Then and now: Operation Walkout

The numbers were chilling: Local Civil Defense officials said if a 50-kiloton atomic bomb was detonated 2500 feet over Spokane, 5.75 square miles would be totally destroyed and 8000 lives would be lost.

Section:Gallery

Sun., Sept. 29, 2019

Taking part in “Operation Walkout,” crowds mill about the intersection of Third Avenue and Howard Street in downtown Spokane as they wait for an all-clear signal on April 26, 1954. In a mass Cold War exercise, citizens were asked to voluntarily evacuate the area bounded by Monroe and Division streets and Third and Boone avenues.

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Howard Street is seen from Third Avenue on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2019. In 1954, the street bordered the area of a disaster drill in downtown Spokane called “Operation Walkout.” The idea was hatched to try to evacuate a medium-size metro area as quickly as possible.

Jesse Tinsley The Spokesman-Review