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This book is not a work of fiction. The characters, events, and settings are imaginary; however, the threat of losing the national electric grid in this country from an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack, a large solar flare, a cyber attack, or a physical attack on the grid is reality. One of these four events will happen in the future; whether it is next month, next year, or in the next 50 years. General Eugene Habiger, the former head of U. S. Strategic Command, has said the following about the possibility of an EMP attack in the future, “It is not a matter of if; it is a matter of when.”
Even if it’s not an EMP attack from an enemy nation or terrorist group, you can’t stop the sun from producing solar flares. It is only a matter of time and a mathematical certainty before the next massive solar flare hits the earth. Every single day, US Cyber Command is confronted with cyber attacks on our critical infrastructure. Any of these catastrophes has the potential to destroy the electric grid and could fry nearly every electrical device in its path.
A Coronal Mass Ejection (solar flare) is a large eruption of super-hot plasma from the sun’s surface that shoots charged particles across the solar system. These massive solar flares have been tracked for centuries and follow the solar cycle of the sun. Historical records show that every 100 to 150 years, the earth takes a direct hit. We are due. The last event was over 150 years ago in 1859. Known as the “Carrington” event, it lit up the night sky all the way from Colorado to New York. Thousands of people awoke in the middle of the night and thought that it was morning. Newspapers of the day reported people getting dressed and starting to make breakfast before realizing that it was still the middle of the night. Telegraph line operators reported sparks coming from their machines and some claim that the wooden machines themselves caught fire. Without modern electronics, it had little effect on the population of the day outside of an interesting light show. If a Carrington-sized solar flare were to hit today, the effects would be catastrophic.
A Super EMP weapon would produce the same effects or worse. EMP stands for Electromagnetic Pulse. If a nuclear weapon were to be detonated high in our atmosphere, it would interact with the ionosphere to create a series of electromagnetic pulses that could reach from coast to coast, potentially fry nearly every device containing small modern electronics and microchips. Declassified U.S. Intel reports show that most nuclear powered countries already have, or at least have the technology to develop, a Super EMP weapon. The use of such a device by another industrialized nation is unlikely, only because of mutually ensured destruction. The US buys most of its goods from overseas and the loss of America’s buying power and destruction of Wall Street would surely crash the attacking country’s economy. In a report to Congress in 2004, the non-partisan Congressional EMP Commission found "several potential adversaries have or can acquire the capability to attack the United States with a high-altitude nuclear weapons-generated electromagnetic pulse (EMP). A determined adversary can achieve an EMP attack capability without having a high level of sophistication." Is it really that hard to imagine some fanatical dictator or terrorist taking the opportunity to effectively destroy America and turn us into a third world nation?
What is remarkable to me is the amount of information about EMP and solar flares that can be gained from a simple Google search, yet how little is reported in the main stream media. On July 31, 2013, an article was written by Paul Bedard in the Washington Examiner titled “Massive Solar Flare Narrowly Misses Earth, EMP Disaster Barely Avoided.” It discusses how a Carrington-class solar flare barely missed the Earth’s orbit. How was the “end of civilization near miss” not reported in the news on CBS, ABC, NBC, the New York Times, or Fox News?
If you think this threat isn’t real or is just a right-wing survivalist’s fantasy, than I strongly challenge you to do your own research. In the previously mentioned article, there is an embedded one hour fifteen minute video that you need to watch. It is a round table discussion headed by former CIA Director James Woolsey and many other high level military leaders and scientists discussing the near miss and the effect it would have had on our electrical grid, population, and military. They are pleading with politicians to push a bill through Congress to harden our electric grid. Unfortunately, their warning seems to be falling on deaf ears, and the lack of attention from the media only exacerbates the problem.
In addition to the previous article, Lloyd’s of London (the world’s oldest insurance market) released a startling report earlier this year on the impact a massive solar flare would have on North America. The fact that the prestigious Lloyd’s of London would spend the capital on a report like this should prove that this is not an idle threat. I challenge you to read it. The report’s main focus is the financial impact to our country and the effect it will have on our electric grid. Lloyd’s states that even a smaller solar flare focused on the Northeast could have a devastating effect on transformers and affect up to forty million people. The large transformers that dot our country convert electricity from high-voltage supply lines to lower voltages. They are a core part of our electric grid infrastructure. Weighing nearly 400 tons each, they are built overseas and take more than a year to construct. After they are built, just getting them to the site would require special roads, the removal of overpasses and construction of special bridges. Lloyd’s predicts the blackout could last one to two years before the infrastructure could be repaired. They state the financial cost could be as high as $2.6 trillion (compare that to Hurricane Sandy which only caused $65 billion in damage).
The Lloyd’s of London’s report is very accurate in my opinion. However, like most media outlets, the report focuses primarily on the physical damage and the cost to repair it. They only gloss over the after-effects on the population and our way of life. They say that a solar flare “could lead to major and widespread social unrest, riots and theft.” Really, Lloyd’s? Forty million people without electricity, food, and water for years, and that’s the best description of the aftermath you can come up with?
Do you remember the news after Hurricane Katrina? Do you recall the stories and atrocities that were committed? That was after only two days without food and water. There were news crews at the Superdome telling people that FEMA was on its way with provisions, yet many people still reacted barbarically. There were reports of looting, rioting, assaults, rapes, and murders. Katrina was only a localized tragedy, and the people living there knew the threat was coming beforehand. The rest of the country was unaffected and rallied to their aid, but not quickly enough to prevent a breakdown of law and order.
What if a Super EMP weapon or a massive solar flare destroyed the electric grid on a national level? What if the effects would last for years and not days? What would you do if nearly every electronic device you can think of stopped functioning at the exact same instant? Can you imagine a world with no phones, no TV, no internet, and no way to access your bank account? Without the electric grid, there would be no lights, no heating or air conditioning in your house, no public water and the sewer could back up into your home. Without modern vehicles or interstate trucking, the supermarkets would quickly run out of food. How would you provide for your family? Most people would have no clue what is truly going on and would expect the government and military to come to their rescue. What if the majority of the military wasn’t hardened and found themselves in the same boat as its citizens? What if the government had no plan in place to deal with the catastrophe?
Think about it! Most Americans (especially those who live in large cities) have no idea how to survive without today’s modern amenities. How many of you know how to grow your own food and harvest the seeds for the following spring? Without modern refrigeration, do you know how to preserve your food by canning, smoking, or dehydrating to make it last through a winter? How much food does your family actually need to survive through an entire winter without running out? These are just a few simple questions discussing food. I could go on for pages with questions regarding the survival skills needed to survive without electricity. I would estimate less that than 1% of our population has the “homesteading” skills needed to survive. The fact is that an EMP will act like a giant time machine, taking our country back one hundred fifty years before electricity with ten times the mouths to feed. Two hundred years ago, 90% of the world’s population farmed. In America today, with electricity and modern infrastructure, only 2% of the population grows food for the other 98% with a lot of our staples coming from overseas. How do you think that is going to work out for us? No amount of central planning will be able to produce enough food for the masses. The government cannot save you or feed you! If you are relying on our government or military to ride in on a white horse and save us, you are going to be sorely disappointed with deadly consequences.
If you still think the EMP or solar flare threat isn’t real or is being blown out of proportion, than I would further direct you to Congress. In 2001, Congress established the “Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse Attack.” They brought together the brightest minds and experts on the subject, including numerous scientists and military personnel. The EMP Commission spent seven years testing and studying the vulnerability of our country to an EMP attack or massive solar flare. Their report to Congress essentially concluded that the nation was completely unprepared. If America was hit with an EMP tomorrow, the results would be catastrophic. An EMP attack or solar flare would result in up to nine out of ten Americans dying from starvation, freezing, or disease within a year. Don’t believe me? Google it. You can download and read the entire commission report online. This is not a liberal or conservative issue. The facts are the facts, and the science behind the threat is proven and solid.
After doing your own research, I imagine you will have the same questions that I did. Why haven’t I heard about this before? How isn’t this being discussed or debated in the media? Why does the government refuse to harden the electric grid? For what reason does the Department of Homeland Security refuse to put in place a plan to deal with the aftermath of an EMP or solar flare? I have no answers to those questions; and the experts, scientists, and military personnel who have the knowledge and expertise are beating their heads against the wall to get the government to listen to them. So if the government refuses to protect the nation from a verified and imminent threat, than I submit it is up to you.
Most people have car insurance, medical insurance, life insurance, home insurance, and flood insurance to protect themselves against tragedies and accidents. What preparations or plans do you have to safeguard your family against a probable event that could end modern life as you know it? I am not saying that you need to drain your savings and your child’s college fund, but at least make it part of your monthly budget to start getting a couple items each month.
Some people will fail to heed the warnings because they don’t want to be labeled a prepper or survivalist due to the negative connotations put forward by the media. Who needs to know? How many people know the monetary value of your life insurance policy? Treat your preparations and planning the same way. Keeping your preparations private will not only prevent your friends and co-workers from stigmatizing you, but it will also prevent the same people from showing up at your door two weeks after the EMP to ask, beg, or take your supplies by force. They may be your favorite co-worker, but when the SHTF there will probably come a point in time when they are watching their child starve to death in front of their very eyes. Most would kill you for your food before they would watch their child die a slow painful death. That is not fear mongering; that is human nature and self-preservation. Throughout history, there are many instances of famines and hard times which produce stories of unbelievable atrocities. Keep your preparations private!
An EMP or solar flare is a worst case scenario for this country. The effects are instant, long term, and catastrophic. What most people fail to realize is that our society walks a cliff’s edge because we are fully dependent on technology and an insanely interwoven infrastructure to feed our citizens and supply their daily needs. There are a myriad of other potential threats to our country and way of life like pandemics, financial collapse, and nuclear or biological warfare. Outside of nuclear war, all the other threats develop over time. If you are wise and you can see the writing on the wall beforehand, you may have time to prepare at the last minute. That is why my personal preparations focus on a long-term loss of the electric grid. Prepare for the worst, and hope for the best.
I did not write this book to cause fear and panic; it was written to get you to think and plan ahead! You already do it every month when you write those checks to your insurance companies. My biggest hope is that this book will convince you to do your own research and develop a game plan. I pray that you don’t bury your head in the sand like 95% of the population who foolishly think, “This is America! It can’t happen here and it won’t really get that bad!” If you buy into that mindset, I can make only one promise to you. Someday, you will look back to this very moment, as you read through these pages, and you will curse yourself for not taking heed and preparing for hard times.
Go to GridDownConsulting.com for links and more information...