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Nickelless
Administrator
USA
5580 Posts |
 Posted - 12/08/2009 : 23:09:05
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Not that any time would be good for an EMP attack (or any other attack, for that matter), but this article really hits the nail on the head about being prepared at all times no matter the situation:
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By Kellene Bishop
Author’s Note: Before reading this article, I want to be perfectly clear that my objective is not to “freak you out.” Mental Preparedness comes more readily when we allow ourselves to mentally picture scenarios and then allow our brain to strategically work on solving the anticipated problems. I hope this article does that for you today.
There’s no such thing as an opportune time for a trial, right? As such, it’s a bit naďve of us to think that if an EMP strike does hit, it will conveniently do so while we are gathered all comfy and cozy in our homes. If I was a nefarious terrorist, I would plan an EMP strike for a freezing snowy winter day affecting most of the country AND during a late time of day that would most affect rush hour. To add to that timing, I would plan it to occur while Congress was out of session for the Christmas break. That would be a true formula for chaos.
Our autos and other modes of transportation will be the most noticeable initial casualty as the result of an EMP strike. Just think what would happen if you were commuting home on the freeway and all of the sudden your vehicle, as well as all of the other cars around you, had all of their electronics stop functioning. The power steering would go out. The power brakes would go out. And like a synchronized swimming team, all of the autos that were made after 1970 would simple stop operating. Sure they might travel another few feet—until they slammed into another car that suddenly stopped operating. Imagine this scene on your jam packed freeway on the way home from work or while running errands. Now picture that scene duplicated throughout thousands upon thousands of bustling cities throughout the country.
Keeping in line with the disruption of transportation, planes will fall from the sky as their electronics completely fail them. At any given time there are well over 5,000 non-military airplanes over the air space of the U.S. Boeing estimates that one of their 737’s take off or land every 4.9 seconds, although that’s for the world, not just the U.S. Boeing states that they have over 1.5 million planes in the air at all times of the day. Even without that, picture being one of the casualties stranded in the O’Hare or JFK Airport with no lights, no food, and no way to get out of town to your family.
The second part of this impact will be painfully felt in our modes of communication. Your cell phone will be completely useless for anything other than a paper weight. Your car radio will not function or provide you with any information to figure out what went wrong. Regardless of the abundance of injuries that will take place all over the nation, no ambulance, tow truck or life flight will be available to heed your call for help.
The third largest impact that you will notice is in the availability, or rather LACK of available medical care. If you can hobble your way to a hospital from the site of the freeway catastrophe, you will inevitably find the facilities in chaos, overflowing with panicked patients and medical personnel. Their backup generators will be useless in most cases as they typically operate with some electronics. The medical supplies such as bandages and medicine will be exhausted within a couple of hours, not to mention the medical staff. Can you imagine being in the middle of a life-saving surgery and suddenly have the power go off without even so much as a warning beep?
So, what do you do to be prepared? First of all, have your auto supplied with preparedness tools: first aid, water, coat, some food, etc. Be sure that you have a reliable pair of shoes—especially you ladies. Heels are great for partying in, but they make it pretty darn hard to hike in the snow 15 miles should a survival scenario come up. In addition to the obvious tools in your car, you MUST be prepared to defend yourself as well. Violence and desperation will reign supreme in such an environment. There’s no need to be a sitting duck, folks. Act quickly and decisively. When you’ve lost access to communication or news and your cars have suddenly stopped, you will KNOW it’s an EMP folks. Don’t wait around to deliberate with fellow travelers. Get to where you need to be ASAP.
Have a prearranged plan with your loved ones of where to meet in the event of trouble. At least this way your spouse or family and friends will have some peace of mind knowing that you will try to get to that location. Panic is not your friend in an emergency. Peace of mind is, even if it’s challenged by some “what if” scenarios.
Maintaining physical strength isn’t about being able to run a marathon for most people. But everyone’s physical strength will be tested in an EMP scenario. The simple act of getting a glass of water will require work. Flour for a loaf of bread will require arm muscles. Going to the bathroom will require full consciousness. :) That may not daunt some of you, but keep in mind that you may need to cover longer distances than between your house and the outhouse. Thus having working bikes and wagons you can tow on them may be a lifesaver.
Familiarizing yourself with basic medical care such as breaks, sprains, deep cuts, rashes, colds, and flu will also be important. While an EMP won’t send us back to the 19th century in all regards, it certainly would in terms of medical care. We need to take some of the responsibility for self-reliance in this area.
Again, I hope I’ve given you just a few things to think about today. I also really liked how the books “Alas, Babylon” by Pat Frank, and “One Second After” by William Fortschen helped me through some mental preparedness in this exact type of scenario. If you allow your mind to think about and mentally participate in such scenarios, you’ll have a more sound Mental Preparedness to solve the problems in comfort now, rather than in chaos later.
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Visit my new preparedness site: Preparedness.cc/SurvivalPrep.net
--Latest article: Stocking up on spices to keep food preps lively
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Be prepared...and prepared to help: http://www.survivalblog.com/charity.html
Are you ready spiritually for hard times? http://www.jesusfreak.com/rapture.asp |
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Kurr
1000+ Penny Miser Member
2906 Posts |
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coppernickel
Penny Pincher Member
USA
131 Posts |
Posted - 12/09/2009 : 13:30:49
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| Who? China, Russia, Iran, Columbia, are all countries willing to take down the US. Not to mention the rogue groups you have already thought about. |
Silver Monometalism is the most permanent and stable form of money the world has seen. Natural law and history prove silver value is best multiplied by gold and best divided by copper. It is only in this counterfeit currency time when the natural law appears suspended. |
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Kurr
1000+ Penny Miser Member
2906 Posts |
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Nickelless
Administrator
USA
5580 Posts |
Posted - 12/09/2009 : 15:31:40
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quote:
Originally posted by Kurr
How big of a thing would it take for a good size blast? Say a med to large size city. I am unfamiliar with the tech.
How would they get it in? If from a domestic source why would they? EMP vs Just killing all or sections of the grid.
This would have a much, much larger impact than just a city. A high-altitude nuclear blast over, say, Kansas, could knock out all electronic equipment in the continental United States because of the type of electromagnetic pulse that the blast would send out at a high enough altitude. Think of everything from radios to our cars' electronic systems to the power grid to phone service and anything else that depends on electricity and/or electronic transmission. If the electronics go out, everything stops dead in its tracks. Everyone talks about worrying about a dirty bomb in New York or a suitcase nuke in D.C. or smuggled smallpox virus being released on international flights and causing worldwide pandemic and panic from a disease nobody is immune to anymore, and the panic would certainly be huge for each of these things. But if rogue states or groups acquired nukes and the ability to launch them high into the atmosphere--something that is a real possibility--they could fry all electronic infrastructure in North America with such a blast and because the U.S. is so dependent on electronics, the entire country will be immediately kicked back to the 18th century--cars with electronic systems won't run, the electrical grid won't run, cell phones and other electronic communication devices are DOA, and even if cars are able to run, if, say, the computerized systems of any number of shipping companies (trucks, trains, anyone else) are out of commission either because an EMP attack has disabled the power grid or the equipment needed to run their communications systems, or because the equipment itself was damaged by the electrical pulse, then transportation and commerce are immobilized, goods can't move, stores empty out in a hurry across the country and riots and everything else follow and knock the country on its knees. It may seem farfetched at first glance, but if you think about how dependent we are on the grid for everything we do, not just individually but as a nation, and what would happen if the electric grid and all electronic equipment was damaged nationwide all at once by an EMP attack, I don't think any of us can imagine how bad things would get. But the threat is real. And granted that this is one of the ultimate worst-case scenarios, but those of us who are avid preppers especially need to think about how bad the worst-case scenarios could get and to prepare mentally and spiritually to deal with those scenarios if they should hit. That's not to say that an EMP attack WILL hit us, but given the reality of such a threat and what we've seen on a much smaller scale since 2001 of terror, fears of terror and people's reactions (good or bad) to what has happened or what they fear could happen, we need to ask ourselves how we would react if something like this were to happen given that it is a real possibility, and to start figuring out how we would respond if or (heaven forbid) when something like this occurs. Here's a link that explains the technical side of EMP attacks, and I think the excerpt above gives us things to think about from a mental/emotional/spiritual perspective individually should something like this occur. If an EMP attack were to hit the continental U.S., you'd suddenly have 300 million people probably without electricity and/or electronic infrastructure to rely on, and those of us who are avid preppers know how out of sorts most sheeple are when they can't use their ATM cards. Now imagine them if the entire grid is put out of commission permanently everywhere. It wouldn't be pretty, but unfortunately the threat is real.
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Visit my new preparedness site: Preparedness.cc/SurvivalPrep.net
--Latest article: Stocking up on spices to keep food preps lively
---------------
Be prepared...and prepared to help: http://www.survivalblog.com/charity.html
Are you ready spiritually for hard times? http://www.jesusfreak.com/rapture.asp |
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copperhead57
Penny Collector Member
USA
255 Posts |
Posted - 12/10/2009 : 17:23:41
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I have been aware of this threat for several years, and moved from the Megalopolis in the northeast to a very rural area in the Appalachian Mountains in 2003. I chose this area because of the abundance of wildlife, clean water and the friendly people.
I've heard that older vehicles with standard ignition will still run after a EMP attack. That is one of the reasons why I drive a 1966 Chevrolet, and will not upgrade the ignition to HEI. |
copperhead57 |
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wholelottabon
Penny Sorter Member
USA
76 Posts |
Posted - 12/10/2009 : 18:26:31
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quote:
Originally posted by Kurr
Just curious how likely you think an EMP could be? Where? Why? By Whom?
as likely as anything else, placed on and fired from a cargo ship in the Gulf, to mess with us, Iran...but who would know...it was fired from a cargo ship |
Democrats + Republicans = Gambino's + Gotti's |
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wolvesdad
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
2164 Posts |
Posted - 12/10/2009 : 19:18:57
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| Neo, YOU are the chosen one!!! |
"May your percentages ever increase!" |
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Bluegill
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
1964 Posts |
Posted - 12/10/2009 : 19:36:54
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quote:
Originally posted by copperhead57
I've heard that older vehicles with standard ignition will still run after a EMP attack. That is one of the reasons why I drive a 1966 Chevrolet, and will not upgrade the ignition to HEI.
That is correct.
If you did upgrade, or if someone had a car with EFI, but still using the older engines designs that started life with carbs and distributors, there is an option. One could keep a points distributor, and carb and matching intake manifold around and do a downgrade for just such contingencies.
Years ago I had a POS '89 Ford F-150 that was full of electrical engine management gremlins. It was getting tired of spending money and calling my brother for a tow.
So I went to a junk yard, bought an intake, carb and distributor. Rebuilt them and did the downgrade. That vehicle had 3 fuel pumps. 1 in each tank, and a booster pump under the firewall. Both of the tank pumps had already burned out, the booster pump was starting it's death squeal. So I bought a mechanical pump, installed the eccentric on the cam sprocket, and bypassed the booster pump. Drove the truck for 3 more years problem free after that.
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Nickelless
Administrator
USA
5580 Posts |
Posted - 12/10/2009 : 23:17:31
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quote:
Originally posted by Bluegill
quote:
Originally posted by copperhead57
I've heard that older vehicles with standard ignition will still run after a EMP attack. That is one of the reasons why I drive a 1966 Chevrolet, and will not upgrade the ignition to HEI.
That is correct.
If you did upgrade, or if someone had a car with EFI, but still using the older engines designs that started life with carbs and distributors, there is an option. One could keep a points distributor, and carb and matching intake manifold around and do a downgrade for just such contingencies.
Years ago I had a POS '89 Ford F-150 that was full of electrical engine management gremlins. It was getting tired of spending money and calling my brother for a tow.
So I went to a junk yard, bought an intake, carb and distributor. Rebuilt them and did the downgrade. That vehicle had 3 fuel pumps. 1 in each tank, and a booster pump under the firewall. Both of the tank pumps had already burned out, the booster pump was starting it's death squeal. So I bought a mechanical pump, installed the eccentric on the cam sprocket, and bypassed the booster pump. Drove the truck for 3 more years problem free after that.
But here's the problem: Even if your vehicle and its parts are old enough to not be affected by an EMP blast that fries electronic circuitry, the vast majority of vehicles on the road will be disabled because of the electromagnetic pulses, and so even if you could drive, where could you go that would have fuel to put in your vehicle? I'd bet it's a pretty good chance that most semis hauling fuel would have post-1970 circuitry and so they'd be out of commission at this point. The aftermath of an EMP attack is much more massive than probably any of us can wrap our minds around, which is why we're still assuming we could just jerry-rig modern machines that rely on electronic circuitry that would be effectively destroyed by this point.
So the question then becomes one of extreme survival that probably 99 percent of Americans aren't accustomed to, much less having the resources to do so. Google "EMP attack" and look at the links above as well. It's taken me several times of re-reading the same material to really start to see how big this is. It's not just foreign to our modern ways of thinking, it's flat-out horrifying. But what's even worse is that, according to testimony referenced at the above links, an EMP attack against the U.S. has been on the drawing board for dictatorial regimes in the recent past. I'm willing to bet that it's not off the table for any of various regimes (Iran is the most likely, IMO) that want the U.S. wiped off the map. |
Visit my new preparedness site: Preparedness.cc/SurvivalPrep.net
--Latest article: Stocking up on spices to keep food preps lively
---------------
Be prepared...and prepared to help: http://www.survivalblog.com/charity.html
Are you ready spiritually for hard times? http://www.jesusfreak.com/rapture.asp |
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NiBullionCu
Penny Pincher Member
USA
168 Posts |
Posted - 12/17/2009 : 13:11:16
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quote:
the vast majority of vehicles on the road will be disabled because of the electromagnetic pulses, and so even if you could drive, where could you go that would have fuel to put in your vehicle?
Easy....
Just siphon from one of the many "Dead" EMP'd vehicles. |
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Nickelless
Administrator
USA
5580 Posts |
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Ill-timed EMP attacks
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