"We basically nuked a town with chemicals so we could get a railroad open"

[John1956PA]

15. My brother lives in farm country 2.5 mile due east of the derailment site.

I live in a town eleven miles due east of the site. Our phones displayed repeated notices that the evacuation zone remained at a one-mile radius. I thought that there was chance that it would be increased, but it was not to be. In Pennsylvania, beyond the one-mile radius, there is no significant population center until one reaches Chippewa Township six miles to the southeast of the site. In Ohio, half of the East Palestine community (i. e., the western half) lies just beyond the one-mile radius of the site. The weather radar and satellite views of the area in the days following the derailment showed that the smoke proceeded through Pennsylvania on a SSE course not far from the OH-PA state line. This course took it over uninhabited Pennsylvania State Game Lands for the most part, and some farmland as well. Evacuation of all of East Palestine would have meant more searching for accommodations in the mostly rural area. As time goes on, it will be interesting to learn more as about the authorities' decision-making process regarding the evacuation.