Residents of Houston are in the midst of a week-long emergency exercise to prepare for a hypothetical nuclear incident after the FBI notified them that the drills would begin on Monday.
FBI Houston posted an announcement on Twitter to alert citizens that the exercise will take place in early May.
“A large-scale, multi-agency nuclear incident TRAINING EXERCISE will take place May 1-5 in southeast Houston and Harris County. The training exercise will NOT pose risks to area residents. Please do not be alarmed by training-related activity,” the tweet read.
The FBI branch also informed citizens that military aircraft will be involved.
It urged them not to be alarmed by seeing personnel in protective equipment in and around Ellington Field. Drills will also take place “in and around NRG Park/SH 288 to SH 146 to I-10 E to Hwy 225,” per the tweet.
Ellington Field is a joint reserve base that hosts various elements of all five branches of the U.S. military. Most prominently, it features jet aircraft to defend strategic oil and gas-related industry and shipping channels near and in Houston.
Despite assurances from the FBI that the exercises would be conducted safely, the announcement stirred unease among the public, especially given the heightened nuclear tensions since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
As The Dallas Express previously reported, Russian President Vladimir Putin backed out of the New START treaty earlier this year. Forged with the U.S., this agreement bound both countries to decrease their number of nuclear weapons.
Since the treaty’s suspension, Russia expanded its nuclear program by adding to its fleet of nuclear submarines and deploying both hypersonic missiles and a new intercontinental ballistic missile, per The Dallas Express.
The U.S. has been a strong supporter of Ukraine since the start of the conflict with Russia, which has escalated tensions between Washington and Moscow.
One Twitter user, Andre Damon, a writer for World Socialist Website, highlighted nuclear dangers in a tweet responding to FBI Houston.
“Less than six months ago, Joe Biden warned that the threat of nuclear ‘Armageddon’ posed by the escalation of the U.S. conflict with Russia. Over that time, the U.S. has poured tanks, missiles, and artillery systems into Ukraine. If the danger was real then, it’s far more so now,” the tweet read.
Houston city officials, including City Controller Chris Brown, worked to tamp down nerves by reassuring Houstonians that the event is just a drill.
“Heads up, Houston! Training exercise to take place today [through] Friday! Please do not be alarmed!” Brown tweeted.
