Delmarva (1983: Doomsday)

The United Counties of Delmarva, normally referred to as Delmarva, is an American survivor nation located on the eastern seaboard of the former United States. Following Doomsday, nine surviving Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware counties located on the Delmarva Peninsula formed a loose confederation. This led to a formal declaration of independence and the formation of the USD in 1985. In the twenty-four years since, Delmarva has grown, welcoming other areas to the union who were interested in joining. This has included portions of Maryland and Virginia adjacent to the Chesapeake Bay and part of coastal New Jersey. Although Delmarva does not consider itself a successor to the old US, it sees itself as embodying the same ideals. It does however maintain a neutral stance on political affairs, lending its support on an as needed basis.

Pre-Doomsday
The Delmarva Peninsula is a 180 mile long, 60 mile wide peninsula located in the mid-Atlantic region of the former United States. Delmarva is surrounded on all four sides by water: north by the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, which severed the peninsula from land beginning in the early 19th Century; west and south by the Chesapeake Bay; and east by the Delaware River, Delaware Bay, and the Atlantic Ocean. In 1983, the peninsula contained portions of three US states: Accomack and Northampton Counties of Virginia; Kent, Queen Anne’s, Talbot, Caroline, Dorchester, Wicomico, Somerset, Worcester, and portions of Cecil Counties in Maryland; and Sussex, Kent, and lower New Castle Counties in Delaware.

Prominent cities on the peninsula included Dover, the state capital of Delaware and the largest city; Salisbury, Maryland, where the main commercial area was located; and the resort and beach communities of Ocean City, Maryland and Rehoboth Beach, Bethany Beach, and Lewes, DE. However, Delmarva was in many ways isolated from the vast urban areas to its west, such as Washington, DC and Baltimore, MD by its watery barrier. In 1983, Delmarva was accessible by land from only three locations: south via the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel from Norfolk, VA; west, by the Chesapeake Bay Bridge near Annapolis, MD; and north by a series of four bridges which spanned the canal. Delmarva contained a number of airfields, both private and commercial, including the Wicomico Regional Airfield in Salisbury. Residents often referred to themselves as being independent from their states and a different breed altogether. Throughout history, the areas of VA and MD had often floated a proposal to leave their respective states and merge with DE, taking the name Delmarva.

Basically rural in nature, dotted with farms and small towns, the region also included areas of urbanization. The economy was concentrated in agriculture, aquaculture, lumbering, tourism, sports hunting, and fishing as well as industrialization. The region was known for producing large quantities of potatoes, corn, green beans, soybeans, grains, and tomatoes and also featured several wineries. The waters and marshes of Delmarva contained a cornucopia of fish, crustaceans, and waterfowl, including crabs, oysters, trout, and geese. The peninsula was home to a number of poultry farms including Perdue Farms, whose headquarters was located in Salisbury. Additionally, the Wallops Flight Facility, an extension of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center which was primarily used as a rocket launch site, was located on the eastern shore near Chincoteague, Virginia.

Doomsday
8:45 PM – 9:14 PM

The evening of Sunday, September 25, 1983, was quiet along the Eastern Shore. With the Labor Day holiday having passed two weeks earlier, the holiday crowds had headed back home turning the bustling beach resorts to ghost towns. Among the farms of the peninsula harvest season was already underway. The weather had been pleasant and in the 70s much of the day with light and variable winds blowing east, but with the fall of night the temperatures had started to drop towards the 40s. For people who had either tuned in either to television or radio news broadcasts, the reports they heard regarding national and global events did not appear anymore alarming than usual and as survivors would later state, gave no indication to the impending tragedy.

At home President Ronald Reagan had flown to New York City where he was preparing to speak to the United Nations General Assembly the next day about new arms control proposals; Secretary of Defense Casper Weinberger was in China to meet with officials about improving relationships between the two nations; and airline passengers were scrambling to get to their destinations after being stranded when all Continental Airlines planes had been grounded after the company declared bankruptcy the day earlier. Internationally, in Beirut, Lebanon a ceasefire had been reached between the Lebanese government and Druze militia who had been fighting in the capital for three weeks. The US contingent of the Multi-National Peacekeeping Force stationed in the city had come under fire again and three marines had been wounded; 38 IRA terrorists had staged a massive breakout from Maze Prison outside Belfast, Northern Ireland killing a guard. Police had recaptured eleven; The search for debris and bodies from a South Korean passenger plane shot down by the USSR on September 1 had been postponed due to bad weather; and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos was threatening to arrest businessmen who participated in anti-government protests. Locally, Washington DC Mayor Marion Barry had been hospitalized with chest pains and was expected to stay at least a week to undergo tests. In sports, the Washington Redskins football team had beaten the Seattle Seahawks 27-17 and the Baltimore Orioles baseball team had won the American League east championship beating the Milwaukee Brewers 5-1.

Most people were home relaxing, preparing for work the next day or already asleep. A number had tuned in at 8 PM to NBC to watch the 35th Annual Emmy Awards from the Pasadena, CA Civic Auditorium which was being hosted by Eddie Murphy and Joan Rivers. Others were watching Hardcastle and McCormick on ABC or One Day at a Time on CBS. At approximately 8:52 PM, the major television networks suddenly cut away to special bulletins, including an announcement by the White House, that the USSR had launched nuclear weapons against the US. No sooner than these bulletins had gone out, the Emergency Broadcast System went into effect on radio and television. Stunned residents were urged to stay off the streets and seek appropriate shelter to protect against possible fallout for up to two weeks and have enough food and water to sustain themselves during that time. They were told to have battery operated equipment, including radios, handy and unplug electrical appliances and phones in anticipation of EMP discharges.

Prior to Doomsday, it was a known fact certain areas of the United States had been targeted by the Soviet Union for multiple strikes in the event of a nuclear attack due to the existence of numerous military, government, and industrial sites. One region was a corridor running approximately northeast from northern Virginia through Washington DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia, northern New Jersey, and New York City. Another was the Norfolk-Newport News, Virginia area because of the presence of US Naval facilities. It was this very knowledge which sent millions of people fleeing following the first reports. Highways, roads, and streets in many locations were instantly transformed into scenes of chaos and sheer pandemonium; hopelessly snarled by massive traffic jams and exacerbated by untold numbers of accidents.

Despite this disorder, people did manage to escape in some places. Many fled along Route 50 across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, primarily from the Annapolis, MD area. Bridge officials quickly adjusted traffic patterns on both spans to allow for only traffic heading into Delmarva. Maryland State Police did their best to maintain order and direct the traffic south towards Salisbury or east towards the coast. To the south a nearly identical situation was playing out as motorists fled via Route 13 from Norfolk over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel and onto the peninsula. Many also fled south from northern Delaware along Routes 1 and 13. Other quick thinking people managed to make it too small planes, helicopters, and boats and sought escape

Throughout the tri-state area, states of emergency went into effect on the orders of the governors of Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware. In Dover, Delaware Governor Pierre S. du Pont, IV ordered the immediate evacuation of the state capital and advised residents to leave high target regions in the north and head south. National Guard units began mobilizing and fanning out to help keep order. As the declarations of emergency moved down to the county and local government level, civil defense procedures went into effect and fire, police, rescue, and hospital services were alerted. In many places local government officials were rushed from their homes to civil defense shelters to coordinate efforts as they unfolded.