That training and similar efforts on a smaller scale for the 1988 Democratic National Convention held in Atlanta have made Georgia law enforcement and rescue teams some of the most prepared in the country for terrorist attacks. Evacuations for Hurricane Floyd in 1999 and last year's Y2K computer scare leading up to New Year's Eve 2000 helped hone the edge.

''We're prepared for a terrorist attack to the best degree we can be,'' said Kathy Huggins, spokeswoman for the Georgia Emergency Management Agency.

The agency, which coordinates with other state and local organizations, had already planned drills later this week on terrorism and a mock plane crash.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which also gained valuable anti-terrorism experience in the wake of the 1996 Centennial Park Olympic bombing, was on standby Tuesday morning to respond to any incidents in Georgia or help outside the state.

''Obviously, the events of today have been devastating,'' said GBI spokeswoman Vicki Metz. ''The GBI has agents assigned to a joint terrorism task force, and if anything would arise here in Georgia, we would work with the federal and other state agencies and provide our experience and expertise.''

Safety experts preparing for major events in Georgia studied some of the worst terrorist attacks of the past, such as the shooting of Israeli athletes during the 1972 Olympics in Munich, and even calamities like the Three Mile Island nuclear-plant failure.

The experts worried about Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport, the world's busiest, and they worried about the Chattahoochee River, drinking water supply for nearly half the state's population.

''We studied the most disastrous circumstances to date, and you prepare yourself for those situations,'' said Shirley Franklin, the senior vice president of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games. ''We are now not imagining that something will happen. We know it will happen.''

Oddly enough, insiders say it's natural disasters that end up being the best tests because they are hard to predict and often involve real damages rather than just scenarios in a drill.

Flooding in 1994 and periodic hurricanes have crippled services like power, phone and water, and they have challenged officials on how to keep the machinery of society humming.

Reach Walter C. Jones at (404) 589-8424 or mnews@mindspring.com.