I don’t mean to scare you but if we are ever hit with an EMP, whether it is from a coronal mass ejection from our sun or a high altitude detonation of a nuclear weapon, life in the United States will change drastically and a lot of people will be dead within a year. It has happened before; the Sun did just that back in 1859, known as the Carrington Event. It was a powerful geomagnetic storm on the Sun that produced a solar coronal mass ejection that hit Earth’s magnetosphere and induced one of the largest geomagnetic storms on record.

See link here: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2008/06may_carringtonflare/

And another one here: https://www.facebook.com/theblaze/videos/1062676327103040/

If you have not done so already, I recommend you first read a book, (or get the audio version), “One Second After” by William R Forstchen. While it is fiction, this book has been cited on the floor of Congress during hearing on our countries lack of preparedness for a nationwide EMP event. The story is centered on a family in a small North Carolina town and is probably a realistic look at the effects on day to day life if such an event were to ever happen to our country.

It a story about a weapon our enemies are working on acquiring and that the Wall Street Journal warns could shatter America.

Again, it’s fiction but the author manages to examine the probabilities and problems that we could face. What life might look like if there were no more computers, communications, cars and trucks not working, utilities shutting down, food shortages and civil unrest just to start? It’s a story that gave me ideas and a starting place to think about what realistically can be done to prepare that doesn’t involve building and moving into a million dollar underground bunker somewhere.
First, think about the commonalities of what being prepared are that we covered in an earlier post about these are. (Read it here)

The basic human needs for survival / preparedness and to have relative comfort are:
1. Knowledge, knowing what to do with the things you have.
2. Water that’s clean and drinkable
3. Shelter, could be your home, a tent, or proper clothing for your area.
4. Food, canned goods, freezer stocked up, garden growing or freeze dried.
5. Energy, be it heat to cook your food or warm your shelter or electricity for lights & radios.
6. Low or No Debt
7. Trade Currency, i.e. cash (or Barter items), to acquire the things you need from others.

So in the event of an EMP you can expect anything controlled by electronics is no longer going to work. That is no working (modern) automobiles and trucks, no communications, no radio, no television, no internet, and no utilities, basically back to how life was in the 1800’s. Life would be hard, make no mistake about it, but not impossible. When you think about our modern conveniences and comforts we are all accustomed to, it really has only been 4 generations back that most of these did not exist and people managed to some how live, work and have children.

Refrigeration first began in the mid-1750s, and developed in the early 1800’s so people managed to preserve food in other ways like salt curing meats or smoking them. Root cellars were common to where they stored fruits and vegetables, and some preserved by pickling and brining. The automobile did not appear until Karl Benz built the first one in 1885 in Mannheim, Germany and later Henry Ford began producing the Model A in 1903. Before that people used bicycles and horses for transportation, hauling supplies and materials.

Possession of some of the knowledge and skills of the way things were done 100 – 150 years ago by our great grandparents will make survival a whole lot easier after an EMP.
How many of these skills do you possess now and how many could you learn over the next six months or year. Although it would be impossible to know all there is to know about these, having a number of these skills in your repertoire would make you a more valuable individual in your network and to your community.

This list is by no means definitive or complete so take some time to review and add your skill set to the list if it is missing.

Agriculture, Farming Expertise
Alcohol Production & Distillation
Ammo Reloading
Architect, Home Reinforcement
Baker, Cooking Expertise
Bee Keeping
Beer and Wine Making
Biofuel Production
Black Smith
Chemist
Construction
Defense Planning
Dentist
Doctor
Doctor’s Medical Assistant
Electrician
Electronics Repair
Engineer, Community Planning, Manufacturing, Electrical
Firearms Proficiency
Firearms Repair
Fishing
Food Preservation & Storage
HAM Radio Operator
Home schooling, Tutoring, Teaching Experience
Horse Shoeing, Fairer
Hunting & Trapping Skills
Knife Making
Lumber Jack / Tree Felling
Nurse
Nurse’s Aid
Martial Arts Training
Mechanic, Small Engine Repair
Military Training
Plumber
Ranching, Large & Small Animal Care
Security
Seed Saving
Sewing, Knitting, Weaving, Textiles
Small Appliance Repair
Soap Making, Candle Making, Hygiene Products
Stone Mason, Brick Working
Veterinarian
Welding, Metal Working
Well Construction, Water Table Expertise
Wild Foods Expert
Wood Working

Are you a part of a local support network, a Mutual Assistance Group or MAG or even Neighborhood Watch group? To be sure if a large scale disaster like an EMP attack ever does happen, you will need other people you can trust and rely on to accomplish all the tasks that will need to be done every day for survival. It’s not practical to think one or two people can survive in the short term without a group to rely on.

Early in the disaster there will be bad people trying to take advantage of the situation so self -defense weapons and training will be necessary to protect you, your family and your supplies. I know a number of law enforcement and military members who have told me that in an event like an EMP, they will be in the same situation you and I are and their 1st priority will be their families. Twenty four hour security will be a top tier task (until a reliable police force is re-established) and we all need to at sleep some time so a large family or like-minded group of people is going to be what it takes to survive.

 

Short checklist on challenges to be faced:
Security Patrols
Water procurement and filtering
Food production, preparation and preservation
Sanitation
Waste disposal
Repairs to structures, fences…..
Laundry
Home schooling young children
Tending to any pets and livestock
Medical issues from injury to illness

Next will be looking at Bugging In or Bugging Out or if you even have a choice.