Long Island disaster drill delayed by traffic jam

OK, I know that really isn't the point of this Newsday story, but it did strike me as more than a bit funny.

A large-scale emergency drill went smoothly Friday at the Suffolk County Fire Academy in Yaphank, officials said, despite a two-hour delay because of an accident on the Long Island Expressway.

The scenario: a dirty bomb is detonated at a federal courthouse. Using a $175,000 Homeland Security grant for the largest scale drill ever held on Long Island, it sounds like an amazing production:

More than 600 people from 60 agencies from both Nassau and Suffolk counties will participate in the event, which officials call the biggest in Long Island's history. The drill will conclude Saturday afternoon.

If you get a chance, watch the video on Newsday's site about the drill. It begins informative and finishes, well, funny. It seems that probationers who had to do community service were used as patients in the drill. Guess who was interviewed?

It also seems to highlight the provision of Murphy's Law that can affect even terrorist incidents: traffic jams on the Long Island Expressway. Let's just hope its the terrorist that gets stuck in traffic and not the public safety personnel.