Chaos is Easy to Manufacture-Could You Survive an EMP or Bomb Blast?

 

Poor Man Survival

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Chaos is Easy to Manufacture-Could you survive an EMP blast?

  We are seeing an escalation of cyber attacks to crash the US banking system and I recently provided our readers several methods of surviving an EMP blast and the long term dangers of such an event were dramatized to me in a novel I recently finished which contained a forward by Newt Gingrich titled:  One Second After.  [Find a recap at the end of this article]

President Trump has just issued a new executive order called “Strengthening the Cybersecurity of Federal Networks and Critical Infrastructure.”

It’s built around what it calls the potential scope and duration of a prolonged power outage associated with a significant cyber event.  The new order also places some aspect of power grid security under direct Pentagon control.  Pres. Trump is right to be concerned as our power grid infrastructure is long overdue for an overhaul and an easy target for terrorists.

 

North Korea is already one of the most dangerous places in the world, and it’s becoming more perilous by the day.

On Tuesday, Pyongyang completed its ninth ballistic missile test this year. The North Korean state run media said its maniacal leader, Kim Jong-un, threatened to send a bigger “gift package” to the United States.

The same day, the United States tested its ability to intercept long-range ballistic missiles potentially fired from North Korea. Missile Defense Agency Director Vice Adm. Jim Syring announced the test was successful today.

I’m glad we are honing our ability to stop intercontinental ballistic missiles over the Pacific, but I hope our military leaders recognize that traditional nuclear war is only half of the threat the Kim Jong-un regime poses.

As I testified at the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources earlier this month, the North Koreans have another offensive option, which they may already be able to execute and would be devastating to the United States – a weaponized electromagnetic pulse.

An electromagnetic pulse, or EMP, occurs when a relatively small but carefully designed nuclear warhead is detonated in the atmosphere. The explosion causes what can best be described as a massive power surge, which can damage or disable electrical devices for hundreds of miles on the ground below. As I told the Senate Committee, such an attack would be catastrophic to the United States because we are an electricity-dependent nation and our grid is ill-prepared to handle it.

I am not talking about simple, isolated, short-term blackouts like those which have occurred in New York, Los Angeles, or Detroit. These blackouts could encompass entire regions. Without proper preparation, the grid disruption (and destruction) caused by an EMP could take months to years to repair. Non-perishable foods would spoil from lack of refrigeration. Hospitals would run out of life-saving, temperature-controlled medications within days. Dialysis and other medical devices would stop working. Water systems that rely on electricity would stop pumping water and pipes would burst from the weight and pressure. The cascade of consequences of a protracted regional power outage would be devastating.

Bill Forstchen, who has been my co-author on several novels, lays out the effects of an EMP on a small town in North Carolina after the electrical grid was disabled in his New York Times bestselling novel, One Second After. Although it is a work of fiction, it is extremely well-researched – and terrifying.

But it is not impossible for this fiction to become a reality. Tom Clancy, after all, wrote about an enemy of the United States weaponizing a commercial air plane seven years before the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

Peter Vincent Pry, who leads the Task Force on National and Homeland Security and served on the Congressional EMP Commission, warns that North Korea may be closer to EMP-capability than many experts think.

On May 4, coincidentally the same day I spoke to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Pry wrote that many in the national security world and media have erroneously downplayed the threat from Pyongyang. A successful nuclear strike on U.S. soil would require a great deal of precision and advanced missile technology – two things the North Koreans have apparently not yet attained – but Pry points out a successfully launched EMP requires much less.

“An EMP attack entails detonating a nuclear weapon at high-altitude, above the atmosphere, so no reentry vehicle is necessary to penetrate the atmosphere and blast a city. The area of effect of an EMP is so enormous — a warhead detonated at an altitude of 30 kilometers will generate an EMP field on the ground having a radius of 600 kilometers — that an accurate guidance system is unnecessary,” Pry wrote.

It is good that our military leaders have all eyes trained on North Korea, but we must do more to mitigate the threat.

As I told senators this month, Congress needs to work to cut red tape and enable innovation so that we can work to harden our power infrastructure against an EMP attack in communities across the United States. This means, in part, designing systems that favor resistance, resilience, and redundancy over simple efficiency. It also means moving to a more diversified grid, which can be more easily restored.

This preparation will require active collaboration between federal, state, and local governments as well as the private sector to foster an environment for innovation and to remove the hurdles preventing the quick responses that will be necessary to defend our power grid.

This will not be easy or cheap, but the threat is real – and we don’t want to be caught in the dark.

I’m in the process of constructing a 10X10X16 room which will be impervious to an EMP blast and stocking it with supplies and devices which will survive such an attack and is located on our get-away site.

 

 

Here are some things to consider in case of an EMP attack:

1.      Food Storage — I realize this is something I’ve gone over before — for several different types of emergencies — but I want to make a critical point: If an EMP strike occurs, food supplies will be decimated. And if that happens, not only will you need food for your family, but food will also be a great bartering item to trade for other provisions you might not have. Just another reason I strongly encourage you to build up your food storage now. I can’t stress enough how important this is, because a well-stocked larder serves many purposes.

2.      Batteries and Battery-Operated Devices — There is a better chance that battery-operated electronics won’t be ruined by an EMP, so get yourself a battery-operated lantern and survival radio to keep you out of the dark and connected to the outside world. And an EMP won’t affect batteries by themselves, since they’re not part of a circuit, so be sure to add plenty to your emergency storage.

3.      Build a Faraday Cage — A Faraday cage (named after the English scientist Michael Faraday) is basically a metal box designed to protect the items inside from an EMP — although its effectiveness depends on the magnitude of the strike. These boxes can be made from old microwaves, metal filing cabinets — even ammo cans — insulated with cardboard and wrapped in foil for added protection.

4.      Hand Tools — What happens if you plug in your electric can opener to your generator and — nothing? The fact is ANY electronic device is potentially vulnerable to an EMP attack. So make sure you have a manual can opener along with other basic hand tools, such as a staple gun, a handsaw and several kinds of screwdrivers.

5.      Communications — Since an EMP will affect cellphones and other communication devices, I recommend having a two-way radio as a backup. Two-way radios would be the best way to contact nearby family and friends during an emergency. Testing has shown they are resistant to EMPs up to very high levels, but it still might be a good idea to store them in your Faraday cage — just in case. And don’t forget to stock up on extra batteries!

 

Your Friends,
Newt & Bruce

 

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Yours for a productive 2017,

Bruce ‘the Poor Man’

 

P.S.  As always, I urge my friends and readers to stock up on food, items for barter and silver.  Personally, I never fully trust our economic picture or North Korea [they too have EMP capabilities while working on their nuclear program… so stock up on batteries as they are not affected by an EMP blast…neither are two-way radios.  Your cell phone on the other hand will be kaput.

Additional Resources

What Do You Do When a Bomb Explodes?

You can never take your safety for granted, and you need to know how to react if, heaven forbid, you find yourself in a situation like the one that just took place in Manchester, England.

So here are some quick tips if you ever see that day…

·         Whenever you go to a big event, always identify two exits upon arrival. This takes only about 30 seconds to do, but very few people make the effort to do this. This way, you have an alternative escape route if something happens that blocks one of your exits. For example, at the Ariana Grande concert, the bomb went off near the arena entrance, which meant you didn’t want to head in that direction. Instead, you would quickly move to the second exit you previously identified to get out of the area as quickly as possible

·         If an explosion goes off in your vicinity, quickly scan the room. While the inevitable panic ensues, you need to keep your wits about you and take a second to make sure the exit you’re heading to is safe. You don’t want to be rushing to a place where a guy with an AK-47 is waiting to mow people down. I realize keeping your cool is difficult to do when you’re scared and confused, but it’s crucial that you can immediately assess whether you’re heading in a safe direction

·         Most of the time, it’s not a good idea to follow the crowd. If the bomber has a secondary device, they’re going to place it at the most likely exit people will be rushing toward. So if you see everyone running in a certain direction, you probably want to head the other way. Think about crowd mentality — people will blindly follow the herd without thinking. This is another reason why following the crowd is often a bad idea. Most people have no idea why they are going where they’re going, except for the fact that everybody else is headed that way

·         In the event you suffer a serious injury and are bleeding, be sure to apply pressure to the wound and seek medical attention as soon as possible once you’ve gotten to safety.

 

 

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