40 years ago I was a reference librarian at the Dauphin County Library, Central Branch; that’s the building on the corner of Front and Walnut St in Harrisburg. Mid-day we received a call from a radio station located in Tokyo, Japan. They had had no luck reaching a state or city official, so they called the public library. They had reports (we never found out where they received this info.) that there was panic in the streets of Harrisburg. In fact, the city was deserted, you could roll a bowling ball down Front St. and hit nothing. I corrected their report. The staff present in the library had no patrons to help – we spent some time coming up with alternative lyrics to the theme song of the sitcom “Petticoat Junction,” turning it into Middletown Meltdown.
Rather macabre but humor helped assuage our worry.
John