So it is “just” the electrical grid that is at risk? Ok, the follow on question: if we knew for certain that we were about to be hit by a massive storm, would there be a way to limit the damage on an emergency, crash shutdown basis? The functional equivalent of a giant circuit breaker, I suppose — cut the power, and let the grid go dark. It’s a mess when that happens in a major blackout, but such things are survivable. Could you do it deliberately, and would it help?
“would there be a way to limit the damage on an emergency, crash shutdown basis? “
Yes, if you shut the grid down, there would be no damage.
That is one of the responses under consideration in case of an event.
I’m not trying to minimize it - it would have a huge impact - you can’t just shut a complicated system down and bring it back up on a whim - but it would be the difference between a few days vs. weeks/months before you had a normal grid back.