Population cap increase???

[Elliot]

How many people and vehicles can we evacuate in the freak chance it is necessary in 24 hours? that is the driving force of your cap. In addition there are policing, sanitation and safety concerns as well. The permit language lays out the thinking pretty well.

I'm not finding any reference to evacuation. But I'm old and feeble-minded, so I probably missed it. Can you steer me toward the document and the page?

[Jovankat]

If there is a concern about being able to evacuate the entire city in 24 hours it seems like it would be a bad idea to increase the population cap and encourage people to fly or bus in. There's obviously a limit to how many vehicles could get off the playa in 24 hours but if there are more people than will fit in those vehicles because lots of people were flown in or bused in on buses that then left the playa then that would be a pretty major problem wouldn't it?

[digital]

If there were a true emergency requiring mass exodus the normal rules of cars per hour entering the highway would be suspended. In addition, there are miles of playa in each direction which could be used as emergency staging. I suppose it depends on the emergency which so far has not been explained.

Personally, I like camping in the outer streets for this very reason. It is also nice to have camp contingency plans. Most people don't plan for 70k panicked people, many of which would be drunk/high when SHTF.

[maladroit]

You need to bring two items in order to be fully prepared for playa apocalypse conditions. First, you need a heavy armored vehicle that can be anchored to the playa. Second, you need an inflatable boat.

A third alternative is to have a privately chartered helicopter on standby to come pluck you from the chaos if needed.

[FlyingMonkey]

At the risk of continuing thread drift.....Just curious, what kind of dooms day scenario would drive a mass panic? Seems most folks would choose to hunker down & ride out most situations.




Zombies on the Playa could be bad, but I think I saw some last year anyway. I think they are rendered "mostly" harmless after eating too many tripping brains.

[Bless]

Saw a fully-loaded helipad on the playa last year. Looked like a V-22 tiltrotor. Their billboard advertised zombie evacuation services. Not sure if they were properly permitted/licensed by BLM, though.

[Simon of the Playa]

.

[unjonharley]

Please reread your guide.. You must have a chainsaw to get through the gate..

This is to protect you from zombies..

[Captain Goddammit]

I usually bring a sawzall, is that close enough?

[some seeing eye]

what kind of dooms day scenario would drive a mass panic?

If there was a wildfire with X dead, doubt people would stay the rest of the week. The state fair has an emergency shutdown protocol, so it would be standard for BM to have one. There is also the opposite, a couple day forced stay by rain which would cause panic in the people who had to get back to work.

As for lifting the 1000 cars per hour on 447 in if the event closed, wouldn't count on that. That is a safety limit, and panicked, tired people are going to be accident prone. The population cap is set far in advance of an emergency.

[Fan C]

At the risk of continuing thread drift.....Just curious, what kind of dooms day scenario would drive a mass panic? Seems most folks would choose to hunker down & ride out most situations.




Zombies on the Playa could be bad, but I think I saw some last year anyway. I think they are rendered "mostly" harmless after eating too many tripping brains.

Serious rain. When DRY lake beds stop being dry they become lakes.

[unjonharley]

Serious rain. When DRY lake beds stop being dry they become lakes.

Serious rain and your not going anywhere.. Your fender wells would fill and there you are..

[Molotov]

Barring a wildfire, those who practice radical self reliance would probably be able to hunker down in place and wait out a prolonged rain event. How deep could the water get? I imagine those in vehicles would be above the high water mark and be fine-although marooned. Maybe the BMORG should bring an air boat..

[Elderberry]

Air Boat. Haha. That might not be such a bad idea.

[maladroit]

Yeah, an air boat might actually work. The likely water levels would be enough to make wheeled travel impossible, but not enough to float a regular boat.

A hovercraft (eels optional) would work too.

[Molotov]

Did you say hovercraft? This should do the job. But on dry playa it would create it's own white-out.

[FlyingMonkey]

Serious rain. When DRY lake beds stop being dry they become lakes.

Serious rain and your not going anywhere.. Your fender wells would fill and there you are..

Yeah, I considered that but also concluded that if you didn't beat the rain you would be camping longer than intended.

I actually tried to think of real world disasters that could realistically affect the Burn.

Maybe a huge train derailment somewhere nearby that causes a poisonous cloud of chemicals to drift over the Playa. That's as close as I could come to something real.

Rain - beat it to pavement or stay longer than intended.
Prolonged strong winds - Not safe to travel at all. Hunker down.
Earthquake - it's flat & not going anywhere, but many would want to return home.
Hurricane - See above.
Really bad airborne sickness - Evacuation only spreads it. Containment would be best option.
Zombies - Already discussed. (Taste like Bacon)
Spider-pocalypse - I would be tempted to evacuate.

[media]

[theCryptofishist]

Grabboids.

[mdmf007]

At the risk of continuing thread drift.....Just curious, what kind of dooms day scenario would drive a mass panic? Seems most folks would choose to hunker down & ride out most situations.




Zombies on the Playa could be bad, but I think I saw some last year anyway. I think they are rendered "mostly" harmless after eating too many tripping brains.

All sorts of things come to this EM guys head - its the stuff not thought of that can bite us.

Some ideas, and in no real order:
1. Flash flood (Screws driving off playa realistically anyways)
2. Civil unrest.
3. Active shooter. Extremely unlikely, but hey, there are crazy assholes all over the country. That would create a panic to self evacuate.
4. Epidemic of some sorts.
5. Terrorist attack off playa of national scale - everyone is going to want to get home.
6. ???

[Elderberry]

Oh great, just what we need. Something more to worry about.

[Ratty]

I'll just sit tight and wait it out. I hate being stuck on the freeway.

[digital]

5. Terrorist attack off playa of national scale - everyone is going to want to get home.

Other than zombies, this is my big fear.

Anyone working in the field or listening to the chatter knows knows not if, but when, the next attack will hit us. It will likely be nuclear and a big city (albeit low-yield but dirty). LA for example. Panic will ensue. The burn will be over.

Now that the burn us over and many in the population just learned a family member is either harmed or of unknown status what will happen? 70K people are now demanding to get home. To contact loved ones. Wait, how do I get home? Many roads closed or travel outright banned. People crying, screaming, panic.

You see where this is going and it doesn't even need to be an attack on playa.

[Simon of the Playa]

you're right.

in 1997 Lady Di Died during the burn.

it was fucking chaos.

[unjonharley]

Everyone run for home huh?

Like the farm family.. Going into the silage pit to save the others..

Domino death effect.. Works every time..

[Ratty]

The chicken lived.

[FlyingMonkey]

At the risk of continuing thread drift.....


Sorry, I feel so trollish now. My bad.

Back to the OP.

[Bless]

Back to '97 and Lady Di... pray tell, what did you do? What was the reaction?

[theCryptofishist]

Simon flew to London with a gross of roses.

[ygmir]

the "vehicles per hour" is not arbitrarily set. it's calculable, for given speeds and distance, even taking into consideration accidents and breakdowns, how many VPH any given road can handle. Above that, severe gridlock can and probably (knowing how people drive once they leave the playa) will ensue.

I'd agree the train wreck/dangerous gas thing is about the only "gotta go now" scenario. I'd doubt the water could build up more than a foot or two deep? not drowning deep, but "everyone get on top of something" deep.

maybe some super cold air event?.....

[unjonharley]

I have carried a thermal emergency camp for a long time.. It's tucked under the van seat.. I use-to trek the mountain/coast range... Even have a flower pot and a 100 hour candle.. It keeps the van cab nice and warm.. Also a twig burning rocket stove.. Never know when I will make a wrong turn..