Attack threat clears store shelves

Thursday, Feb. 13, 2003 | 11:21 a.m.

As federal officials warned of a heightened terrorist threat this week, Las Vegas residents cleared local store shelves of plastic sheeting, duct tape and other items that could be used to seal homes in an emergency.

"Oh my God, yesterday we sold out," Home Depot clerk Arin Harsha said Wednesday. She pointed to three big shelves that contained new boxes full of rolls of plastic ranging in price from $2.79 to $39.97.

"It was all gone yesterday," Harsha said.

The nation was put on an orange terror alert Friday -- the second-highest level of five -- for the second time since Sept. 11, 2001.

On Monday officials urged Americans to be prepared for the possibility of a biological or chemical attack. Citizens were encouraged to have plastic sheeting and duct tape on hand to seal a safe room.

Things were returning to normal late Wednesday at the Home Depot on Pecos Road in southeast Las Vegas, as most shoppers were buying one or two rolls for routine painting projects, Harsha said.

"What are you going to do?" Las Vegas resident Jackie Masciocchi said. "I'm aware. I watch the news occasionally to know what's happening, but life has to go on."

Local officials who have monitored terrorism threats since Sept. 11, 2001, said they did not want to alarm people, but encouraged area residents to adopt a heightened sense of awareness. Officials said there was no specific threat to Las Vegas.

New York and Washington were named by national authorities as possible targets.

Also mentioned were so-called "soft targets" such as malls and universities.

For Jose Elique, campus police chief at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, the first line of defense is educating students, faculty and staff to pay attention to their surroundings.

"There is no specific threat toward this university, Las Vegas or the state of Nevada that I know of," Elique said.

Elique was a port authority inspector for New York and New Jersey, and the World Trade Center was under his command before he came to Las Vegas in 2000.

"I am acutely aware of what terrorists can do," Elique said. "It's personal."

Clark County Chief Health Officer Dr. Donald Kwalick, a member of the team effort to guard against a biological, chemical or radioactive attack, said officials are already planning to set aside areas where infected people could be quarantined.

"These are troubled times," Kwalick said, "and we are as prepared as we can be."

At area shopping malls, managers said they were alert to anything that might occur.

Each shopping mall in the Las Vegas area has an emergency plan in place, but mall representatives would not provide details because of security concerns.

"We have been operating under a high level of awareness all along," Meadows mall manager Greg Sims said Wednesday. "We're taking it very seriously."

As for homeowners stocking up on extra water, food, flashlights, batteries and other emergency supplies, Kwalick said it was a sensible precaution.

"Any kind of preparedness is good," he said.