“EVERYTHING would be dead forever. Permanently damaged and beyond repair.”
A lot of stuff will be damaged, but not everything. We simply do not know how much will be damaged, and to what extent - but we know a lot of stuff has the potential to be damaged.
So you probably familiar with compliance testing. Interesting that modern consumer electronic devices are now being tested for immunity. Not as thorough and as emissions but better than it used to be. Most of the designs have some level of immunity but are not perfect.
That is where a broadband “white” noise source like an emp would be ideal for finding the weaknesses of a design.