Winnipeg: Rebirth in Progress

[Tanis777]

[center][img]http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w282/quest2007/environment__post_apocalypse_by_i_netgrafx_zps89cf6ed6.jpg[/img]
[i]Earliest images on post-Winnipeg destruction. Source: FISD[/i]
[/center]
OOC: Rebuilding efforts and aid help will continue here aside from the conclusion from the Operation Restoration thread.

A lone WC-154 Constant Phoenix aircraft flew over the skies of an destroyed Winnipeg, part of the 62nd Weather Recon Squadron. The crew of 12 were tasked with the initial detection of radioactive materials in the atmosphere as one of the first responses to the former capital. It lingered over the capital for about 30 minutes to collect it's samples and return back to it's base near Churchill. Air Force Weather Agency was receiving the real-time feed from the WC-154 which was relayed to the Chiefs of Staff at the Leaf Rapids Command Center in northern Manitoba. It wasn't time to deploy anyone yet, but mobilization was well underway from the military to respond.

Edited October 12, 2012 by Tanis777

[Tanis777]

[b]Part One: The End[/b]

It was the typical Monday morning for the citizens of Winnipeg, and an especially beginning of a routine week for Michael Schalenger, the typical 40-something male about to enter his mid-life crisis with a stable marriage with his wife Ashley and their four kids. [i]Just another day at the office, better check the commute in while I call the boss, [/i]he thought.

He flicked through his smartphone to get the latest traffic to Downtown at his office at the Interior Affairs Department, Natural Resources Agency. The phone responded quite quickly to his commands as it showed a road map with various green, yellow, red and black routes throughout the Winnipeg area...

"Honey, breakfast is ready!" Michael's wife loudly said.

"Be right down! Have to get the meeting for this morning ready real quick, be right there." he replied.

[i]One hour and 30 minutes time to reach Downtown... shoot, got to go, now. [/i]

He quickly closed the window and called his boss on speaker phone as he tied on his tie.

"Hello, Jacob Harlow here."

"Mornin' boss, just letting you know the 10 AM meeting is still on with the Polar Bear Conservatory Society, I have your files ready to go."

"Excellent work Micheal. You're doing great son, see you when you arrive."

*click*

Michael stowed the phone into his right front pant pocket and descended the stairs. Ashley tapped her foot as he hurried in...

"Almost running late again?"

"Just the... " paused Michael as he savored the orange juice and bacon, "traffic is horrible."

"Your excuse every time..."

"Mhmm, what can I say, early doesn't cut it for me for them?"

"What about me?" she questioned.

"Always early for you..." as he leaned to give a firm kiss and squeezed her ass a bit."

"Ooo!!! Hurry on now, you'll be late," she stated matter-of-factly

"Way to ruin the moment dear..." as he pecked her one last time as he strolled outside to his awaiting car, a decent BMW 5-series warming up outside. He opened the driver door and tossed the briefcase in the front passenger seat and buckled up. The car revved up to life with it's six-speed manual transmission on the local streets until he reached the former Highway 1, Trans-Canada Highway and heading east towards Winnipeg.

The latest Federation work on the interstate network was the development of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) with real time sensors, traffic cameras and digital signage to change speed limits, inform of accidents and commute times which was implemented some time just after the birth of the Federation. Michael disregarded the marvels of ITS as a simple citizen on his way to work with his radio blaring some music, surrounded by stop-and-go traffic.

There was very little warning to the impending doom that was at hand for the entire area and for Michael, he would be caught up in the middle of it. Mere minutes would pass as the Federation's Emergency Broadcast message overrode all media outlets with the message of the incoming nuclear strike.

His ears would listen in disbelief as mass hysteria broke out on the mass parking lot that was the Trans-Canada Highway as people ran for the nearest shelter. He hear his phone rang in the madness unfolding before him, picking it up since it was his wife.

He would utter the words "Love..." as the flashes of white light lit over the Winnipeg metropolitan area.

[Tanis777]

[b]Part One: The End[/b]

Flight 475, Great Lakes Airlines, from Greenland to Winnipeg was making was it's destination landing checks with Winnipeg air traffic controllers when frantic messages started coming from the controllers to abort all landings at Winnipeg. The perplexed pilots didn't know how to quite respond to the messages, except the words nuclear missiles made them start to swing about. The aircraft team turned on all the safety precautions lights in the cabin.


[i]"This is your pilot speaking, we've been ordered to divert away from Winnipeg for an unknown reason. All other flights have been diverted as well. Please fasten your seat belts as we attempt emergency landings to the nearest airport."[/i]

The pilots would last see the sunny atmosphere above the stormy clouds of late Spring storm as the plane lost control from the EMP burst from the explosions. The seconds would pass by in a slow motion scene of the multiple flashes of light on the left side of the aircraft, the trio of mushroom clouds over the Winnipeg area... followed by the defying shock wave that shook the aircraft to it's very composite structured frame.

The electrical components on the aircraft would be fried, which in turn powered off the engines. The aircraft jerked downward as the shock wave tumbled the fragile craft towards the ground. Inside, the oxygen mask deployed and those that didn't heed the warning flew about the cabin, most dying instantly. Luggage flew out of their overhead storage while people screamed in horror.

The frame of the aircraft finally met the limits of it's engineered stress limits and started to break apart rather quickly. Seats, people, luggage ejected out as confetti from 10,000 feet over the Manitoba region northeast of Winnipeg.

It would later be known by emergency personnel at that particular flight crash some six months later that all hands were lost.

Edited October 19, 2012 by Tanis777

[Tanis777]

[b]Part 2 - The Destruction[/b]

The Northern Imperium nuclear strike on Winnipeg would produce at combined blast area that spanned in a 10 mile radius to maximize destruction of the capital, while major burns radius varied from 15-18 miles out. Winnipeg and all it's outlying suburbs were severely destroyed in the wake of the strike. Very few buildings survived inside the blast radius except some of the most recent reinforced concrete buildings, underground structures at the international airport and hardened military structures holding aircraft, tanks and other supplies.

With the Chancellor missing during the prompt evacuation, the response to the nuclear strike went slowly at first as the Federation's civilian chain of command was in disarray and the Hudson Bay Federal Emergency Coordination Agency main office and the civilian arm of the Federation Nuclear, Radiological, Biological and Chemical Weapons Rapid Incident Response office was wiped out in the blast. The only stroke of luck was the main command of the Hudson Bay Armed Forces escaped destruction entirely; however, assets near Winnipeg were out of contact and presumed a 100% lost.

It wasn't the military who came first to aid whoever was left in Winnipeg, it was foolhardy, yet unsung heroes in the mere hours of the explosions. Police officers, firefighters, paramedics, off-duty Federation National Guardsmen, and courageous civilians from outlying communities, such as Brandon, Carman, and Winkler traveled any road leading them to the beleaguered capital and the lingering, deadly levels of radioactivity in the area.

Police, fire, and ambulance sirens wailed on the prairie roads, which became increasingly filled with destroyed cars and other rubble as those people came closer. Many stopped toward the edges of city, well outside of the blast radius as the amount of debris blocking routes further in required heavy equipment to go any further.

Make shift tent camps, or setting up abandoned hospitals or hardened structure appeared around the city as civilian emergency personnel began their short, yet important recovery work.

[Tanis777]

[b]Part 2 - The Destruction: Military Response[/b]

Federation North American Command in north-central Manitoba got word of the strike confirmation via military outposts along the Mexican protectorate border along secure communication lines. The various Chiefs of Staff hammered the other services to restore communications around the capital and disconnected areas to the south as soon as possible.

The first response laid on the Air Force to deploy an WC-154 to collect samples on the blasts while other aircraft for transporting emergency equipment was assembled. Soon afterwards, a C-130 aircraft was sortied to drop radiation collection pods throughout the city to measure fallout effects to be activated once a makeshift command post was built.

All assets in Manitoba was called on to move supplies to Winnipeg with all due haste. It would take a couple weeks for that to be fully completed; however, the Army Corps of Engineers were brought on UH-60s and C-130s to build a temporary airport to the north of Winnipeg to deal with bringing more supplies on bigger aircraft. A more permanent concrete runway would be constructed at the same time, but wouldn't be open for a month and a half, while the temporary runway was assembled in a couple days of their arrival. The man tasked with organizing one of the largest emergency efforts in North American history would be on General Thomas Galvin. Tents and pre-fabicated buildings numbering the thousands popped up around the airport as Federation military and the word of international relief was inbound.

Air traffic controllers would be on hand for 24/7 coverage of the airport and other unaffected airports throughout the area to handle large volumes of air traffic destined for recovery efforts, seeing high volumes for over six months. International relief teams would be met by the military hand of CRBN RIR agent and a FECA coordinator. Greenland, Quebec, and Newfoundland relief teams would be assigned to the north and northeast part of the region, while Western Union teams would focus on the southeastern suburbs, along with other relief teams.

For all the manpower and equipment on hand, there was still shortages on recovery resources. Most initial efforts was from the west moving east towards downtown. Major roads were targeted for being cleared for allowing faster recovery work throughout the affected region. Initial assessments by engineers and recovery specialists combing through the wasteland expected recovery to be for a decade.

[Tanis777]

[b]Part 2 - The Destruction: Rescue[/b]

[u]Classified Emergency Backup Executive Evacuation Airstrip 2[/u]

The small detactment of FAF and FDS personnel were very concerned that "Cowboy" didn't arrive on time and that meant the Gulfstream VI wasn't leaving. The leading FDS agent called in a medvac chopper from a nearby base while the an older UH-1 Huey helicopter stationed at the airstrip was fired up.

"Last position?" asked Agent Haller as he put on the headset in the Huey.

"Looks like it went down somewhere near Lake Manitoba..." replied the pliot.

"That's a pretty big search area..." muttered Haller.

"Yep, let's hope someone survived."

The UH-1 began it's flight path along the western shore of the lake while the accompanying UH-60 medvac helicopter was tasked to the eastern shore.
_______________________________________________________

Logan awoke to seeing the blue sky above him, slowly regaining his senses.

[i]Why am I here... smells like gas and freshly cut trees...[/i]

He tried to crank his head to his left, he only saw more forest... maybe a slight blue in the distance.

[i]A lake... maybe?[/i]

Then he turned right, seeing the wrecked hull of the presidential UH-60.

[i]Helicopter crashed... nuclear weapons... oh god![/i]

He let a scream he thought, but he couldn't hear it to the ringing in his ears. The UH-60 wasn't on fire, the pliots decision to regain control made him survive, but what about the others. Besides his head, Logan tried to regain motion, but he couldn't... his body wouldn't respond.

Meanwhile, President Bronson was regaining consiousness inside the helicopter, only suffering minor scratches. He would remember what Logan and Vol said about the CRBN equipment and emergency short-wave radios, donning the suit and grabbing a radio. His first sight; however, towards the cockpit was towards the slumping pliot and the groaining co-pliot.

"Mister... press this button." said the agonized co-pliot.

"What? What button?" inquired Bronson.

"The emergency beacon signal this aircraft has... press to let them find us..." the co-pliot said in a weakened voice.

Bronson would press the button to let the beacon become activated and would exit the aircraft. Mister Vol, Logan and the FDS agents were not found in the aircraft, but who soon figure out why...

__________________________________________________________

"Sir, we have a beacon activated," said the UH-1 pliot.

"Confirm it with the other chopper," firmly replied Haller.

"They confirm, sir."

"Let's go find them then!"

Both helicopters moved in quickly on the signal, confirming the wreck. The UH-60 medvac was landing first to pickup the survivors and mark the dead. Bronson, Logan, and Vol were recovered and moved to a secure military base to where Vice Chancellor Everett awaited them. Everett and Bronson would sign the treaty between the Federation and the American Commonwealth. The Federation Gulfstream would wisk President Bronson to any destination he wanted as the Commonwealth's aircraft were flown out of Winnipeg for safe keeping.

_____________________________________________________

Agent Haller and other members of the CRBN crew picked up the remains of the pliots and the FDS agents that died in the crash. While Quintin Vol, the National Security Advisor, was sent back on the UH-60, they found him claimed by the forest, a large stick impaled through his chest. Military doctors focused their efforts on Chancellor Logan's life as they went to work on him.

[Tanis777]

[b]Part III - The Recovery[/b]

Recovery teams continued to remove rubble throughout the affected region to various dump sites to the north, filling many lakes in the central Manitoba region as authorized by the Federation government. Major throughfares in the region were cleared to make way to increase the pace of the recovery work. Military and civilian agencies of all types and nationalities that involved themselves in Winnipeg recovery efforts were given utmost care and attention by Interim Chancellor Everett for their work. A new medal, the 'Spirit of Winnipeg Recovery' would be awarded to all personnel involved in the efforts.

FECA continued to assess the dead, dying and the missing. Assessors figured that over 800,000 were confirmed as dead with another 600,000 unaccounted for still and were being presumed dead. Field hospitals that dotted the outer ring of the affected region began to see the first wave of radiation sickness induced death claim thousands. So far, they estimated another 1.3 million people had some form of radiation sickness, but official numbers would take over a decade to actually figure out.

Meanwhile, Chancellor Logan died by his injuries sustained in the helicopter accident. The nation mourned as Vice Chancellor Dale Everett took charge and announced special elections. He vowed that justice would be served to all the victims of the attack and urged the Justice Department to spearhead legal avenues against the Imperium. In Alaska and the Yukon, Federation Nuclear, Radiological, Biological and Chemical Weapons Rapid Incident Response personnel and Justice Department liaisons gathered at what was left of Imperium nuclear silos to build a case against anyone who was left representing the Imperium. It later proved fruitless and whatever legal charges that were pending were dropped.

[Tanis777]

[b]Part III - The Recovery[/b]


[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Construction_in_Toronto_May_2012.jpg[/img]

[i]Winnipeg - Fourth Year of Recovery[/i]

The rubble was gone.

All that remained of the past physical destruction was a square block of a nearly destroyed previous local landmark, a church, a nearly destroyed shopping complex, the guttered remains of a 15 story tower and other smaller buildings remained. It was known as the Winnipeg Peace Park. Newly planted trees dotted the square block landscape that was situated near the new legislative building campus that nearing completion along with the construction of new skyscrapers racing up throughout the downtown area. The only thing new to the untouched square block was a new interpretive center detailing the city before the blast and the stark reminder of nuclear destruction. Many surviving locals would visit from time to time, never forgetting those who launched those weapons.

The catholic church with it's Gothic architecture was left undisturbed as it was from the weeks after the blast; however, nature found it's way in to the sanctuary. It would become the place where flowers were laid to rest and photos of the deceased hung. The multistory mall was also decided to be left intact to instill the image of everyday life right before the blast of a Federation in a peacetime posture, while not true on the political foreign policy side, the citizenry were caught unaware of the gravity of the situation that lead to the actions of the Northern Imperium. The other major reminder was the remains of the 15 story tower. It's first few floors remained, while various elevation's walls towered several stories more. Engineers did massive touch up work to ensure integrity of the structure as well as the remaining walls with steel cable reinforcement.

Outside of the park, rebuilding continued at the frantic pace that began soon after the rubble was cleared. Development to pre-war levels was still a long ways away, but the western end of the city was the most improved due to the quick response to that area while the eastern side had many overgrown lots and ruined buildings still needing destruction.

Engineers and city planners took full advantage of the destruction to improve on the flaws of the previous layout of Winnipeg with improved downtown to airport access with a light rail connection. The downtown committed to building a multi-modal mass transit station servicing light rail, local buses, taxis, rental bikes, national bus charter service and future maglev lines. Planners envisioned a more European design to the city for the downtown and surrounding area catering to pedestrians and bikes with shorter blocks, while adhering to the needs of businesses for wide thoroughfares where needed for cars. The planning commission called for skyscraper limits up to 110 stories tall to regain the former glory of the Federation capital.

The last physical reminder was more subtle, but a necessity of the dozens of radiation measurement devices that were scattered throughout the region affected.

Edited January 17, 2013 by Tanis777