Letter Re: Advice on Iowa’s Retreat Potential, and Pulling Through Screenplay

Dear Mr. Rawles, Just wanted to ask why Iowa didn’t make the list of 19? If you could write a small blurb, it would be much appreciated. Also wanted to thank you for making your “Pulling Through” screenplay available. Great read!!!!!!! I can’t wait for the movie. Should be done for T.V. to put out much needed info to the greater portion of the uninformed public. It would make life much easier on the rest of us to not have to inform people piecemeal one-at-a-time of things they need to know. Should be an ongoing series after “Katrina” it should be a dead certain to get a large viewership. I would think it’ll run for years if you can find an intelligent network exec. to back it. Done right it would prove an invaluable tool for “Homeland Security”, FEMA, etc., to get the word out that you can’t wait on them, but must do for yourselves or do without! Thanks for a great site, great reads, and for reawakening the “can do” attitude. Respectfully, – K.H.

JWR Replies: I generally don’t consider Iowa to be suitable for retreating if and when things get truly Schumeresque. Its terrain is not defendable, much of the state is in close proximity to massive population centers in Illinois, and its crop diversity is marginal. Parts of the state might suffice, but in essence it is about 500 miles too far east. Read my posts from early August, 2005 in the Archives for details. (In general, the east has too much population density and is downwind of too many nuke targets.)

Further, I am not familiar enough with Iowa to make any specific locale recommendations. Perhaps someone who reads the blog who lives there will send me an e-mail and enlighten us.