Zone1 Can the US Survive an EMP Strike?

[CrusaderFrank]

This thread is my OPINON.

Can the US Survive an EMP Strike?

An Electro-Magnetic-Pulse much the same as a solar flare will be devastating to all things in America and abroad. This pulse will melt transformers into huge piles of molten metal and melt transmission lines. The devastation will be massive. Power generation in the United States will suddenly be taken back to the 1850's.

Food production will stop. Storages will quickly spoil. Our ability to communicate will be gone as cell towers and above ground lines will melt or be irreparably destroyed. The lasers for our fiberoptics will be destroyed rendering all of our networks useless. Water purification will stop for our towns and cities as will sewage treatment plants.

One fifty kiloton nuclear device detonated high in our atmosphere above the US would create a cascading collapse of our power grids. Vehicle electronics would be melted and make most forms of transportation useless. Areas that are under sea level would again be inundated with water as pumping would cease.

The mass kaos will rip cities apart. Only rural areas will survive the mass destruction.

How do you think America can survive without electronics today?

Cascading Risks: The U.S. Is Vulnerable To An Electromagnetic Pulse Attack

The Ukraine invasion has brought renewed attention to the danger of nuclear war, but nuclear weapons could also be deployed in a tactical manner against energy and communications systems. An electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack could occur by detonating a nuclear weapon in the mid-stratosphere.

www.forbes.com

They'll blame it on a solar flare too

 

[ABikerSailor]

I know a number of people in my own family that have vehicles that old or older.

That might be in your own family, but they are the rare exception, and not the rule. Matter of fact, if you were to tell a person "I need to adjust the carb on my car", most will not understand what you just said, as most don't know what a carb is. Tell 'em you need to replace the points on the distributor, and you'll get the same kind of blank look.

Me? I'm 58, and used to work on vehicles as a kid, so I understand those terms, but most people today don't.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

The number one most important thing if the SHTF... is not how much food you got... but how well you can protect it, and keep it a secret.
And who lives around you.

 

[Likkmee]

Wrong. Even a truck from the 1980s with electronic ignition could be affected. Same with a diesel-- -- while the engine itself may be immune, they put computer chips everywhere through everything, and all an EMP needs to feedback into and destroying a circuitry is exposed conductors, leads, wiring, which acts like an antenna.

A lot depends on the strength, nature and position of the EMP; unfortunately, globalism has made us so much more vulnerable because all everyone ever pushes for is greater interconnectability and interdependency. Taking out a grid or system in one part of the world may affect, cripple or destroy systems far away now, if not directly through the EMP, then indirectly, due to interdependency on all of the various parts.

Will it hurt my LED Nike's ?

 

[toobfreak]

I know a number of people in my own family that have vehicles that old or older.

Ironically, years ago (I don't know if it is still true), they used to say that Russian military was much better equipped to survive an EMP because so much of their equipment still was based on vacuum tube technology.

Microprocessors can be super miniaturized mainly because they run on very very low voltages and currents, often a single volt.

While a microprocessor can be taken out with a simple static discharge so small there is no visible spark or nothing even felt, most tube circuits depend on an anode voltage of HUNDREDS of volts, 300 volts, even as much as 600 VDC. Their normal operating point is with voltage so high that if you were to touch the wrong part, the shock would throw you across the room. Reducing power consumption was one of the main drives to develop transistors in lieu of tubes.

An EMP strong enough to take a tube circuit out will leave so much other material damage that burned out tubes would be the least of your concerns.

 

[toobfreak]

Will it hurt my LED Nike's ?

Your LED Nikes will be toast. There will be a brief flash of red light, a puff of smoke, and all that will be left of your sneakers will be a pair of Hushpuppies.

 

[Dayton3]

Ironically, years ago (I don't know if it is still true), they used to say that Russian military was much better equipped to survive an EMP because so much of their equipment still was based on vacuum tube technology.

Microprocessors can be super miniaturized mainly because they run on very very low voltages and currents, often a single volt.

While a microprocessor can be taken out with a simple static discharge so small there is no visible spark or nothing even felt, most tube circuits depend on an anode voltage of HUNDREDS of volts, 300 volts, even as much as 600 VDC. Their normal operating point is with voltage so high that if you were to touch the wrong part, the shock would throw you across the room. Reducing power consumption was one of the main drives to develop transistors in lieu of tubes.

An EMP strong enough to take a tube circuit out will leave so much other material damage that burned out tubes would be the least of your concerns.

electrical shocks DO NOT "throw you across the room". That is a popular myth.

Most lethal level electrical shocks simply cause a person to go rigid and then collapse.

 

[Calypso Jones]

Did we melt in 1859 when the US was struck by an EMP from a solar flare? I suggest you look up what a Carrington Event is...

Carrington Event - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The emitted energy melted telegraph wires across the US but did not harm humans. (unless they were holding onto the wires at the time)

WE didn't have then, what we are dependent on now.

Shoot. Nowadays if a store has a computer problem, they can't do business. and even if they wanted to, half to 3/4 of their staff can't make change and the store no doubt trusts them with the cash anyway..that's if people even had the cash to pay for their purchases.

Have you figured out why the gov't wants to go cashless yet?

 

[ABikerSailor]

Your LED Nikes will be toast. There will be a brief flash of red light, a puff of smoke, and all that will be left of your sneakers will be a pair of Hushpuppies.

Yep, what he said.

Gonna be hard to find all the rugrats when the EMP hits, as their shoes won't light up anymore. Compound that to the fact that most LED shoes are tennis shoes, the little buggers can sneak up on you when the lights are out.

 

[toobfreak]

electrical shocks DO NOT "throw you across the room". That is a popular myth. Most lethal level electrical shocks simply cause a person to go rigid and then collapse.

You are comparing apples and oranges. The shocks you refer to are AC shocks where hundreds of amps are involved, causing the muscles to contract and lock.

I've seen more than a few people "thrown across the room" by electronics shocks. Here, we are dealing with much higher voltages but far lower current. Try touching the anode of a high voltage power tube such as in a power amplifier or a radio or TV broadcast or even a radar transmitter, or the anode of the picture tube in a TV set which can run between 15,000 to 40,000 volts depending on whether it is B&W or colour and you will be knocked on your ass, likely thrown off your chair. Try it sometime.

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

The number one most important thing if the SHTF... is not how much food you got... but how well you can protect it, and keep it a secret.
And who lives around you.

It'd be tough to keep it a secret.
Your best bet would be not to go outside for at least several months after the strike.
Those who are still alive and barely hanging on are going to see you all fat and happy,at that point they're gonna know you have a stash.
Of course you'll also have people going house to house looking for food even if you dont reveal your presence.
The day you start shooting intruders is the day they know you have something to hide.

 

[Billy_Bob]

You are comparing apples and oranges. The shocks you refer to are AC shocks where hundreds of amps are involved, causing the muscles to contract and lock.

I've seen more than a few people "thrown across the room" by electronics shocks. Here, we are dealing with much higher voltages but far lower current. Try touching the anode of a high voltage power tube such as in a power amplifier or a radio or TV broadcast or even a radar transmitter, or the anode of the picture tube in a TV set which can run between 15,000 to 40,000 volts depending on whether it is B&W or colour and you will be knocked on your ass, likely thrown off your chair. Try it sometime.

In my younger days I repaired TVs at an old Radio Shack store. The man I was learning from was a WWII vet and we got along great. More than once we had to replace the main picture tube because he forgot to discharge the capacitors.... I learned the first time... that old guy just never learned... Just thinking about some of those 'flops' I witnessed is making me laugh. You could always hear him cuss after he hit and cracked a tube...

I had an old B+ power supply we used to charge up after connecting the high voltage lead to a car... We never had a problem with people stealing gas after that... Those caps are brutal when they discharge.

 

[Calypso Jones]

It'd be tough to keep it a secret.
Your best bet would be not to go outside for at least several months after the strike.
Those who are still alive and barely hanging on are going to see you all fat and happy,at that point they're gonna know you have a stash.
Of course you'll also have people going house to house looking for food even if you dont reveal your presence.
The day you start shooting intruders is the day they know you have something to hide.

HereWeGoAgain



THEN you gotta get rid of the bodies.

 

[toobfreak]

In my younger days I repaired TVs at an old Radio Shack store. The man I was learning from was a WWII vet and we got along great. More than once we had to replace the main picture tube because he forgot to discharge the capacitors.... I learned the first time... that old guy just never learned... Just thinking about some of those 'flops' I witnessed is making me laugh. You could always hear him cuss after he hit and cracked a tube... I had an old B+ power supply we used to charge up after connecting the high voltage lead to a car... We never had a problem with people stealing gas after that... Those caps are brutal when they discharge.

Then you know. More than a few techs got knocked on their asses forgetting that even unplugged, high voltages can remain in a CRT for MONTHS unless you short the supply capacitor to ground first. People owning older TVs mostly never knew that those snaps and crackles they often heard upon turning their TV on or off was due to the very high voltages building up needed to pull electrons to the screen to form the picture. Sometimes you could even induce a slight vestigial discharge by running your hand across the screen and if you put your face close to the glass, you could feel the electric field and it might even attract some of your hair!

 

[iamwhatiseem]

It'd be tough to keep it a secret.
Your best bet would be not to go outside for at least several months after the strike.
Those who are still alive and barely hanging on are going to see you all fat and happy,at that point they're gonna know you have a stash.
Of course you'll also have people going house to house looking for food even if you dont reveal your presence.
The day you start shooting intruders is the day they know you have something to hide.

Yep - I have told that to many a "lone wolf" around here. You can store up all the ammunition you want, you can spend your retirement money on 50 guns if you want. By yourself... all you are doing is providing the people that kill you with more ammunition and weapons.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Thankfully, Biden is not a demented Pedophile who sees imaginary people and tries to engage with them

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

HereWeGoAgain



THEN you gotta get rid of the bodies.

Bury em in the backyard....
They'll make excellent fertilizer.

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

Yep - I have told that to many a "lone wolf" around here. You can store up all the ammunition you want, you can spend your retirement money on 50 guns if you want. By yourself... all you are doing is providing the people that kill you with more ammunition and weapons.

Yep...
At the very least you need four people.
Eight would be better,but then you have to feed them if they bring nothing to the table....literally.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

Yep...
At the very least you need four people.
Eight would be better,but then you have to feed them if they bring nothing to the table....literally.

Small towns 100 miles or more from a major city is where the most will survive. The more isolated they are, the safer they are. At least for the first few months.
Major cities would turn into mass murder on steroids.
Nice neighborhoods will be the first to be attacked, and that would happen in the first 24 hours.
Roaming gangs looking to both survive and capitalize on a disaster will be the first to organize and stick together. While everyone else is huddling around their fireplace. They will be gathering in the 100s making their plans.

 

[Calypso Jones]

Small towns 100 miles or more from a major city is where the most will survive. The more isolated they are, the safer they are. At least for the first few months.
Major cities would turn into mass murder on steroids.
Nice neighborhoods will be the first to be attacked, and that would happen in the first 24 hours.
Roaming gangs looking to both survive and capitalize on a disaster will be the first to organize and stick together. While everyone else is huddling around their fireplace. They will be gathering in the 100s making their plans.

It ain't gonna be pretty