I have taken it seriously for some time.
The possibility of EMPs is the main reason I have what food storage I have.
As well as large water filtration etc.
No electricity even for as little as 2 weeks over a widespread area would result in extreme casualties, and life for the people in that area would be absolute hell on earth.
What I find slightly surprising is this: it takes relatively very little money (if you're an adult and employed), and not all that much time, to do some minimal preparation: food and water for you and your family for a month or two, means of keeping warm, a few of the things that can be done without, but which make life a lot more comfortable, like toilet paper, maybe a couple of jerry cans of gasoline .... and if something does go wrong -- and there are a dozen ways short of all-out nuclear war that our complex society could have utilities and/or supply chains seriously disrupted -- you're in an infinitely better position than you would be if you had not prepared.
In a SHTF situation, something is infinitely better than nothing.
You can take a step or two further and get some heavy plastic sheeting, and roofing tacks, and cut out the shapes necessary to cover your windows. Again, a few dollars and a couple of hours time.
For less than fifty dollars you can buy a couple of BaoFeng walkie-talkies which gives you the ability to communicate over a couple of miles if the phone system is down.
Some of the things you can do are completely free: plan with every family member what you will do if something happens and one or more of you are not at home -- at work or at school -- and you're unable to communicate.
If there are some likeminded people in your area, you can have an informal social gathering and discuss how you can help each other in an emergency situation. The people of the Yavapai Community Defense Team have worked a lot of this out in detail .
[
YCPT ].
But 'normalcy bias' is very powerful.