Congress warned that NoKo EMP attack could kill 90% of Americans

americanthinker.com ^ | 10/13/2017 | Rick Moran

[rktman]

The House Homeland Security Committee heard expert testimony yesterday on the effects of a high-altitude nuclear detonation that could knock out the U.S. electrical grid for up to a year, resulting in the deaths of 90% of Americans.

A nuclear attack from space would generate an electromagnetic pulse, or EMP, that would "inflict devastating damage" on the U.S.

Washington Examiner:

In calling on the Pentagon and President Trump to move quickly to protect the grid, the experts testified that an explosion of a high-altitude nuclear bomb delivered by a missile or satellite "could be to shut down the U.S. electric power grid for an indefinite period, leading to the death within a year of up to 90 percent of all Americans."

[NorthMountain]

The EMP effect is proven fact. Its ability to damage a power grid is also proven fact. The extent of damage to the mainland USA from a weapon detonated over it is a matter of everything from sober, scientific, fact based discussion to wild-eyed panic.

[z3n]

First off, the entire grid may or may not go down from one EMP attack. Even if it did, it would likely be due to a cascade failure like the one that hit the Northeast in what year was that, 2005? The grid can be brought back online for those areas not directly hit by removing the connections to other regions and supporting only thier own. Many regions that regain their nuclear and hydro power in particular will then begin to rebuild and reorganize and support neighboring regions.

A lot of people have backup generators. The problem will be fuel. But let’s not assume that refineries are going to be down for a while year. And why would transportation go down. If refineries get back up and running, pumps are powerered and tanker trucks can run, what is the problem? Traffic signals? You suggesting no one is going to solve a traffic light problem in a whole year?

People will fix things one at a time. Prioritization and seperation of effort.

[al_c]

Correct. But ... 90%?

[USCG SimTech]

Why isn't 90% of Puerto Rico dead?

Hasn't been a year yet, apparently.

Shouldn't there be some trending by now?

[Vermont Lt]

They always point to diabetics as among the first to go.

Speaking from personal knowledge. If all of a sudden I was on fixed rations, my need for refrigerated insulin would be eliminated in about three days.

I would imagine that my experience is more the norm.

Of course, if you are a Type 1 diabetic...not so much.

[pfflier]

That data point must be the consensus of climate “scientists”.

[USCG SimTech]

The EMP effect is proven fact. Its ability to damage a power grid is also proven fact. The extent of damage to the mainland USA from a weapon detonated over it is a matter of everything from sober, scientific, fact based discussion to wild-eyed panic.

Little known fact. Power companies have been installing high voltage transmission traps, better than simple spark gaps, to stop surges, nation-wide for decades.

[dgbrown]

Yup. 90% maybe high but it will be above 50%.

Think Puerto Rico with 300,000,000 people. Grocery stores would be empty within a week if not earlier. There would be a shortage of potable water. City dwellers would be stranded, chaos would ensue.

Many people do not realize things do not happen without electricity. I am in the food industry and inventories are controlled to create efficiencies, not create a safety net for society.

[DEPcom]

No problem here.... “A Country Boy Can Survive”

Live in the country on a river with trout, deer, rabbit, turkeys, and good farming land.... We can also fire up the old family still. Surrounded by all family here (well armed) and Family members who do not live here know where to go for safety.

Those city folk might have something to worry about, we don’t, We Are Country.

[ArtDodger]

For that 90% kill number to work, citizens would first have to be deprived of their 2nd amendment right to self protection. Not yet, but congress is working on it...
This is why Trump is so important... if he does nothing else while in office, he stopped Hillary from being president. For that alone, he deserves a place among the pantheon of the heroes of liberty!

[Leep]

Not to worry though.
The 10% that would survive include congress, msm, Hollywood, DNC and their families and gay partners.

[Nashvegas]

Read 3 seconds after. This is about the best breakdown on what happens. The scariest part is when everyone gets off their meds.

[T-Bone Texan]

90% of all Americans ARE weak.

[PUGACHEV]

The problem is money and credit, or more specifically, the lack of both. In a cashless society, we depend on ATMs and credit transactions to purchase almost everything. Truckers and suppliers depend on credit to purchase fuel and inventory. When the grid goes down for any length of time, we lose our money and there is no credit to purchase anything. No supplies, no food, no gas, no nothing is delivered, and ever if it were, there would be no cash to purchase it.

[fireman15]

Obama weaponized our intelligence community against conservatives instead of concentrating on threats from foreign enemies... They took their eyes off the ball and are still unable to give accurate assessments of the actual threats caused by hostile foreign governments.

The problems caused by EMP theoretically are as devastating as this article postulates. It is possible that many electronic devices could be damaged across a fairly large area in addition to damage to the electric grid. Obviously, this could create huge problems for our communications infrastructure. Our fuel production and distribution infrastructure could also be affected or even crippled.

Surprisingly, the electronics in most vehicles even those made in the last 20 to 40 years probably would survive or be repairable once replacement parts became available. But it is very likely that there would be widespread shortages of fuel. So the prices of bicycles and skateboards would probably go through the roof.

[rktman]

Scary read.

[Gen.Blather]

“it’d kill off the weak.. but... Not 90%..”

People on life support. People who require electricity to live; the elderly, people on special medications, etc. Depending on the time of year people will die of heat or cold. Probably as much as 1% of the population could die in a few days or weeks. Commerce will be almost impossible as every sale requires a computer connection and electricity. Many people have zero cash so we could expect food riots and a certain amount of social breakdown.

I’d expect much of local life to be up and running in red states pretty quickly. Chicago, Detroit and LA would dissolve in a dystopian wave of riots, looting and carnage.

All told, we’d probably lose under a million people. The scare figures given to Congress was a bid to get the funding back that they’d lost.

Interesting that they thought a million of so casualties was insufficient to interest Congress.

[Gennie]

This. I haven’t read this book, but my husband has it. It’s not like 90% would die instantly...but picture what would happen within cities at first. Looting, the “gimmie” crowd waiting for a government who WON’T be coming....actually, that wouldn’t even be just the “gimmie” crowd but a lot of people truly believe in a time like that, the government would help...so why should they prepare? Throw in the lack of food, potable water...and then, disease. Not to mention, if it happened during the winter, the cold could impact the young/old/infirm as heat would not work. I don’t know if the 90% number is entirely accurate, but I think that it would be closer to that than some numbers people are throwing out. When Home Depot has to make videos on “how to use a measuring tape” because millennial don’t know how to, you have to realize there is over a whole generation that doesn’t know any of this and could not help themselves in an extreme situation because they’ve been conditioned otherwise.

[rktman]

Saw one on Mountain men. The guys in North Carolina built a wood fired pick up. It worked.

[Flick Lives]

The electrical grid is especially vulnerable, given its interconnected nature. The destruction of part of the grid would overload the entire system, leading to cascade failures across the board.

---

This is one of the most irresponsible and hysterical articles I’ve read recently. Yes, nuclear weapons produce an EMP field. However, the U.S. set off thousands of nuclear weapons on their own soil (1054 test of which 219 were atmospheric). Most of these tests were in the desert near Los Vegas and the Hoover Dam for that matter. The power grid was not destroyed.

Even if you built an enhanced EMP weapon, at best the effect is local. The idea the power grid for the entire country would collapse is absurd. The worst cascade failure was the Great Northeast Blackout of 1965. 30 Million without power. Following that cascade failure, the electrical system was broken up to prevent such a cascade on such a scale.

Millions did not die and the power was not out for a year. The fact that the system effectively triggers massive circuit breakers is actually a good thing, protecting the physical wires from being overloaded, much like the circuit breakers in your own home. How do you recover from a cascade failure? Much like your own home, you reset the breakers. It won’t take a year, or a month, It would not likely even take a week.