laklak wrote:Seth, did you ever read One Second After? It's about an EMP strike that destroys the national grids, and everything with a computer chip. Told from the standpoint of the residents of a small town in the North Carolina mountains. Science fiction, true, but well based in fact. It's a scary read, but illuminating. Changed my outlook, that's for sure, and I'm better prepared now then I was before I read it.
Just checked on Amazon, the sequel One Year After is for sale, just bought it.
Then there's Ten Year's After, I'm Going Home.
Yup, read the first. Will get the second. That book is extremely interesting and well researched although there are a few errors I take issue with but allow for reasons of artistic license.
One example is the total absence of communications. Both the military and civilian agencies have made some progress in EMP hardening their essential communications, although many have not. Also, HAM operators are well aware of the EMP risk and, like me, have stashed away older short and long range communications gear in EMP-proof "Faraday cage" cases or even facilities (surplus military electronic equipment shelters that are fully shielded and can be grounded are widely available, fit in a pickup or can be simply placed on the ground for about $800) in anticipation of either an EMP attack or a catastrophic solar flare.
My EMP cache includes UHF, VHF, Lo-Band VHF, and HF radios, spare batteries, accessories, chargers and a gasoline-powered generator (or two) to run the installation, all kept in grounded EMP containers inside a "command post" trailer that can be moved anywhere. In addition, my Hummer is EMP resistant (though not "proof") and the only really vulnerable component is the transmission computer chip. I have procured a couple of spare chips that live with the radio gear and can be replaced in minutes. Even so, the Hummer will still start and run without any electrical system other than the starter itself, albeit in "limp-home" mode on the tranny, which runs in 2nd gear without the computer.
There's plenty of other people like me who are aware of the EMP threat and who are taking precautions, particularly when it comes to communications and power. A small generator like my Honda IS3000 can run a pump to pump diesel out of the ground or operate lights and communications and it'll run a full 24 hours on a single tank of fuel.
So, combined with the hardened military HF facilities, HAM operators would have nationwide and worldwide communications networks back in service very quickly.
Also, I think the damage to non-integrated circuit electrical equipment is overstated. The damage done by an EMP pulse is proportional to two things: the sensitivity of the device to current surges (integrated circuits) and the length of the conductors exposed to the pulse. The reason that the power grid would be destroyed is because an EMP pulse over the grid induces current spikes in conductors that are hundreds or even thousands of miles long, and the current pulse is somewhat proportional to the length of the unshielded conductor, which means that gigajoules of energy are shunted into transformers at substations, which fries them. They are huge, expensive and take a long time to manufacture so the grid will be down for a long, long time.
However, while the computers on most modern cars would be wiped out, any vehicle built prior to about 1985 would likely still function, particularly if they have manual transmissions. An EMP burst is unlikely to destroy the actual wiring in the vehicle as the conductor length isn't long enough to generate huge spikes. Some semiconductor devices like the diode bridge in the alternator might well be fried, but that simply militates for storing a bunch of common diode bridges in an EMP proof container.
Likewise, tests in the Soviet Union with EMP indicated that while some generator windings may overload and short internally, many would not and in any event it's certainly possible to disassemble a generator and re-wind the coil after repairing any shorts. Therefore, I think power would be individually available reasonably quickly for essential services and a concerted effort to fix larger generators would provide power in a reasonable amount of time. The best option is of course to have an enclosed diesel generator with a large underground storage tank whose casing is EMP sealed and grounded and whose line outputs are physically disconnected when the generator is not in use with a manual transfer switch that is large enough to air-gap any potential for a current jump across the contacts.
Other vehicles, like forklifts, older tractors and suchlike that use propane or diesel would likely still operate as well. I used to have a 1945 Allis Chalmers WD-45 tractor that you could start with a crank if needed. Simple as could be with a magneto ignition and very little to go wrong.
And then there's small aircraft. Other than the radios and electronics, most light aircraft are reasonably immune to EMP precisely because they already have shielded magneto-driven electrical systems by design. They can lose the entire electrical system including the battery and still fly perfectly well. So there would likely be a LOT of general aviation traffic after an EMP pulse. This would facilitate message delivery (by dropping written messages or flyers), essential personnel transport, damage assessment overflights and would certainly be commandeered by the government as part of the national recovery effort. Pilots would likely be drafted into service as well.
But the initial impacts will be devastating indeed and many millions of people will very quickly starve to death or kill one another in the urban areas once the food supplies quit coming and the stockpiles are depleted. This used to take about 30 days, but with today's "on time delivery" of foodstuffs it's down to a week before the food is gone entirely, which means starvation within a month and the attendant rioting and disorder in the meantime.
I do not think the threat posed by refugees fleeing the cities is even slightly overstated however, although I do think the capacity of communities to arm themselves for self defense is seriously understated. I think rural communities are far better armed than was predicted, particularly out west.
Anywhere east of the Mississippi is a death zone though...there's simply too many people and too few resources.
So, EMP harden your boat with critical spares and communications gear stored properly and grounded, stockpile weapons, ammo, reverse-osmosis hand-operated fresh water pumps and non-perishable food (in that order because with a gun you can get most things you need, whereas with food and no gun you become anyone's supermarket), and plenty of charts and an escape plan to get to your boat.
I don't know which side of Florida you live on, but the Gulf side would give your your best chance of heading for South Texas. The farther west you can get, the better off you'll be. I wouldn't try for an island due to the inability to grow crops and fresh water problems.
And then put to sea for a month at minimum and wait out the carnage on shore. In that respect you've got it good because you can physically isolate yourself at sea whereas I have to make it to my bug-out bunker to be safe.
"Seth is Grandmaster Zen Troll who trains his victims to troll themselves every time they think of him" Robert_S
"All that is required for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." Edmund Burke
"Those who support denying anyone the right to keep and bear arms for personal defense are fully complicit in every crime that might have been prevented had the victim been effectively armed." Seth
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