NEW YORK, May 13 (UPI) -- In advance of the latest Godzilla film hitting theaters in New York City on Thursday, city officials were asked if NYC could handle a real attack from the 350-foot-tall sea creature.
The Office of Emergency Management reviewed the damage that Godzilla could cause and decided that the city had learned enough from dealing with 9/11 and Hurricanes Irene and Sandy to handle the gigantic green lizard.
"Looking at this, we'd be thinking, 'What would a Godzilla attack do?' " Office of Emergency Management Commissioner Joseph Bruno told the Daily News.
"Clearly it would cause fire, explosions, casualties, damage, debris, bridges and tunnels being out. Roads being out, power issues and some slime. Those are issues that we do deal with — except for the slime."
Certain parts of the city would likely have to be evacuated so that jets and fighter planes, possibly from the U.S. Air Force, could be scrambled to help fight the gigantic monster.
"In the event of a Godzilla attack, we'd be looking at area evacuations," Bruno said. "He's a big guy, but he's not going to overtake the entire city, so we would try to determine what sectors of the city had to be moved. We [would] move people to a hub area and try to move them, for example to the Bronx, which is less likely to be impacted."
Godzilla screenwriter Max Borenstein offered his own advice. "The only thing you can do is stay out of his way," Borenstein said. "The cities that will do the best are the cities that come together the best ... and New York can do that better than any other city I know."
