The number that is always bandied about as the death toll from a large scale catastrophe like a nationwide EMP event is 90% dead within one year.
I have read people say that there is supposedly a government study to this effect but I don't recall ever seeing it myself.
But to me that number sounds plausible. There's just not much food in the pipeline for a population of over 300 million people. And if the planting, harvesting and distribution of food stuffs breaks down the food in the pipeline is pretty much all there will ever be other than locally produced food.
And even for those who know how to garden and farm, if they (we) don't already have crops in the ground when the SHTF it will take months before the first crops start to produce.
And there aren't that many people with the skills and experience to produce enough food to support themselves, let alone a group or community. Especially when everything will have to be done by hand.
When the SHTF, I’ll be sunk. I’m 72, sort of disabled and a city boy through and through. I have about 12 prescription meds I have to take daily. I have a couple of handguns and maybe 500 rounds. My wife hates guns and I’m hoping she’ll change her mind when the bad guys are on the wire. We live in a gated retirement community. Some of my fellow gym rats could be counted on. There are a lot of vets but it’s been like 50+ years. Let’s hope FLNG can keep us safe.
EMP is the great bogey man, but it is all speculation. A 90% mortality rate is beyond reason—sheer fear-mongering.
As for prepping, there is plenty of food in temperate areas. However, most Americans would starve before they eat it, or poison themselves before they figure out what was safe. 2000 calories is not a subsistance ration. Two-thirds of the world lives on half that. It’s not optimal, but it is doable.
Poeple will band together, and the skill sets of modern people are pretty amazing. EMP only affects electronic circuits. That leaves a substantial amount of infrastructure—think diesel and non-electronic ignition gasoline. There are plenty of us who can fix, rebuild or even build machines from damn near anything.
I believe in individuality and freedom, but I also understand that me and my family will be more secure with a number of like-minded individuals. God, Family, Country—in that order. If the country falls, then we go back to the town as the primary social organization. Hell, kinda sounds good to me.
Read ‘One Second After’, by William Fortchean. Foreward by Newt Gingrich.
It’s an OPTIMISTIC scenario about what would happen after an EMP attack, and about what the Feds would do for us if one ever happened.
Can you imagine the Federal government being able to work, secure in the knowledge that all elections after that point would be moot?
It’s a thought I just had, actually. I should have thought it after finishing the book about eight months ago, but . . .
Anyway, I’d rather be hit with an H-bomb.
A few years back there was a lady proposing for people to create “hay bale” gardens.
Meaning one lays hay bales on top of the ground, as the boundaries/borders in what ever size desired, filled with potting soil, or dirt, located in a sunny spot, then plant and water as needed. Everyone can have a garden area. GOOD IDEA! It Works.
Heritage seeds are usually available at a local farmers Coop. Which is also important ... good seeds. Of course all that know about it would come to take advantage of it in the time of need. so in time of need it might get you through it or get you killed for it.