You are at home and an EMP burst goes off

Gather anyone family who is not here when it happens to my property. I have the largest property in the family with the most room to hold everyone.

Assuming everyone makes it here (10 people) I have 6 months of canned goods stored and about a years worth of dry goods & dehydrated foods. Water is not an issue.

We would be fine if it's off season for growing crops till the spring comes then we plant a large garden
with the very large stock of heritage seeds I stock.

I would miss the internet like everyone else but would get over it fast because I prefer not to use it really but do so out of boredom mostly.

We have plenty of food, water, seeds, parts to get vehicles running, candles (and extra wax & wicks), firearms, ammo and medical supplies. Nobody in the family needs daily life dependent medications thankfully!

Life would entail more physical work for sure but I believe the stress level would drop quite a bit.

I wouldn't wish to live like the 1800's but I wouldn't lose my mind if it happened..........

reply to post by ArieZ


Also avoid sitting to pretty, cause if you look good like you said you will draw attention, and after they take the fake stuff, make it look like your living to well for someone who doesn't have any stuff.

reply to post by JDBlack


I would embrace life without power. I have to add, I am very pleased I live in a very small town at least 150 miles from a large city. I think our small town would have a better chance at survival. when the power goes down as does our grocery stores,basically life stops, the truck hauling the food has no gas because the power is gone. In a large city resources will run out quickly..

The first thing I would do is fill my 1000 litre water tank up before the mains water went off, then take off all internal doors and fix them over my windows and front door, get out my inverter and batteries and if they worked use them on the boiler, get the house nice and warm, then rig them up to the steamer and get some food cooking, connecting them to the solar panels in the day to recharge. I always have about three months worth of normal food at all times so have time to plant the garden up with some food crops. your freezer will stay frozen with two topups of power per day, it would be interesting times but I dont wish it to happen.

reply to post by JDBlack


Unfortunately their are ways around an EMP pulse that are simple. If you have batteries in a drawer, they will still work. Keep things unhooked. Major component of an EMP is overload in power sources. True, anything hooked up to power will fall. But, if you inspect such devices, the first major power unit ( transistor - whatever ) is what gets fried. Nothing beyond that is harmed. If you can unhook your battery in your car, your car will survive. Although, taking precaution are only in store if one knows an EMP may occur. But, if you unhook any power from a device, that device will survive. Remember though, unplugging your computer wont work, the power supply itself hold a small charge. Computers also have a small battery in them. I am just using that as an example.


If it happened to me, I would use the wind to create power for myself and my family and fix my fried electronic devices.

reply to post by JDBlack


Exactly....To me thats key to even beginning to survive off what stored...Also another thing I've thought of Is a good Crossbow because you never know they may outlaw hunting and Gunshots in Defense or Hunting will bring attention/investigation...But actually all thats a lil extreme for a EMP considering it really won't destroy to much unless it's Nuclear involved..I think it's more of a military strategic sattelite that's thier concern..depending on the place detonated it might be followed by a first strike scenario from any opposing country

Originally posted by FarArcher
EMP's go off, and life as you know it will cease.

No transportation of necessities. Water tower pumps - out. Banks - done. Grocery stores - emptied in hours. Refrigeration - none. Medicines - no more. Hospitals - done.

Here in the US, tens of millions dead within 30 days.

I never understood the enormity of what would truly happen if an EMP bomb went off, until I read the book One Second After by William R. Forstchen. The chain of events which would be activated by something like that, is just incredible and not far off from what you are saying.

your hypothetical situation is kinda of simplistic isn't it? If that was the only thing to happen fine humans are extremely adaptable and will find out a way to live or die. But Why did an EMP go off? If it was the first shot in a new war, we all have bigger problems then not being able to catch the next Oprah.

What I would do not knowing the who and why is bunker down for awhile and let it play out. The first couple of days and or weeks are going to be chaotic after it and the most dangerous to you and your safety. So avoid big cities and even smaller ones at all costs.

After that people start adapting and accepting their new reality and go from there.

There is a whole class of people who live this way everyday, the homeless.

Can a EMP knock out the entire U.S. power grid??? I was under the impression they'd have maybe a state wide power effect.. I think the only people that might immediatly die are the people in the hospital..how much of the grid can they take down at 1 time?

reply to post by alyosha blue


Iran has been testing their scud missile for such an event over the Caspian sea . Just a few months ago we had a couple of missile launches of of unexplained nature along our coast . Iran would like to knock us out as it would happen with a EMP . That way they would have Israel in their hands . That sawed off runt thinks he is going to cause a calamity that will be catastropic and bring back his Mahdi or Mohamuud . . If you were at work and had a car that would still run you couldnt get gas or navigate the streets very well . The cops couldn't respond and the hood would know it and you would be at risk from both the cops and the hood as well as everyday people . You would need some protection . If you lived in the city you are going to be in a full time riot .
Water would be one of your first concerns as there would be no water pumps running . If you got water or food it would be like Gold and you could be killed for it . Head away from the populas and become a hunter gather .

reply to post by ArieZ


In reply to your crossbow post, if some preparation has occured it is very very easy to silence (really well) a 22 (i won't go into how that is fowned upon) without a silencer, and an EMP could effect a large area, many states, posibly up to half the main us, though not sure about that.

Originally posted by ArieZ
Can a EMP knock out the entire U.S. power grid??? I was under the impression they'd have maybe a state wide power effect.. I think the only people that might immediatly die are the people in the hospital..how much of the grid can they take down at 1 time?

the answer is not very comforting, it's yes. It all depends on distance from the ground. The further away the more damage it can and would do. But I think if one did go off it would signal the beginning of something much bigger, like WW3, so I would worry about the blast itself cause chances are you make it through that. Not so sure about what happens after.

Originally posted by SpreadLoveNotHate
Embrace the freedom from technology. It would not be easy considering how much our daily lives depend on technology, but there are times I've had to go months without a cell phone due to financial reasons, and it was actually quite liberating. Sure a cellphone is convenient and all, but I think it would be a good time for humans to get back in touch with nature and reality so to speak.

Cheers!

Ditto!

Of course, we'd have to consider that without vehicles, food supplies will be a problem, so that will be my first task at hand...assess the gardens! Next....learn to live without AC. We have bicycles, so we have transport. I can live without anything else, but AC is one creature comfort I will have serious difficulty in letting go of. Especially considering I live in a tropical zone. I'm sure it won't take too long to get accustomed, but wow...nothing like sleeping in your own pool of sweat. Ugh. I'd have to invent a fan of some sort.

I am making sure I have plenty of toilet paper cause I would be s##tting myself.

But seriously,I have started stock piling denty moore stew,and since I live on top a hill just on the out skirts of a big city with a small group of neighbors here,I hope the looters while get tired by the time they make it up here so as to be easy pickings.
And,by the way since I don't own a gun,whats best to get cause I have really been thinking about it.

Hopefully no one on ATS will go thru ATS Withdrawal....or withdrawal from social media, computers, cell phones and PDAs, et cetera, ad nauseum. Time to get out the books and board games.

The best thing to do is don't panic
Be prepared.
Don't trust the Government.
Get the neighbors to form a "society" of your own to protect your properties.
Grill some steak and drink some beer and have a card party.

I say this after many,many years of hurricanes ,being I was from the east coast and the relentless assaults from mother nature,finally got tired of it and moved to Kentucky.Life is short enjoy it while you can and try not to worry so much about it.


Party On!!!

reply to post by kdog1982


I reccomend picking up a 22 rifle or pistol. They may not have much penatration or stopping power, but they are usually inexpensive and the ammo is cheap, light and small, making it easy to transport if you need to and making it easier and cheaper to practice with the gun. Also as I mentioned earlier, it is easy to silence, if you have know-how. Even using subsonic rounds makes it quieter than anything else, and regular rounds are cheaper. After you learn how to shoot that, pick a more expensive/heavier gun.

RUN.

Do you understand how many planes are above our heads? Thousands, especially around major cities, all of those planes will fall from the sky, and helicopters and sattellites, so i would just run somewhere safe first.

I would throw out my pc's and laptops and spend alot more time with my wife and kids and less time being paranoid