd head to The Winchester for a pint and wait for it to all blow over.

...wearing a camel hair coat and a trilby, I suppose?

 

[EM2]

...wearing a camel hair coat and a trilby, I suppose?

The other Winchester:

 

[Peter Mugridge]

The other Winchester:

Ah. I'd only ever heard of the one in Minder.

Am I showing my age again...?

 

[PeterY]

All this talk of Threads has made me realise that I’ve never seen all of it.
This I have now rectified.
Although it’s terribly dated, I will probably still have nightmares..

I've seen Threads several times. OK it's of its time but it sticks in my head. Once seen, never forgotten.

 

[UP13]

I'd head to The Winchester for a pint and wait for it to all blow over.

I think you've won the thread.

 

[Busaholic]

Ah. I'd only ever heard of the one in Minder.

Am I showing my age again...?

You mean there's another one?

Glynn Edwards, who played the barman (Dave?), who only died a year or two back, is one of a motley collection whose obituaries were published several years before they died,about twenty years in his case!

 

[HH]

Keep Calm and Carry On.