A lot has been written about EMP strikes. When you read prepper websites, you will inadvertently find various schools of thought on the threat level and the appropriate response. Nuclear weapons detonated at high altitudes will disable the electrical power grid.
If you understand clearly what the loss of the power grid will entail, you will know and understand pretty well that the consequences of an EMP can be deadly. In fact, it will be fatal for hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people globally.
Our society is not capable of sustained off-grid living. Powerful EMP strikes that take out the power will have serious consequences. Fortunately, there are some measures to consider when facing the challenges head-on.
Loss of Access to Clean Water
Without power, water treatment and the ability to get water into reservoirs and high-rise buildings stops. Not only does this leave people without drinking water, but also without sanitation. Shops will sell out of bottled water within hours, and only to those who can pay cash, as electronic banking systems will collapse.
While the loss of clean water is an issue for general citizens, firefighting teams will not have water to put out blazes, and hospitals will eventually run out of water for surgeons to wash their hands.
What to Do
Societies functioned before the advent of electricity. We can learn a lot from how settlements used to function when dealing with fresh water, sewage, and sanitation. You will need methods of distributing clean water, which can be achieved through gravity-fed systems.
Sewage can be dealt with through “out-houses” with pit toilets and grey water systems running into created wetlands where nature can purify the water. French drains are also an option, but you lose the ability to get maximum benefit from your clean water harvest.
If you’re not keen on setting up complex systems, this backpack-sized water generator is a game-changer. It’s designed to pull clean water directly from the air, providing up to 40 gallons a day—all without relying on the grid.
In a long-term power outage, it’s a reliable way to ensure you’ve got fresh water, even if other sources run dry. It’s a solid option for those looking to guarantee a steady supply of clean water in an emergency.
Breakdown of Healthcare Services
I can hear critics claiming hospitals have backup generators and water reservoirs. And you are right. But what do you imagine when the diesel runs out and the cisterns run dry.
I daresay that hospitals do not make provision for protracted periods without electricity, water, and sanitation.
Remember that municipal water pumps help sewage along its way, and these are not generators that will last long. The fact is that the breakdown in healthcare will happen faster than most anticipate.
There is also the assumption that healthcare personnel will still travel to and from work as usual, which is simply not the case. There is also the possibility that many emergency rooms will be overrun with admissions due to the immediate aftermath of a widespread grid failure.
What to Do
Here, preppers will need to think about civil war field hospitals, emphasizing hygiene and germ management. You must stockpile antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, anesthetics, pain meds, and disinfectants.
If you’re serious about preparing for a breakdown in healthcare, add this tincture to your stockpile. Since over-the-counter antibiotics aren’t an option, it is a great alternative. Known for its strong antibiotic, antifungal, and antiviral benefits, it’s effective for everything from disinfecting wounds to combating respiratory infections. It’s a reliable herbal ally when professional medical care is out of reach.
In the long term, you might want to get enough power to restart medical equipment like ventilators, defibrillators, and X-ray machines.
Disruption of Transportation Systems
Underground trains and some control rooms may be protected, but most transport still occurs above ground.
Signaling, coordination, and the safe operation of transport systems depend on the grid’s functioning.
This is true for the trains that bring people and produce into cities, airplanes, air traffic control, shipping, toll road management, etc.
Everything will grind to a halt.
What to Do
Transport will be essential in re-establishing trade routes and keeping communities in contact. I like electric vehicles, as you can keep them going without fuel, but the issue will be that you still need to keep vehicles and charging stations safe from EMPs.
Diesel trucks can be kept going with the provision that you maintain the knowledge of producing biofuels. This is not difficult, but you will need to have enough knowledge about the biofuels that you produce to not damage the engines that, no matter how basic, still depend on fuels that have specific indices of cetane numbers and can provide lubrication for injector pumps, etc.
Related: How to Make Your Own Fuel
Look up “Cetane Number” if you are unsure about what this means. People often say that old diesel trucks can run on olive oil, and that’s true, but not for very long.
Loss of Communication Networks
Mobile towers and data centers run on backup power and generators. Besides the fact that they do not make provisions for running generators for protracted periods, very few data centers are located within Faraday Cages.
So, the backup power will be useless, and maybe by the time technicians can restore some functionality, the power will be gone. Public transport, police services, medical services, banking, etc, all depend on rapid and clear communication. Once that goes, the entire infrastructure we rely on for daily life will fail.
What to Do
Communication will need sensitive electronics and high-voltage power sources, especially if you want to transmit radio signals across long distances. HAM radios are ideal but need a good antenna and power sources for consistent long-distance comms.
I learned from here how to legally turn a CB car radio into a powerful transmitter capable of emitting and receiving communications from hundreds of miles away. After an EMP, this will be one of the only sources of communication left.
Increased Vulnerability to Security Threats
If there is one thing we can say for sure about human nature, it is this: Responses to threats do not follow rational thinking. Societies routinely overreact. We see this when there is a run on banks; we saw this when, over the COVID period, toilet paper sold out faster than insulin and other medical supplies.
Criminal and other social movements will seize widespread and protracted grid failure to perpetrate crimes of theft, looting, and who knows what since the threat of being caught will be almost zero.
One thinks that society depends on good people living in harmony. Still, once they realize they can perpetrate crimes without the possibility of getting caught, the bad element will go into overdrive. Lack of authority creates a power vacuum that will be filled, which is usually filled, in the short term, by the types of people waiting for an opportunity to act like maniacs.
What to Do
Here, you must maintain short-range communication infrastructure along with as much video capability as possible. All these items will need to be protected from EMPs. You cannot meet the damns of modern law enforcement without communication capabilities.
It is my firmly held belief that most preppers will not survive an EMP or emerge unscathed from it without preserving electronics and the ability to generate power.
To ensure your electronics survive an EMP, you need reliable protection. Wrapping them in this EMP-proof cloth is an easy and effective solution. This material is designed to shield sensitive equipment from electromagnetic pulses, keeping your communication and power generation tools safe and functional when you need them most. Whether you’re storing radios, solar chargers, or other critical devices, this cloth ensures they’re ready to use when the grid goes down, even as others’ systems fail.
Unfortunately, the EMP-proof cloth was out of stock for a long time and is difficult to produce, which is why it rarely gets restocked. I recommend you get yours from here while you still can.
If you are a lone prepper and planning on going alone, you can run for the hills and see what is left when you get back.
Suppose you are prepping to maintain a civilized society in the long run. In that case, you will need to address the above five threats to ensure that once the situation stabilizes—which could turn out to be days or weeks, or maybe never—you can work towards returning the world to a semblance of civilization.
By addressing these critical dangers through proactive planning, investment in resilience measures, and community cooperation, societies can mitigate the impacts of power grid failure and enhance their ability to withstand emergencies and disasters.
This article should serve as a stark reminder that without electronics safely stored and without the ability to generate electricity once an EMP strike has hit, most preppers will not be able to survive the threat that will follow.
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