SO YESTERDAY I REFERENCED THE ONGOING RELEVANCE OF “DUCK AND COVER,” and that led a reader to write:

It’s not only for nuclear war.

When large meteor exploded above Russian city few months ago quick thinking teacher remembering civil defense training had her students get under desks and stay there until shock wave hit:

She was badly cut by flying glass, but none of her students was injured…..

At School No. 37 in Chel­yabinsk, a quick-thinking substitute teacher, Yulia Karbysheva, got all 44 of her fourth-graders out of harm’s way as the meteor lighted up the sky, the Interfax news agency reported. After the intense bright flash of its explosion, the children rushed to the windows, but before the shock wave could hit, she commanded them to get under their desks.

Karbysheva was showered with glass and debris, but the children were unharmed. With a cut to a tendon in her left hand and a gash on her left thigh, she led her class to safety outdoors. The doctor treating her Saturday at Hospital No. 9 told Interfax she would recover.

Yes, whenever you see any unexplained bright flash, ducking and covering is likely to prove wise.