Prevailing winds in Maryland come out of the northwest October through June, and out of the southwest the rest of the year.

This means that whatever nasty chemicals that might leak out of APG will not travel due west to Cockeysville or southwest to Baltimore or D.C. through the air.

Of course, anything that leaks out of APG could contaminate ground water in the immediate vicinity and probably leak directly into the Chesapeake (a lovely prospect considering the amount of food that comes from the Bay.) But since I'm due west of APG, I'm upstream in the water system too, so I'm not worried about direct chemical exposure from that direction.

Nuclear attack by a foreign government (Russia, China, or North Korea) is extremely unlikely these days. The bigger threat comes from pissant rogue nations like Iran getting their hands on NBC material and smuggling it into the country as a terrorist attack. But an attack of that nature would be limited in scope and duration, and most likely directed at targets in D.C. that are 50-70 miles away from where I live. It's unlikely that an NBC attack of that nature on a target in D.C. would even make it to Baltimore, much less up here to Cockeysville.

Fortunately, Cockeysville is not only upwind of the major targets in Baltimore and D.C. for most of the year, but also upstream in the water system.

Mind, I'm not trying to say that I'm safe here. There is no such thing as safe anywhere; there is only more safe or less safe. All I'm saying is that the most likely bad things to happen would most likely not directly affect me so quickly that I wouldn't have some time to prepare or evacuate. So instead, I choose to concentrate my efforts at preparing for those things that are most likely to directly affect me - bad storms (summer or winter) and power outages.

However, if Al Quieda comes marching up I-83 and invades Cockeysville, I do posess certain, shall we say, tools of an offensive nature which I can use to overcome the challenge.