BILOXI, Miss. (WLOX) - The sound of sirens and cries for help echoed from the Biloxi Elks Lodge on Thursday morning. First responders rushed to victims with gruesome injuries while fire crews staged to contain hazardous materials.

It was all part of an elaborate simulation to prepare military and civilian first responders for a worst-case scenario: a plane crash and mass casualty event during Thunder Over the Sound. In this scene, two F-16s crashed in the air. Then, wreckage debris rained down on spectators.

Using props and makeup that look like real injuries is an important part of this exercise.

“The makeup side of it is fantastic. It can be hard to use our imagination when [victims] don’t have those wounds, but seeing that really gets us into the idea that they’re actually hurt and t

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