EMP fries electrical systems. That means, no transportation, no frozen food storage, no electricity. No production or transport of food. No municipal water service. No internet. No telephone service. No communications to coordinate recovery. No medicine. How long do you think people will survive?
Yes, 90% dead, but not in 12 months, I think in 6 months.
EMP fries electrical systems. That means, no transportation, no frozen food storage, no electricity. No production or transport of food. No municipal water service. No internet. No telephone service. No communications to coordinate recovery. No medicine. How long do you think people will survive?
-————————————As long as I can hold off the zombies...
Location, location, location. City people, government wards, the sick and helpless will be poked. Period. Suburbanites, not so much, but bad. Rural and remote areas will fare best, especially those who live where electrical outages are frequent and prolonged, where distances or terrain make "extra" services less probable.
Those who store food ingredients instead of prepared items will also do better, as will those with survival or "pioneering" skills. Unplugging from the grid and shielding/disconnecting essential electronics is possible, but not much use if there is no electricity to power things back up later. Small rural towns with diesel generators for municipal power, hydropower, etc., might be able to restore limited power to essential users like hospitals, police, etc., provided the enduser equipment still works (some will).
Low tech skills, equipment, and supplies are a very wise investment, like wood stoves, matches, gardens and old-fashioned preserving techniques.
EMP may fry SOME unshielded electronics and some electrical systems from power surges.
To cover the whole US, it would need to be a multi-megaton weapon detonated a hundred miles up, or a bunch of hundred-kiloton weapons spread over the country. It would produce damage to electronics that are turned on, less damage to stuff that isn't on. Car computers are mostly shielded by the metal bodies of the cars.
We may lose a lot. But anybody who detonates a nuke above the US will lose everything.
The risk of even 2% casualties due to EMP is as exaggerated as claiming the recent oil spill in the Gulf will endanger all Polar Bears and giraffes.
The most likely risk is political and dealing with a handful of lunatic fringe insisting upon calamity, then reacting irrationally using the EMP as justification for their lack of responsible behavior.