# DHS Admits It Is Unprepared for EMP Threat



## PrepperDad (Oct 13, 2012)

I came across this article *DHS Admits It Is Unprepared for EMP Threat* on twitter and was surprised that we (USA) are not better equipped and prepared. In the age of terrorists, dirty bombs, and nuclear threats from the East, they need to step it up a bit.

This makes me nervous. What are your thoughts, and what do you do to personally offset this threat to your family?

PrepperDad (ps. I am a relatively new naive prepper)

Source link: DHS Admits It Is Unprepared for EMP Threat | Year Zero Survival | Prepping For The Unexpected


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## Leon (Jan 30, 2012)

Well as something of a researcher in this field I place absolutely no stock in an EMP event whatsoever. CAN it happen? sure. CAN Santa Claus beat Rambo? Dunno, neither one is real. Although there have been 'events' that took down a few power systems in scattered places in the world (in the past) Those systems were dinky telegraph wires and cris-crossed knots of old style DC power lines strung up haphazardly to begin with. Some old telegraph wires weren't even insulated with anything. There's your answer. Now, as far as scientists knocking out computers in mid 90's model american sedans (which is the ONLY thing they have experimented upon) sure. Those old buicks and fords had sorry computers to begin with. And then you have the whole premise of it taking HUGE amounts of power to trigger even a small 20 foot wide area with their current EMP research device (it requires its own power plant) That better be _one hell_ of an EMP or you won't even really notice it down here. An EMP that big would probably knock our magnetic field out into space, and if that's the case you won't be worrying about your car- we'll all be _dead_. Even IF there was some sort of mild EMP event that was noticeable on the ground here, it won't happen everywhere at once like revolution. There will be cars and planes and vehicles that are stored in garages, in concrete parking decks, in warehouses, and those vehicles will be fine. You have to understand that, at any given time it is running, your car is producing its own EMP events thousands of times a second. I know that the coil packs on my FJ cruiser (there's one over each spark plug) produce a sudden surge of over 120,000 volts just to make one spark. There are constant magnetic flares and electrical surges going on in that engine at any given time, and most cars are no exception. I don't know who started the whole craze but their science needs to be checked and their datasets should be in question, so I hope that sets your mind at ease.

As far as keeping my BOV on the road, I am more worried about procuring fuel, tires, belts (thank god mine has one belt) fluids and car parts. Remember the road warrior? Way more realistic scenario.

Although now, on the other hand, radios, telecom and computers ARE indeed currently effected adversely outdoors by even small solar storms. At the height of that last storm a month back I just opted for a newer android razor because my droidx was acting a FOOL in those solar storms. I was between two cell towers, near my own wifi, yet the damn thing could not connect to the net to save it's own life, person who called sounded like darth vader, and it sat there for 20 minutes twisting itself all into knots until I finally pulled the battery and reset it a few times. Still didn't stop it from screwing itself all into knots though. I don't think it was permanently damaged but Hank has not got it hooked up yet. (gave it to him). I could see a scenario where a big solar storm hits us and the radio, tv, cell phones and GPS devices take a crap until it passes. I could see that. But the idea of a magic EMP bomb going off and frying anything on the world not encased in a faraday cage...I just can't subscribe to that rationale considering what I know about electromagnetic dynamics and geology.


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## PrepperDad (Oct 13, 2012)

Thanks, for your input Leon.


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## WVprepper (Jun 28, 2012)

A EMP event would be very serious catastrope.. Even if you are prepared eventually it will become very difficult for most people to deal with. It may be a good idea to practice using less electricity as possible to see what it will be like..


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## Leon (Jan 30, 2012)

WVprepper said:


> A EMP event would be very serious catastrope.. Even if you are prepared eventually it will become very difficult for most people to deal with. It may be a good idea to practice using less electricity as possible to see what it will be like..


Now if it were like Revolution, planes falling out of the sky everywhere around the globe, cars shutting down and the lights going out all at the same time...yeah that would turn into Armageddon in the first five days. I just don't see it happening though, I think the original idea was in a science fiction novel and people just ran with it. Like for example, did you know the Eiffel tower spire glows at night because it's steel and iron body harness _cosmic rays_? People STILL don't know what they are. There is science behind the EMP line of thought but it's all theoretical stuff and barely any of it is provable.


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## Denton (Sep 18, 2012)

Locking down America doesn't take a stroke of specific brilliance, so DHS doesn't have to be concerned with something like EMP.

EMP is a blast of energy from something like a nuclear detonation. It propagates, getting weaker along the way. As it travels, induction causes energy to enter whatever circuits it crosses, and by crossing, I mean other than parallel to a wire. That burst of energy burns any delicate parts, such as IC chips, transistors or points.

It's no mystery, and a nuclear device detonated high over Kansas is not going to wipe out the electrical components of the U.S., as movies make out to be, or some people let on to be possible.

As Leon stated, my first concern is the blast, which is going to shred me with flying debris as it turns me into flying debris. The heat will also be problematic as my face melts off. Not that my face will be much use, as the blinding light will have smoked the ol' eyeballs. These are the first concerns over anything that will produce EMP of any importance. Chances are, if I am not close enough to be concerned with these things, I am not going to be close enough to have to worry about EMP.

There are much greater things to worry about.


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## Leon (Jan 30, 2012)

Denton said:


> Locking down America doesn't take a stroke of specific brilliance, so DHS doesn't have to be concerned with something like EMP.
> 
> EMP is a blast of energy from something like a nuclear detonation. It propagates, getting weaker along the way. As it travels, induction causes energy to enter whatever circuits it crosses, and by crossing, I mean other than parallel to a wire. That burst of energy burns any delicate parts, such as IC chips, transistors or points.
> 
> ...


Agreed. Let's you and me play devil's advocate for a moment and throw some more realistic scenarios out there.

Say my solar storm theory comes true, probably as close to an EMP event as you'll get. Ok SO- the earth is suddenly and unexpectedly bathed in the coronal ejection of an annual rogue solar flare spoken of in legend and conspiracy theories on youtube. What's going to happen first is you'll hear and see anomalies and events in the sky. You would hear roaring and humming noises from the sky as most of the initial impact was deflected by the magentic field of earth. You would hear something like giant power transformers humming and see waves of obvious white light through the sky. As the growing coronal fire and solar radiation began crashing against the starship enterprise-like 'shields' of our planet, the magnetic field would deform and shift like a candle flame in a slight wind.

Cell phones and higher end VHF equipment would immediately start acting up like my phone did a few weeks ago, some to the point of severe malfunctioning that would render such radios, police scanners and transceivers all but useless in the growing storm of radio noise and electrostatic activity. Dish TV, Dish network and Hughesnet customers would begin seeing static on their signals and soon lose all connectivity. Soon after that, the satellites would begin acting up in ways that are too random for IT professionals to counter and begin falling into the sky or get thrown from orbit like water off a shaking dog. GPS systems would go haywire and barely function, tingling the sphincters of hundreds of commercial airline pilots worldwide. Truckers would begin crowding already failing airwaves over the CB on every interstate from here to Fairbanks. Communication would be quickly reduced to land line phones and courier, which would back up worldwide systems to the point of nothing but a busy signal in most cases. Car radios would pick up on several channels at once, the sound too garbled to decipher. Only people close would be able to hear one another on a CB with the squelch set high.

As the onslaught continues, computer services and internet begin to garble and get clogged as millions of people turn to it for information. Servers overheat, banks of data processors get fed jumbled instructions and reset often. All hell breaks loose as far as IT professionals are concerned. Iphones give error messages, android phones start asking _US_ questions and the Bermuda triangle comes right up to your doorstep.

That night, as a tense population looks to the sky, they witness wild and never before seen auroras over every town and section of the globe. Peacock waves of blues and reds and yellows flow through the sky like some dire portent from the bible. People begin to talk of _revelation_ and _end times_. Millions flood the streets, only making travel and problems worse. People begin to worry. Hours later, chaos sets in as governmental agencies attempt to help like bad, under-prepared and uncaring parents. Suicides occur. People panic and quickly fall to mob mentality in several regions.

Never one to waste a good catastrophe, the governments raise up in arms and assure everyone that they have the answer despite only repeating what everyone already knows. Emergency power is assumed all across the world, by means of the barrel of a gun. Cities are locked down, roads are closed and utilities are immediately rationed. Riots break out. Military and police across the globe are spread thin, leading to tense confrontations that in turn lead to tense gunfights and revolts with terrifying speed. Those protecting their own band together. Areas are evacuated. Without the ability to communicate over long distances, even military relief cannot function. Sheeple across the globe rail against the current system, blaming it for the act of god.

Meanwhile, world leaders conspire with their remaining powerbase to enact new and Hitlerian laws that benefit only themselves. Collectives are formed and demands made within only _days_.

See, humans are highly intelligent PACK PRIMATES- _The only ones of our kind_. Any alpha male knows that it only takes one dog to lead the pack. Big money and the promise of riches gets shit done. That has never changed. 10% of us understand this. And coincidentally about 10% of us are preppers.

Scary enough? That's far short of an EMP event as they tell it, and it's bad enough. Screw EMP Armageddon, HUMAN Armageddon and HUMANS are what we should worry about foremost because we are our own worst enemy. There is nothing more dangerous on this world than us and nothing more immediately destructive by a longshot. Give me an EMP and we will survive it. Give me a horde of angry, hungry people and I have my doubts.

Can an EMP happen? *Theoretically*.

Can people turn against each other at the beheadst of sly politician's words following such an event? *Definitely*.

As for threat levels, my money is riding on people.

God bless
-Leon


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## Watercanlady (Jul 23, 2012)

Thank you Leon, very eye opening........


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## nadja (May 1, 2012)

I watched an interesting news article just last night, where the goobermint was very concerned about Iran attempting cyberwarfare with us. This is just one area , but it does entail taking down the grid. Used to be, before computers were invented, it could not have happened this way, but now, since the entire grid is hooked up to computers, it can be shut down. Seems to be a real threat to us. Don't know how long before it could all be restored , but for remote areas , it could be several days or even weeks.

Also, back to emp, back in the late 1800's when the Carrington event took place, it fried telegraph lines all over the country. The only reason it wasn't worse, is because that is about the only thing we had at the time. Since they were uninsulated, they of course took a real hit. If they had been insulated, do you think it would have made that much difference ? All I can add to this at this time, is that I have made provisions to put "extras" for my solar components in a steel box Faraday cage.

I do have an alert system in place on my computer as we speak about this. Go to "red alert" warning systems and get the download for yourselves. It can also give you many other types of alerts, including riots, terrorists attacks, tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanoes and just about every other type of disturbance. I will try to post a link in a few minutes

OK, here is the link to Red Alert Warning Systems. About Red Alert Emergency Warning System


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## Leon (Jan 30, 2012)

nadja said:


> I watched an interesting news article just last night, where the goobermint was very concerned about Iran attempting cyberwarfare with us. This is just one area , but it does entail taking down the grid. Used to be, before computers were invented, it could not have happened this way, but now, since the entire grid is hooked up to computers, it can be shut down. Seems to be a real threat to us. Don't know how long before it could all be restored , but for remote areas , it could be several days or even weeks.
> 
> Also, back to emp, back in the late 1800's when the Carrington event took place, it fried telegraph lines all over the country. The only reason it wasn't worse, is because that is about the only thing we had at the time. Since they were uninsulated, they of course took a real hit. If they had been insulated, do you think it would have made that much difference ? All I can add to this at this time, is that I have made provisions to put "extras" for my solar components in a steel box Faraday cage.
> 
> ...


Well, the Carrington incident is kind of a funny story. There indeed were several failures of the 'grid' they had back then. Wiring can be a funny thing, even when insulated it can still draw current from the air like a car antenna. That's exactly what I equate it to, antennas. Same way they read radio signals is the way they draw and conduct electrons from the air. Uninsulated wiring running for miles at a time would make _one hell_ of a magnet for this sort of stuff. But in all honesty it's hard to say weather or not an insulated system would have gone down the same way. The question for me is though, _has one of these events taken place since_ and what, if anything went down due to overload. I mean the carrington event was eye opening but it only happened across one area and they ended out fine in the end. There's plenty of places though that we don't know about in areas too remote for communication.


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## nadja (May 1, 2012)

Here is a long forgotten test that disabled a lot of Hawaii way back when. If anyone doesn't think it can happen, better think again

Disappeared News: Hawaii was early testing ground for reported new Chinese electromagnetic pulse weapon


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## Lucky Jim (Sep 2, 2012)

PrepperDad said:


> ..EMP threat and was surprised that we (USA) are not better equipped and prepared...what do you do to personally offset this threat to your family?


I EMP-proofed my radio by wrapping it in a plastic bag then wrapping it in kitchen foil (below), so i'll hopefully be able to pick up any emergency government transmissions to find out what's going on..
(the bag is necessary to keep the foil from touching the radio or it won't be proofed. For extra insurance I later added another two foil wrappings, each separated by another bag)









Below-The USA's 'Starfish Prime' thermonuclear bomb test in 1962 wasn't strictly an EMP weapon but its pulse was stronger than expected. 
The pic shows the detonation seen through cloud from Hawaii, it's 900 miles away at an altitude of 250 miles.
_WIKI- "Starfish Prime caused an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) which was far larger than expected, so much larger that it drove much of the instrumentation off scale, causing great difficulty in getting accurate measurements. 
The Starfish Prime electromagnetic pulse also made those effects known to the public by causing electrical damage in Hawaii, about 1,445 kilometres (898 mi) away from the detonation point, knocking out about 300 streetlights, setting off numerous burglar alarms and damaging a telephone company microwave link."_









This clip from 'The Day After' shows an EMP blowing out civilian car ignitions and lights 2 minutes in but I'm sure the military and the government have EMP-proofed a lot of their stuff including radio transmitters- 





*PS*- there's more EMP chat throughout this thread- http://www.prepperforums.net/forum/general-talk/1191-little-game-we-should-all-play.html


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## Omega Man (Sep 5, 2012)

LOL...I just saw this on yearzerosurvival also. Went to post it...you beat me to it...scary but real stuff...thanks! 
Keep your electronics in a steel box if you have one. A cheap safe makes a good Faraday cage.....


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## Omega Man (Sep 5, 2012)

nice article!


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## Lucky Jim (Sep 2, 2012)

Omega Man said:


> ..Keep your electronics in a steel box if you have one. A cheap safe makes a good Faraday cage.....


Or even a microwave.. 
Just seen this on the net, I should imagine we bung our radio and precious Star Trek DVD's in there for protection when we hear the nuclear attack warning sirens go off, or when the boffins give us advance warning of an incoming solar flare!









http://modernsurvivalblog.com/emp-electro-magnetic-pulse/microwave-oven-used-as-a-faraday-cage/

Ha ha, Snake shows how to do an EMP Hollywood style..

*"He did it! He shut down the earth!"*


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## Leon (Jan 30, 2012)

nadja said:


> Here is a long forgotten test that disabled a lot of Hawaii way back when. If anyone doesn't think it can happen, better think again
> 
> Disappeared News: Hawaii was early testing ground for reported new Chinese electromagnetic pulse weapon


Well, lets look at this for a second. It was atomic testing, YES absolutely an EMP type weapon was used and it took out some of the even older 60's car ignitions (how's that for the old car EMP proof theory, huh? Most cars in Hawaii back then were probably 12-18 years older than the year) and yeah, apparently it was noticeable. You're absolutely right about that. But on the other hand not all of the island was affected, like I said- it didn't happen to everything all at once, some stuff on even the affected zone DID survive the abuse and yet almost everything kept running including relief and public safety efforts. And that is on an island with limited resources. It likely slowed things down quite a bit but I doubt there were bodies in the streets because of it. As I stated in that long post above, it's kinda scarier to even think the freaking communications ALONE would go down let alone a massive EMP that wipes out everything electronic. Matter of fact, if there were like a worldwide freak snowstorm it would be* instant chaos* in most of it. And we're talking six inches of snow.

My point is, the rhetoric is overblown and there are much more realistic forms of chaos to prepare for. The other guy posting about the microwave being a Faraday box- yes it is! Use it if that floats your boat. The insulated walls of your house or apartment with it's cage of pipes and wires IS a Faraday cage. It's well grounded. People don't realize that. The worst we have to fear is what's OUTSIDE during such an event. If you're not living in a stick hut you'll be ok. That lost article is proof. They survived an event, so did the previous one in Canada. I'm pretty sure even IF there is an 'event' that not all will be lost. Today's computers, especially ASUS brand stuff and sturdier brands are damn well built. My lady friend spilled a *zima* on one of my older ones and it didn't even shut off. Hell, my phone is made of _Kevlar and lexan_- it could stop a moderately sized pistol round. There are things that people have overlooked, and things people have blown out of proportion. An EMP still wouldn't claim most of our stuff, it would claim perhaps 50-70% at the utter most- worse case scenario. There's just no realistic facts to back up the theory. Yes, electromagnetic events can frazzle and even disable electronics. And yes, the laws of science and physics still apply. The numbers just don't add up.

I would spend my time on food, water, vehicle parts, shelter hardening, crops, ammo, guns, livestock, fuel sources, land and medicine. After all, _we're preppers Nadja_- EMP's can't knock *us* out of commission. I myself can wire and solder, troubleshoot electronics and apply it at the deepest technical level. I can replace surface mount components on cell phone motherboards, I'm A++ certed and have been doing electronics since 9th grade, graduated with a vocational diploma. You want to talk to an expert? Here I am. Was taught by the best at a facility next to none for years. Even if there is an EMP event, I can replace the electronics or rig it with salvaged components found in junk along the way bro. Have you seen my videos on youtube? I build solar generators out of junk we find. My sideman Hank is even better at it than I am, he's got all my training, been at it longer AND took four years in a refrigeration school. Once you have a close understanding of electronics and electrical systems this theory falls apart. I have literally fixed a television with a long crack running through the mainboard inside. I am betting any electrician, powerplant worker or wiring expert agrees with me. Even if there is an EMP event, you can bet people like me will be out there and we will be able to fix stuff left and right. That's what this EMP theory lacks-_ rationale._ Parts fail, people adapt and overcome. We always have. That's what makes us so dangerous.


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## Lucky Jim (Sep 2, 2012)

Leon said:


> ...Even if there is an EMP event, you can bet people like me will be out there and we will be able to fix stuff left and right. That's what this EMP theory lacks-_ rationale._ Parts fail, people adapt and overcome...


Yeah, all an EMP will do is temporarily blow out power, ignitions and electronics etc which will be fixed sooner or later..
So as a weapon, i can't see any country wanting to use an EMP device because there'll be no longlasting effects, and the military will of course be EMP-shielded anyway.
A solar flare would have the same effect, but there again everything will be fixed later.

For the record, here's a list from the net of major solar flares that have hit the earth-

_Sep 1859- Telegraph wires burst into flames, touching off fires .Telegraph machines scorched paper printouts, stunned operators with electric shocks, transmitted gibberish, and continued working for hours even after being unplugged from the batteries that powered them. The Earth itself was no longer "grounded"!

November 1882- another massive solar flare lit lamps, disrupted telegraph communications, and set off several fires on the Chicago telegraph switchboard, melting instruments.

November 1903- solar storm not only disrupted telegraphs and the transatlantic cable; it even shut down Swiss streetcars.

March 1940- severe solar storm burnt out fuses and damaged hundreds of miles of telegraph and telephone networks.

March 1989- a major solar flare shorted out Quebec's power grid. Circuits also overloaded in Great Britain, New York and Virginia. A critical transformer melted in New Jersey.

November 2003- an "X" solar flare, the strongest of solar storms, temporarily disabled many satellites, killed one satellite completely and and burned out an instrument on a Mars orbiter. The crew of the International Space Station took shelter, reporting elevated radiation readings and "shooting stars" in their own eyes.

September 2005- a string of "X" solar flares caused lesser disruptions to major power grids and knocked out the GPS system completely for ten minutes.

June 2011- a moderate solar flare caused minor satellite disruption, unusual amount of static on phone lines._


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## nadja (May 1, 2012)

A few years ago, when a couple of scientiest's types warned congress of our ageing grid system and the long term effects of an emp event, Congress had a study performed. After a years study (and several million tax dollars) they concluded that our grid could and would suffer major melt down if it were to happen. You see, it's not so much the wires like some here are worried about, but the transformers that spin up the power to keep it in our usable range over the distance.. congress concluded that it would be in the billions to replace our existing antique system , but did rebuild the grid there in D.C. so they could keep watching porn and playing games . It seems we no longer make these transformers any longer, but like everything else outsource them to third world countries. So everyone may want to take another look at how you would survive should something of this magnitude occur. 

There is no conclusive proving either side, but the majority of "experts" seem to agree that it would be very bad.


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## smartprepper (Oct 19, 2012)

Did you happen to see the news this week on DOD's successful test of a EMP missile. It works! Computers fried by EMP-like blast I think that a cyber attack is a more likely threat in the near term but there is definitely potential for future development of these types of EMP weapons.


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## Jerddd (Nov 2, 2012)

I think it's really difficult to be ready for every possible scenario as a normal citizen. That goes doubly for a government, where you're not only preparing for yourself and family, but for 311 million others as well. While I agree that they should be doing something about the possibility of an EMP threat, how many among us are prepared for EVERYTHING?


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## Medelwr (Jun 10, 2012)

You have to ask yourself though.....is the government's priority when an EMP or nuke scenario happens going to be helping the people or consolidating their power and establishing their rule? First thing would be to house those in power somewhere safe and then reach out their tendrils to outer lying states and finding out how much gunpower they can amass. Conscription has happened on more than one occasion, something that serious would be a wonderful reason to bring it back.


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## WoadWarrior (Oct 10, 2012)

I keep hearing "the military is EMP shielded" and it concerns me. We used to spend LOTS of money on EMP shielding... and now we pretty much ignore it. Only certain PL 1 assets get EMP shielding ... and not all of them. Right now... we are going into Solar Max... actually, we are a bit late... but my point is, we take coronal mass ejections (solar flares in common terms) very seriously in the satellite business. We spend precious fuel turning them away from CMEs to protect sensors and computer equipment (shielding is heavy so we usually have limited amounts and turn the satellite to compensate)... and often times, we turn them off until the event has passed. 

Miniaturization of electronics increases risk... and just about everything nowadays is miniaturized.


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## RedLion (Sep 23, 2015)

Another good article on the grid going down for an extended time and our govt's lack of concern about it.



> Cyberattacks, Solar Storms And EMP Weapons: *The U.S. Power Grid Is Extremely Vulnerable And An Extended Blackout Is Inevitable*





> A lot of Americans are mocking Venezuela right now, but the truth is that what has happened to them could also happen to us very easily. As you will see below, DARPA is so concerned about the possibility of a cyberattack taking down our power grid that they held an extended exercise recreating such a scenario late last year. And even though scientists tell us that it is inevitable that a "solar tsunami" will absolutely devastate our power grid at some point, our leaders on the federal level refuse to spend the money that it would take to protect our basic electrical infrastructure. In addition, Russia, China, North Korea and others have developed extremely advanced EMP weapons, and we have absolutely no protection against them. One way or another, an extended blackout will eventually happen in the United States, and so we should try to learn some lessons from what is going on in Venezuela right now.


Cyberattacks, Solar Storms And EMP Weapons: The U.S. Power Grid Is Extremely Vulnerable And An Extended Blackout Is Inevitable


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## Prepared One (Nov 5, 2014)

Grid down, by terrorists, prelude to war, rogue nation, or hacking, is number one on my list. It's just to easy.


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## whitedeath81 (Mar 13, 2019)

WoadWarrior said:


> I keep hearing "the military is EMP shielded" and it concerns me. We used to spend LOTS of money on EMP shielding... and now we pretty much ignore it. Only certain PL 1 assets get EMP shielding ... and not all of them. Right now... we are going into Solar Max... actually, we are a bit late... but my point is, we take coronal mass ejections (solar flares in common terms) very seriously in the satellite business. We spend precious fuel turning them away from CMEs to protect sensors and computer equipment (shielding is heavy so we usually have limited amounts and turn the satellite to compensate)... and often times, we turn them off until the event has passed.
> 
> Miniaturization of electronics increases risk... and just about everything nowadays is miniaturized.


Shielded.....nope maybe the bombers are. Not much else would be. Doesnt matter most cars and trucks will run. The grid will be destroyed.


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