Experts: Civilians not ready for EMP-caused blackout

watchdog.org ^ | April 21, 2014 | Josh Peterson

[Ghost of SVR4]

The catastrophic effects of an electromagnetic pulse-caused blackout could be preventable, but experts warn the civilian world is still not ready.

Peter Vincent Pry, executive director of the Task Force on National and Homeland Security and director of the U.S. Nuclear Strategy Forum, both congressional advisory boards, said the technology to avoid disaster from electromagnetic pulses exists, and upgrading the nation’s electrical grid is financially viable.

“The problem is not the technology,” Pry said. “We know how to protect against it. It’s not the money, it doesn’t cost that much. The problem is the politics. It always seems to be the politics that gets in the way.”

[Ghost of SVR4]

More at the site...Not much meat in this article however.

[Irenic]

I don’t think we would ever be ready for it— somewhat prepared maybe but never ready.

[jiggyboy]

IOW, we’d better print up a lot more money and throw it to our corporate friends to “solve” this very low probability problem.

[BitWielder1]

I'm much more concerned about government-caused blackout.
For starters, it's more likely to happen.

[dforest]

Frank Gaffney says protecting the power grid would not even cost that much.

Our government shoves any bill aside that is about protecting the power grid.

Wonder why? Or maybe not.

[Ghost of SVR4]

That or some key transformers taken out for some decently placed .308 or 30-06 rounds.

[pfflier]

The article is just useless handwringing. It says nothing about design survivability, EMI/RFI shielding or EMP hardness techniques that could be employed by an individual.

Beyond that, the true systems that are vulnerable, communications, power distribution and transportation are, largely, out of the control of individuals to do anything meaningful. They require systemic changes.

[Ghost of SVR4]

For the most part, yup, useless. I started the thread to more or less get conversation going about the subject. I’ve been trying to prep for a little over a year now as I am worried about an EMP attempt against us (the U.S.). Last I read, our southern side is not truly “monitored” and a device could come sailing up that direction with some bad results to many area’s (not total, but a decent chunk of the country). Couple that with Iran (last year) practicing some launch’s in the black sea of inert missles almost “straight up” which “experts” concluded was to put a device in orbit. I’ll see if i can find that link.

[Scrambler Bob]

Sometimes the thought of one nice big EMP sounds pretty good.

Level the playing field, so to speak.

[voicereason]

I'm much more concerned about government-caused blackout. For starters, it's more likely to happen.

Is it just me, or these stories/articles about possible disasters coming with much more frequency? Some from government agencies too.

[Ghost of SVR4]

I’ve read many differing reports on the effect of an EMP weapon over the U.S. I just don’t know what the damage would be, however, if we are talking half the country knocked out for a sustained period of time, the disease will sweep through the country as millions die off in starvation in the first ninety days alone. Hungry people are highly dangerous people.

[Ghost of SVR4]

You're not alone. Even Obama is talking about "fears of -pick a city- being nuked. I've been seeing more sites pick up the EMP angle (again). Strangely, Iran is almost off the front pages with it's nuclear program which is still alive and kicking.

/feels like a pressure cooker..

[Scrambler Bob]

You went and got serious on me.

I was dreaming of no social networks, no demand for on-line registrations and passwords, (no bo-care websites), no data backup worries, etc.

[William of Barsoom]

EMPs come in “sizes.” From weak to ultra-powerful.

Devices come with various levels of susceptibility, from virtually immune to hyper-delicate.

Any EMP from any source — solar, or evil — will likely not “wipe out everything,” as Chicken Little fears. The true result will be chaotic, some ok, some not so ok.

But EMP isn’t the ultimate bogeyman — it’s just another hazard, and it can be mitigated in advance to a degree by what you use and how you use and expose it.

Do some research, and several personal protection measures will suggest themselves.

Don’t panic. Think. ...and learn.

[pfflier]

People who have been trained in the area of EMP can see the threat. People familiar with military weapons can see the vulnerabilities.

Still at an individual level, I can hard ground my house, shield the breaker box and put all lines in grounded conduits. Still, I lose control of everything from the power meter out.

[The Great RJ]

Back in the cold war the Russians certainly knew about the EMP effects of a nuclear detonation at high altitude and had the capability to launch an EMP attack at the US. They were deterred from launching an EMP attack, because they knew the US would respond with a devastating nuclear attack on the USSR...the old MAD doctrine.

However today Obama displays nothing but weakness and indecisiveness and many doubt he would launch a nuclear strike under any circumstance. Adding to this are nations, like Iran, and terrorist groups that are driven by religious fanaticism and would not hesitate to use such a weapon against the "Great Satan" regardless of the consequences. These factors make the US far more vulnerable to EMP attack from rogue nations or terrorists. We should be actively protecting our electrical grid and other key elements of our data system.

[grobdriver]

The problem is the politics Liberals. It always seems to be the politics Liberals that gets in the way

[Telepathic Intruder]

The book “One Second After” is about a hypothetical EMP strike that’s supposed to be pretty sobering. It’s on Kindle but I haven’t read it yet. I suppose the most important thing is stored food and water.

[Resolute Conservative]

Me too, as long as it was world wide. I have ammo, seeds, and water, I am good.

[Swen Manuela1]

Ping for ref anyway