Haifa stages big home defense exercise mocking Syrian-Hizballah chemical attack

Wednesday, July 18, the Home Command launches its first large-scale peparedness exercise for an emergency arising from a potential Syrian and/or Hizballah chemical attack on Haifa, Israel’s third largest town. The scenario simulates a chemical missile revenge attack by Hizballah on the Institute of Technology’s scientists, a direct rocket hit for setting loose convicts from jails and a high casualty toll necessitating the use of the big Kiryat Eliezer stadium to accommodate the bodies of victims.  An unmanned drone will practice emergency services and the Carmel tunnels will be used  as public shelters to accommodate potentially large numbers of people fleeing from danger.
Haifa Mayor Yonah Yahav urged all public and commercial services to adjust to the need to serve the public in a war emergency. He warned that ATMs may not be working, supermarkets may run out of milk and even mobile phones might go dead. The two-day drill will entail evacuating some people from their homes.