If the Grid goes down who is surviving?

a reply to: JAGStorm

If the Grid goes down who is surviving?

People that prepare....

Well armed, violent, military training, mobility, will help because it will turn into chaos and anarchy within days and the cities will burn. Ordinary citizens will become predatory savages after missing a few meals. Community and trust will evaporate as people revert back to their primitive survival instincts.

But it shouldn't last long...With the grid down, it's just a matter of time till the containment goes down at all the Research Bio/chem facilities and the once contained nasty bio weapons made to protect us will kill us. Ironic....









There is still time for a community paradigm shift but with the hate we display to each other, even on ATS, it's not gonna happen!!

a reply to: EmmanuelGoldstein

For over 500 miles of me, I can't get even 30 miles from at least one nuclear reactor. And it takes longer then a month to cool them down. The spent fuel ponds will eventually evaporate and catch fire. I think spent fuel takes at least 5 years to finally be safe to store in containers after use.

If the Grid goes down who is surviving?

Navy dudes, a mile underwater on a 6 month sub cruise. And also, the people floating around in the high flat stratosphere in the International 'Space' Station.

a reply to: Edumakated

Sounds like "One Second After". Great book. You are spot on though. Unless you have 200 acres in no-mans land Montana people will eventually come upon you.

Desperate is a perfect description but when you talk about the sick it is also those who are medicated. I have read 10-15% of the population takes anti-depressants. You have addicts. These are the things people do not think about because in your head it is need food and water but it goes much deeper.

a reply to: JAGStorm

That 90% estimate was from a Congressional EMP Commission that is no longer funded. At the time it was based on North Korea being the aggressor.

I do think a lot of people would perish, many by their own hand due to not being able to handle their new life, while others would become the worst version of themselves by robbing and killing to survive.

The only way to survive this scenario is a community of like minded people, but even then the rest of the world would be seeping in and slowly taking over.
Your biggest fear would be large caravans of people roaming through your area picking clean every resource. How do you combat that? Are people ready to shoot their neighbors?

I believe this is how America will fall. If electricity was removed we will kill each other to survive. Just long enough for an exterior force to move in and take control of who is left.

a reply to: JAGStorm

I'm not going to last long....... not many places to go in the UK that isn't going to be over run with others trying to stay alive.

Urban cities hold over 83% of the US population now. Stores will be looted because cash registers rely on electricity to operate, and transportation will be toast. Millions of people, all desperate and in panic mode. It'sgoing to be a long walk to rural areas, and when comunicable disease breaks out i'm pretty sure the NG will lock down all exits. I figure that will happen by the end of week one.

The gov. has the right to confiscate anything 'for the greater good', so there goes all food supplies. The military will need to be kept fed to deal with the anarchy.

The best people could hope for is FEMA camps, bread lines and blankets.

I'd argue you all are wrong in your pessimistic view of how groups would act, with how our mindset in America is i think the first thought for those in groups would be either 'how can we grow our own food' what animals can we eat' or 'how can we buy stuff from farmers' when it turns out to be too difficult. they will probably only get violent if they are rejected or threatened by said farmers or suburbanites who are hoarding food and water, only if they are desperate.

a reply to: JAGStorm

Ima goner.

a reply to: CriticalStinker
Absolutely!
Which is why I assume the island of GB will be majority starving within 2 weeks of an EMP event...and the minority with firearms will have absolute control of whatever resources are left.

I've envied the cheap prices of remote land around the world, compared to this little, overcrowded, island, all my adult life!

a reply to: nugget1

The gov. has the right to confiscate anything 'for the greater good', so there goes all food supplies. The military will need to be kept fed to deal with the anarchy.

This is why prepping isn’t the be all end all answer.
Survivalist should know how to survive on the go.
What is edible, how to determine what is edible. Calories in, calories out.
All the basics, fire, heat, shelter etc.
But also, the art of being undetected. Not creating huge billowing plumes of smoke while cooking and things like that.

Just image, Month 4 of no electricity. People have run out of food, things are getting scary.
People start hunting and grilling things. Everyone’s sense of smell is going to be 100x stronger.
Weak people will try to convince everyone that they have to share.

This is where true survival comes in. NEVER give things away freely. Make sure it’s always a trade.

If the grid goes down due to an EMP, we have more to think about then just food, meds, and water. We got someone coming at us over the oceans. California forests would be a dangerous place to live without fire fighters.

I have supplies to last years, but There are so many variables to this. So many ways to die when a society falls apart.

originally posted by: namehere
I'd argue you all are wrong in your pessimistic view of how groups would act, with how our mindset in America is i think the first thought for those in groups would be either 'how can we grow our own food' what animals can we eat' or 'how can we buy stuff from farmers' when it turns out to be too difficult. they will probably only get violent if they are rejected or threatened by said farmers or suburbanites who are hoarding food and water, only if they are desperate.

I think it’s very realistic to have two views.

People that will cooperate
People that will want to take from those that cooperate.

The Walking dead was probably showing us how it’s going to go down.

a reply to: nugget1

The best people could hope for is FEMA camps, bread lines and blankets.

Never

originally posted by: JAGStorm
I’ve read that some think 90% of humans will die if the grid goes down.
I think that is a high number, but I do think it will take out a lot of people.

Who would go first?
The gravely ill in hospitals.
Then people that require electronic medical devices.
Then the elderly that are fragile and require help.

The rest is not in order

The mentally fragile
Drug addicts, alcoholics and violent people might get desperate
People on life saving medications
Dumb people that don’t understand survival ie. Getting clean water, how to sanitize, how to start a fire, how to stay warm, cool, how to
Keep things clean.

Of course I think country folks have an advantage, but there are some city dwellers (homeless) that know how to survive almost anything.

Gangs will form and people will start scavenging pretty fast.
People WILL turn on others, but some groups will cooperate
There will be power struggles.

I will be ok.
I can live without electricity.

originally posted by: JAGStorm
I’ve read that some think 90% of humans will die if the grid goes down.
I think that is a high number, but I do think it will take out a lot of people.

Who would go first?
The gravely ill in hospitals.
Then people that require electronic medical devices.
Then the elderly that are fragile and require help.

The rest is not in order

The mentally fragile
Drug addicts, alcoholics and violent people might get desperate
People on life saving medications
Dumb people that don’t understand survival ie. Getting clean water, how to sanitize, how to start a fire, how to stay warm, cool, how to
Keep things clean.

Of course I think country folks have an advantage, but there are some city dwellers (homeless) that know how to survive almost anything.

Gangs will form and people will start scavenging pretty fast.
People WILL turn on others, but some groups will cooperate
There will be power struggles.

Much of what you say it's true because there is a lot of dependence on electricity and people who are weak and fragile will not make it. The planet will keep going as if nothing has happened.

originally posted by: JAGStorm
I’ve read that some think 90% of humans will die if the grid goes down.
I think that is a high number, but I do think it will take out a lot of people.

The 10% that live will have killed the other 90%.

Rinse, Repeat.

Tainted water and food that results in cronic diarrhea will kill more people than roving bands of predators. Stockpile Lomotil...it will be worth more than gold. Drinking untreated water from a pond or river can be a death sentence.

Water treatment facilities can't operate without power and chemicals.

my.clevelandclinic.org...

originally posted by: nerbot

originally posted by: JAGStorm
I’ve read that some think 90% of humans will die if the grid goes down.
I think that is a high number, but I do think it will take out a lot of people.

The 10% that live will have killed the other 90%.

Rinse, Repeat.

Why??

a reply to: JAGStorm

Grid down for what....a month, 6 months, a year? Location plays a big role. As well as timing. Winters in northern areas can be quite devastating. And if you don't have a wood stove AND access to wood, you're screwed. All that food prepping won't mean a whole heck of a lot if it's frozen solid. And if it's dehydrated, you need water to hydrate it if you can't palate it in it's dry form. But you need water to drink. Frozen water is difficult to swallow lol. A wood stove would solve a lot of issues. Even a small rocket stove which are affordable, burn small branches and pieces of wood and give off a ton of heat, are very affordable and easy to craft yourself if one so desires. You can make them in any size, from a soup can to garbage can, so that's pretty cool.

If the grid goes down anytime in the spring through the fall, not too bad weather-wise. People in rural areas will be more able to self sustain because they have the space and ground to actually to grow food and trap or hunt plus the much lower population will lessen competition. As long as they have access to water.

In southern locations, summer will be a killer. With no grid, no water to drink and you can't grow food. Heat stroke, not good. If you have access to water, you have more of a chance.

Regardless of location and timing, as already stated, the elderly, the fragile, medically dependent etc. will not last more than a couple weeks for the most part imho.