EMP Commission warns ‘blackout’ of electricity, food, water to last ‘year or longer,’ (TR)

Washington Examiner ^ | May 9, 2018 | Paul Bedard

[Perseverando]

In this May 21, 1956, file photo, the stem of a hydrogen bomb, the first such nuclear device dropped from a U.S. aircraft, moves upward through a heavy cloud and comes through the top of the cloud, after the bomb was detonated over Namu Island in the Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands. North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho said his country may conduct a "historic" hydrogen bomb test in the Pacific Ocean. Many experts think North Korea wouldn't do something so risky, but it's hard to rule out given North Korea's steadily expanding nuclear and missile tests. AP

Parts of the United States would be starved of electricity, water, food, internet service and transportation for a year or longer by the smallest electromagnetic pulse attack on the electric grid, according to a newly declassified report from a federal commission.

The so-called EMP Commission report said that the threat is real, jeopardizes “modern civilization,” and would set back living conditions to those last seen in the 1800s.

And as a result of the chaos, millions would likely die, according to the report titled “Assessing the Threat from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP),” from the recently re-established Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack.

“A long-term outage owing to EMP could disable most critical supply chains, leaving the U.S. population living in conditions similar to centuries past, prior to the advent of electric power,” said the July 2017 report provided Secrets.

“In the 1800s, the U.S. population was less than 60 million, and those people had many skills and assets necessary for survival without today’s infrastructure. An extended blackout today could result in the death of a large fraction of the American people through the effects of societal collapse, disease, and starvation. While national planning and preparation for such events could help mitigate the damage, few such actions are currently underway or even being contemplated,” added the executive summary.

Three reports on the issue have been declassified by the Pentagon and seven more are awaiting clearance.

The warnings in the report somewhat echo those made a similar commission a decade ago. But this time the feared attacks aren’t just from a solar event but a potential atmospheric nuclear blast or cyber hit launched by North Korea, China or Russia.

What’s more, the report warns that despite President Trump’s focus on the issue and demand for action, federal agencies are fighting over the issue and the Defense Department, which is factoring in EMP protection into its plans, isn’t sharing critical information to help civilian agencies and private firms make similar protections.

Also declassified was a report from Peter Vincent Pry, who served on a prior EMP Commission and is executive director of the Task Force on National and Homeland Security, spelling out the human toll of an EMP attack on the electric grid. He also advises the current commission.

In “Life Without Electricity,” he said the results would be:

Social Order: Looting requires dusk to dawn curfew. People become refugees as they flee powerless homes. Work force becomes differently employed at scavenging for basics, including water, food, and shelter.

Communications: No TV, radio, or phone service.

Transportation: Gas pumps inoperable. Failure of signal lights and street lights impedes traffic, stops traffic after dark. No mass transit metro service. Airlines stopped.

Water and Food: No running water. Stoves and refrigerators inoperable. People melt snow, boil water, and cook over open fires. Local food supplies exhausted. Most stores close due to blackout.

Energy: Oil and natural gas flows stop.

Emergency Medical: Hospitals operate in dark. Patients on dialysis and other life support threatened. Medications administered and babies born by flashlight.

Death and Injury: Casualties from exposure, carbon dioxide poisoning and house fires increase.

“President Trump’s withdrawal from the bogus Iran nuclear deal, and his determination to denuclearize North Korea, are all the more important because even a single nuclear weapon possessed by these rogue states would pose an existential threat to North America by EMP attack,” Pry told Secrets.

He also praised Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson’s focus on the issue in his role as chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Reform Committee, but slammed “Obama-holdovers and Deep State bureaucrats” for ignoring the report.

The report warned that the type of conditions spelled out by Pry could last a long time due to the difficulties fixing the electric grid, which many have testified would be fairly cheap to harden against an attack.

“The United States -- and modern civilization more generally -- faces a present and continuing existential threat from naturally occurring and man-made electromagnetic pulse assault and related attacks on military and critical national infrastructures. A nationwide blackout of the electric power grid and grid-dependent critical infrastructures -- communications, transportation, sanitation, food and water supply -- could plausibly last a year or longer. Many of the systems designed to provide renewable, stand-alone power in case of an emergency, such as generators, uninterruptible power supplies, and renewable energy grid components, are also vulnerable to EMP attack,” said the 27-page report.

It called for a new wave of cooperation among government agencies to set protection standards, an EMP czar, and called for testing current systems against a simulated EMP attack.

“With the development of small nuclear arsenals and long-range missiles by new, radical U.S. adversaries, the threat of a nuclear EMP attack against the U.S. becomes one of the few ways that such a country could inflict devastating damage to the United States,” concluded the report. It added, “It is critical, therefore, that the U.S. national leadership address the EMP threat as a critical and existential issue, and give a high priority to assuring the leadership is engaged and the necessary steps are taken to protect the country from EMP.”

[skimbell]

"...The report warned that the type of conditions spelled out by Pry could last a long time due to the difficulties fixing the electric grid, which many have testified would be fairly cheap to harden against an attack..."

I thought that 0's "$Trillion Dollar Infrastructure Scam" was getting into this. What happened?

If it is "fairly cheap" to get the grid hardened, somebody better get their azz in gear and get it done.

[UCANSEE2]

Notice that in any of these ‘survival scenarios’, that women will still have ‘makeup’ and everyone has access to freshly cleaned clothing.

[metmom]

The so-called EMP Commission report said that the threat is real, jeopardizes “modern civilization,” and would set back living conditions to those last seen in the 1800s.

The 1800's isn't modern civilization?

Were they living in caves or something?

[bitt]

‘If only someone would have had $4 Trillion to spend on “shovel ready” projects to fix all of this stuff...

WHERE THE **** DID THEY SPEND $4 TRILLION?????’
~~~~~~~~

you said it, Brother!!

[metmom]

The “One Minute After” series of books is well written and pretty factual about what will happen...

While there's some dispute about the actual severity of the damage done by the EMP, what he foresees as the breakdown of society, people going feral, and the die off's because of meds not being available, is chilling.

[Lazamataz]

EMP stands for Every Myth Possible.

[metmom]

The “One Minute After” series of books is well written and pretty factual about what will happen...

The one advantage I see is that so many city folks are so ill equipped to survive in the outdoors, that many will succumb to the elements, especially if it happens at a colder time of year.

He builds a good case for having a nice wood stove in in the house and not being so dependent on electric gadgets.

Homesteading skills will be invaluable.

We went to my son's in NH for Thanksgiving a few years ago, when that nor'easter hit. He lost power two hours before we got there on Tues. He lived ion a someone remote back road and it was Sat afternoon after we left to come home that he got his power back.

FORTUNATELY, he had a coal stove and a good supply of coal.

We made due with melting snow water for bathing and bottled water for drinking (his well was out) and cooked on the top of the stove ala Little House on the Prairie.

But we were comfortable and warm and what an eye opening experience that was.

As long as you can stay warm, you're good. I cannot fathom what it would have been like is he had no heat.

The biggest laugh we got out of the whole thing was the number of generators that were hooked up and running within a matter of hours. EVERYONE up there is prepared for power outages from nor'easters/ice storms.

[dfwgator]

I always think of the “Trigger Effect” episode of “Connections” and how inevitably we are going to get stuck in the ‘technology trap’.

[metmom]

The Northeast Blackout from a few years ago comes to mind.

And that wasn’t even sabotage.

[CodeToad]

This is just a rehash of a very old report, long ago dismissed as nothing but a bunch of people in search of grant money.

[metmom]

And they are in a warm climate and don’t have to worry about freezing to death.

[metmom]

Then don’t waste the bandwidth announcing you are posting it.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Absolutely. I can pay a few more dollars or so a month for hardening of my electric supply.

[itsahoot]

OK. Then the power companies should take the necessary preventive measures. They sure won't make any money in an EMP blackout.

I don't think we make any of the big transformers here that would be required. It would be a massive project just to acquire the transformers, let alone get them installed. Maybe we need to have a manhattan project for the transformers?

[laplata]

There’s no valid comparison to the mainland US grid.

><

Maybe not but the dire effects would be 300 times worse.

[plain talk]

In the 1800s there was no electricity or A/C and no running water. So, I would not consider the 1800s to be modern.

Our society is woefully soft and would not fare well without modern utilities. FReepers might do a better job of handling it than many others. One doesn’t have to necessarily be a hard core prepper to have emergency supplies on hand to at least survive a few months without walmart and grocery stores.

[GRRRRR]

Thanks for the nice note.

Water.

1 gallon per day per person.
We have 5 people, 11 alpacas, three dogs and two cats.
That’s 21 animals that need water.
The alpacas alone use over 20 gallons a day.
They aren’t really good to eat, but we can spin and knit their fleece.
With no electricity our well is as good as empty.
Our nearest neighbor has a portable genny we can hook up for water.

Those snowflake city folk who live hirise apartments in Denver will be dead of thirst in a week.

[palmer]

manhattan project for the transformers

The rise time of the E3 (nuclear or solar source) pulse is incredibly slow, like seconds. A guy with a hand switch could cut the connection. Needless to say any type of mechanical relay would work. A semiconductor switch would be fine. The only project needed is surge protection and we know how to do that.

[CottonBall]

I actually really enjoyed the storms we had at our cabin in the Sierras. It was a short little learning exercise to make sure we were prepared. It was a remote little community, and one year we got 30 feet of snow. You never knew when the storm would topple a tree that would take out your power. Being so remote and depending on snow removal, the power companies couldn’t get up there in a timely manner – ever.

We eventually learned exactly what to have, and I actually enjoyed having next several days in a row of living, as you said like Little House on the Prairie. There was one time the power was out for two weeks and that was a bit much.

When we moved here, we got a whole house generator With the house.. And a 500 gallon propane tank to feed it. However, that would only last for a short time. So two wood stoves inside that can be cooked on and 5 acres of wood, plus the entire Cherokee national Forest at the end of the holler, makes me feel a bit more prepared. Oh, and my pizza oven outside :-) that probably seems extravagant to the neighbors, but that’s in lieu of a real wood cookstove, which is what I really wanted.

It sounds like your son is prepared, no matter what will happen! I would say he has good genes :-)

[palmer]

Maybe not but the dire effects would be 300 times worse.

And those effects would last for hours in most cases. The transformers are fairly easy to protect and mostly protected. The most compreheansive study showed that physical protection was lacking. A team of snipers could disable a portion of the grid by shooting out the largest transformers.