‘DO NOT LOOK AT THE FIREBALL’ GUAM RESIDENTS TOLD IN PAMPHLETS

The U.S. island in Micronesia, some 3,400 kilometres from the Korean peninsula and a bit smaller than the city of Toronto, houses 7,000 U.S. troops among its 160,000 people. On Friday, public safety officials distributed a two-page pamphlet advising residents how to prepare and react should North Korea follow through on threats to launch a nuclear strike. The document includes several ominous warnings, the first being: “Do not look at the flash or fireball — It can blind you.” It also highlights steps for determining what shelters are “safe” — and for removing radioactive material that may accumulate on people’s clothes, skin and hair. (Do use shampoo, it says. Don’t use conditioner, as it will bind the toxins to your hair.)

Guam-based journalist Shannon Murphy wrote: “We try to shrug it off, make some jokes about how idiotic these two leaders are and then get on with our lives.… Just about everyone on Guam is getting tearful, panicky calls from friends and family off island begging them to leave and go somewhere safer.”