Yikes
EMP is the thing I fear the most. There really is no way to safeguard against it. I recently got my Ham Radio license but haven't invested in equipment yet. (Been busy saving up to buy a fine-looking Glock.)
In the last five years, I've read only one fiction book, and it was "One Second After" by William Forstchen and it's the scariest thing I've ever come across. It was frustration that prompted him to write the book. He feels that our politicians aren't taking this threat seriously enough, and in writing this book, he hoped it would open the eyes of enough people to get something DONE to protect us.
Last year, the House of Representatives approved a $100 million program that would help make our electrical grid safe from EMPs. What's a $100 million? Not much to the US government. It was struck down in the Senate (which is unconscionable). THe proposal would have installed fuses at many junctions, so that the damage from an EMP would be limited to a few areas, and not have the potential to take down the entire US.
Forstchen writes, "EMP is a real threat, I believe the most underestimated threat in the history of our country. In the late 1930s we completely underestimated the Japanese and the potentials of a new technology. . .carrier based aviation. No one took the threat seriously and on December 7, 1941 close to three thousand Americans died. The war that ensued would claim close to half a million American lives. Pearl Harbor was a blow we could recover from and go on to eventual victory. An EMP strike? I believe it would be the death of America, the death of our children. . .it would be the end of the America we cherish and love. . .and plunge the few who survive into a new dark age."
THere is nothing we can do to prepare for an EMP threat, short of moving to the mountains, developing massive solar resources and learning how to live off the land 100%.
EMP doesn't have to be the work of an enemy. Read up on the Carrington Event (Solar Storm of 1859) if you want to have one more thing to worry about...
