Panhandle area.
Write up is still draft and WIP.
THE TEXAS PANHANDLE
The Texas Panhandle, covering about 25,610 square miles, is a rectangular region forming the southern end of the Great Plains, bordered by New Mexico to the west and Oklahoma to the north and east. It features flat, grassy plains, often called the Llano Estacado or "Staked Plains," with elevations declining from about 4,700 feet in the northwest (Dallam County) to 2,000 feet in the southeast (Childress County). The eastern part includes rolling plains with more rainfall and brush, while deep canyons, such as Palo Duro Canyon and Caprock Canyons State Park, carved by rivers like the Red, Pecos, Canadian, Colorado, and Brazos, divide the western and eastern sections. Soils vary from coarse sands to clays and shales, with caliche found two to five feet beneath surface soils, supporting agriculture and ranching.
The pre-war population of the Texas Panhandle region was approximately 430,000 people, with 175,000 residing in Amarillo.
Principal pre-war economic activity was heavily tied to agriculture, particularly the raising of cattle, meat processing, and oil and gas production. Industry was fairly limited, with Bell Helicopter and Amarillo Gear Company being the largest manufacturing employers.
IMPACT OF THE WAR
The only direct effects of the Twilight War on the Panhandle resulted from a nuclear strike on the oil refinery and chemical processing plants outside Borger on December 17, 1997. Although the plants were shut down and unstaffed due to damage from an EMP, the town of Borger was erased from the map by the blast and thermal effects of a 500-kiloton airburst, which killed over 13,000 people. Fallout was minimal, but several hundred people in the town of Panhandle were sickened from exposure before they could take shelter.
Relative to the rest of the country, the Texas Panhandle was a relative haven of peace and stability for the first six months after the nuclear strikes. The low population density, combined with agricultural production, meant the area suffered no immediate food insecurity. By July 1, 1998, an estimated 10% of the original Panhandle population (~45,000 people) had died from pre-existing conditions, sporadic violence, or food- or waterborne illnesses. After Mexico invaded the Southwest U.S. on June 2, 1998, a fair number of refugees began fleeing West Texas and making their way to the Panhandle, helping to balance out some of the earlier deaths. A Soviet Spetsnaz attack eliminated the governor of Texas and his staff at Crawford, Texas, early in the invasion, and all state-managed operations collapsed shortly thereafter. From July onward, control was either local or military.
During the second half of 1998, several U.S. Army units moved through the Panhandle (the School Brigade, the 95th Infantry Division, and the 49th Armored Division), either retreating from the Mexican army or advancing in an attempt to expel it. Unfortunately, the arrival of military units strained local food and fuel resources, as the military seized what it needed from local stocks, regardless of local needs. As the situation in Texas and the rest of the country deteriorated in the last half of 1998, significant amounts of food and fuel were stripped from the area and sent to Colorado and Oklahoma as MilGov consolidated into cantonments to prepare for the 1998-1999 winter. This resulted in the Panhandle also suffering from malnutrition and famine. Worse still, MilGov forcibly “drafted” many of the area’s skilled civilians with engineering, medical, petroleum, or other essential backgrounds—most of whom were never heard from again.
By January 1, 1999, 20% of the original Panhandle population had died. Most acute was the population drop in Amarillo, where the population fell from 160,000 in 1997 to 60,000 inhabitants. Despite this, the overall population increased to 500,000 due to refugees fleeing from Lubbock and beyond (Lubbock was briefly occupied by Mexican forces before being burned to the ground when they retreated).
For the last three months of 1998, the Panhandle was effectively abandoned and independent from any federal control, like most of the country. Beginning in January 1999, the 100th Infantry Division moved into the area from Fort Sill, Oklahoma, to secure the right flank of the planned 5th Army drive to clear Texas of Mexican forces, marauders, and anti-government forces. While there was still significant local anti-government sentiment, MilGov did a fair job of winning hearts and minds by helping organize and equip local militias. Additionally, due to the lack of defensible land features, the military organized the construction of barriers like berms and strongpoints around key settlements. The army began conducting frequent patrols along Highways 87 and 287, eventually extending them to Plainview.
After the failure of the 5th Army offensive and the general withdrawal of the U.S. Army from central Texas, the Panhandle remained part of the area MilGov considers under positive control. While there are no permanent cantonments in the Panhandle, MilGov maintains a rotating company-sized garrison in Dalhart from the 49th Armored Division, the 95th Infantry Division, or the 100th Infantry Division. Additionally, the 49th routinely performs anti-marauder sweeps along the southern Panhandle along Highway 70 from Wichita Falls to Clovis, while the 95th Infantry Division patrols the northern Panhandle.
ECONOMY
Most of the population is engaged in subsistence farming on “county” farms. The area still produces a trickle of oil and natural gas. A small refinery operation has been set up in Canyon on the grounds of West Texas A&M University, where diesel is produced in batch lots by former professors and students of the chemistry department.
Cotton has started being cultivated again, and cottage cloth and nitrocellulose production has been established in Amarillo, largely for trade with MilGov.
MilGov runs the feedlots and meat processing plant in Dalhart.
Trade is modest. The area produces wheat, potatoes, cotton, cloth, oil, and nitrocellulose in exportable quantities. The Panhandle imports weapons, ammunition, manufactured goods, and medicine from MilGov enclaves in Oklahoma and Colorado.
Canyon, Amarillo, Childress, and Dalhart are the primary trading hubs.