Are there Potential safe areas in America – From Nuclear Targets?

Over the weekend, I read the article CITIES THAT ARE MOST AT RISK DURING NUCLEAR WAR. 3 ARE IN WASHINGTON STATE. This had me looking for potential safer regions in America.

Several years ago, CBS News displayed a map that showed likely US targets if the enemy had 500 or 2,000 warheads to launch.

The graphic below shows who potentially would be targeted - If an unnamed enemy used 500 or 2,000 warheads on American cities, military bases, dams, missile sites, power plants, and government agencies.

I grew up in the '70s and '80s - the tail end of the Cold War. 

The 1983 movie "The Day After" summarized my biggest fears of my youth.

President Reagan was given a private screening of "The Day After" a month before it aired on ABC. Reagan had the members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff also view it.

In his second term, Ronald Reagan seemed to have a more diplomatic approach with the Soviets. Did "The Day After" have any effect on his policymaking? Likely.

Tensions of this fearful time seemed to ease - when the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc nations dissolved. I’ll never forget November 13th, 1989 - the day that David Hasselhoff iconically broadcasted - from the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Cold War. 

Two years ago, in 2022, those dormant old fears reappeared.

Russia suggested that it could potentially use nuclear weapons, in response to the war in Ukraine. 

Are there any potential safe areas in America - far from any possible targets? 

The map produced by CBS seems to suggest so. The map indicates that rural Idaho, Maine, Northern California, and Eastern Oregon seem free of enemy targeting. 

Why do some Major US Cities have Higher Priority as Potential Targets?

Columbia University reported that six American cities are more likely to be targeted in a nuclear attack – New York, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington DC.

Why?

The six major metro areas (listed above) contain “vital infrastructure to the workings of the country.” Those cities also contain America’s financial centers, government agencies, and important energy plants.

INFO: CBS, Columbia University