protectionist
Governor
I'm not talking about a very short term loss of electricity for millions of Americans. In the event of an EMP attack, or strategic cyber attack, the whole country could be without electric power for months or even years.
Do we have non-electric systems in place to compensate for this ? What would control dams, subways, rail road crossings, traffic lights, street lights, and thousands of other things that have become entirely dependent on computers and electricity ?
In an instant, we could find ourselves thrust back into the 19th century (mostly). This would involve everything running on electricity. The water supply to your house could shut down. Will food disappear from supermarkets ? Some experts say yes. Will there be mass social breakdown/chaos with looting and robbing ? Some exerts believe that to be the case too.
I have only done a rather cursory skim of the information (which varies depending on the source), and don't have a fully focused appraisal of all this, but I have come up with some basic ideas.
I would move out of my apartment in the city, and get out into the country in a house in a wooded area, that is isolated away from population, and difficult to spot. This would be a house with a large fireplace, an outhouse, a wood stove, pump with a well, and plenty of land to have a garden growing my own vegetables. Living in the Tampa Bay area, I would try to find a house that is not too far from the bay, so as to be able to go fishing, and have that additional food source.
Needless to say, if/whenever things really get rough, we will all need to shore up our personal safety, and firearms will be essential (which I already possess). Keeping the home safe from breakins might become much more necessary, even if you are hidden in a wooded area. Covering the windows with bars or security film can help keep bad guys from breaking into your house, when you aren't home, with your shotgun and piles of ammo.
I have 10 gallon jugs of water stored right now, in case of a water supply shut-off, and lots of food & medicines stocked up. Lots of waterproof matches, batteries, +a radio with a crank and solar panel. Solar panels could be a source of electricity too. If you have a new car, you might consider trading it in, and buying an old one with less electronics in it, that would be fried in an EMP attack. If you have a house with a garage (highly advised) this would help to keep your car away from looters & car thieves. You can turn your garage into a Faraday Cage to insulate it from an EMP attack, although most cars are already pretty well insulated from the pulse shock, just because of being covered by metal and having rubber tires.
If you have a pump but eventually the well runs dry,and you run out of water, you can set up a rainwater catchment system, and also get a Berkey water filtration canister, to filter stream or lake water. To further filter your water you can use tablets to do that, or add 2 DROPS of bleach to a quart of water. You can live 3 weeks without food, but you cannot go more than 3 days without water. Wet wipes are good to stock up on too to keep yourself clean.
For communication, if cell towers are down, you can communicate (short distance) with walkie-talkies, and (longer distance ) with CB radios, or satellite phones. If you're going nuts after months of blackout, with no electricity and no music, get a musical instrument and learn to play it.
Do we have non-electric systems in place to compensate for this ? What would control dams, subways, rail road crossings, traffic lights, street lights, and thousands of other things that have become entirely dependent on computers and electricity ?
In an instant, we could find ourselves thrust back into the 19th century (mostly). This would involve everything running on electricity. The water supply to your house could shut down. Will food disappear from supermarkets ? Some experts say yes. Will there be mass social breakdown/chaos with looting and robbing ? Some exerts believe that to be the case too.
I have only done a rather cursory skim of the information (which varies depending on the source), and don't have a fully focused appraisal of all this, but I have come up with some basic ideas.
I would move out of my apartment in the city, and get out into the country in a house in a wooded area, that is isolated away from population, and difficult to spot. This would be a house with a large fireplace, an outhouse, a wood stove, pump with a well, and plenty of land to have a garden growing my own vegetables. Living in the Tampa Bay area, I would try to find a house that is not too far from the bay, so as to be able to go fishing, and have that additional food source.
Needless to say, if/whenever things really get rough, we will all need to shore up our personal safety, and firearms will be essential (which I already possess). Keeping the home safe from breakins might become much more necessary, even if you are hidden in a wooded area. Covering the windows with bars or security film can help keep bad guys from breaking into your house, when you aren't home, with your shotgun and piles of ammo.
I have 10 gallon jugs of water stored right now, in case of a water supply shut-off, and lots of food & medicines stocked up. Lots of waterproof matches, batteries, +a radio with a crank and solar panel. Solar panels could be a source of electricity too. If you have a new car, you might consider trading it in, and buying an old one with less electronics in it, that would be fried in an EMP attack. If you have a house with a garage (highly advised) this would help to keep your car away from looters & car thieves. You can turn your garage into a Faraday Cage to insulate it from an EMP attack, although most cars are already pretty well insulated from the pulse shock, just because of being covered by metal and having rubber tires.
If you have a pump but eventually the well runs dry,and you run out of water, you can set up a rainwater catchment system, and also get a Berkey water filtration canister, to filter stream or lake water. To further filter your water you can use tablets to do that, or add 2 DROPS of bleach to a quart of water. You can live 3 weeks without food, but you cannot go more than 3 days without water. Wet wipes are good to stock up on too to keep yourself clean.
For communication, if cell towers are down, you can communicate (short distance) with walkie-talkies, and (longer distance ) with CB radios, or satellite phones. If you're going nuts after months of blackout, with no electricity and no music, get a musical instrument and learn to play it.
