Puerto de Savannah, c. 2010
Savannah, Georgia (Spanish: Puerto de Sanannah) was an historical city on the river by the same name near the coast on the Atlantic Ocean. Known for its "Southern Charm," it was home of Hunter Air Force Base and strategic civilian international airport. Both these facilities were destroyed by what appears to have been a single 2 Mt nuclear bomb over the center of the city (about five miles from the river).
The remains of the city were razed in 2008 by teams of engineers from Cuba. The port was restored and a village established for the purpose of exploring the American East Coast. A population of civilian scientists and their families is said to number around 400 as of December 2011.
History[]
Pre-Doomsday[]
The area along the river was inhabited by the Yamacraw indians who, through friendly relations already established with traders John and Mary Musgrove, made contact with British General James Oglethorpe on February 12, 1733. On that date the city of Savanah and the Province of Georgia were founded. In July of that year 40 Jews from Spain and Portugal entered the colony. Having a common "enemy" in Catholic Spain, the colony became an example of religious toleration for all non-catholics.
Trade in deerskins in the early years made Savannah a rival to Charleston as a commercial port in the mid 1700's. Once a state, Georgia became a leading producer of cotton and trade of slaves and cotton came through through the port of Savannah. After the American Civil War, Savannah became a principle railroad hub, bringing goods into the interior of the American south.
In the mid twentieth century, the chief industry in Savannah became tourism as its rich history was exploited as old buildings were restored and refurbished. Most of the area had been preserved from harm in the wars since the city's founding, and such places as George Whitefield's Bethesda Orphanage (founded in 1740), were still in operation.
Doomsday[]
Because of Hunter Army Air force Base south of town, and the port serviced by ships and air out of the
Savannah in ruins, c. 2007
International Airport, the Soviet bomb that took out these facilities flattened the city on the evening of September 25, 1983. Any survivors of the suburbs fled south along the coast, some reaching the town of Darien. As cities along the Atlantic coast - from Miami to Wilmington - smoldered in irradiated fires, Savannah lay forgotten until an expedition from Cuba landed near the site of the city in 2007.
Cuban "Colonization"[]
In 2007 explorers from Cuba were working their way up the Atlantic Coast, and just days after making contact with the Neonotian outpost at Darien ventured ashore via the delta of the Savannah River. After 24 years, the abandoned suburbs were almost as bad as the rubble of the bombed city, but radiation levels proved to be negligible. Not knowing of the nation-states up river, nor even that Darien was actually connected with other civilized cities, the explorers set up camp in some abandoned houses south of the city.
Offloading vehicles and armed with government issue weapons for defense, the explorers left a small contingent and headed up the ruins of I-16 towards Macon. They would reach Atlanta the night of October 31, 2007, and begin two weeks of exploration of the ruins there. Occasionally the explorers came across small towns where survivors seemed to be thriving. At these times, they spoke in broken English, explaining that Cuba had survived and was seeking friendly contact through restoration of their "common heritage."
Back in Savannah, work had begun at clearing the rubble that had been downtown. The task had been completed by the end of 2008. In 2009 the Cuban ambassador to the League of Nations was able to report on a successful "colony" set up as a geological survey station for the whole American east coast. The town was renamed "Puerto de Savannah," but is still known internationally as "Savannah."