If the grid ever actually does go down...

Originally posted by BSFC123
I always have jugs of water and canned food on hand, no worries there. Candles, etc. I could definitely feed my kid....I am not talking about a couple days or weeks.

I was actually looking for someone to state a time frame on how long it might be down after an EMP blast. But the nuclear reactor thing kind of nullifies that.

The nuclear power plants have standby power that will operate the pumps until they run out of diesel which could be anywhere from 3 days to a couple of weeks. Many say there will be no cars that will run due to their electronics being fried...Old cars (prior to the 80s) might still function..

Some of the stuff I have read says if the transformers are all blown it could take up to several years to restore the grid. I believe I read the U.S. does not make many of the gizmos to get the grid back up anymore. In a week or two many will be out of food; no ATM, credit card transactions an many large box stores will be unable to function. No drugs or antibiotics and there are those who always have a book they want to sell you with the Headline that says "In two years 9 out of 10 people will be dead". Buy my book and survive! I would assume many do have valuable info to know during dire circumstances.....but I have not read any so I can not speak from experience.
[QUOTE]If we were to have the onset of a collapse in summertime we’d see a public health crisis very quickly. If it were to happen mid-winter we’d actually see more people dieing of exposure, dieing of the cold, than we would of dieing of disease, especially in the Eastern United States and the North East.

It doesn’t take too long a period before blankets are insufficient – people don’t have any alternate source of heat they’ll be freezing to death in large numbers.


Then what happens in the next spring when everything thaws out? Then you have a really big public health crisis because not only are you worried about human waste – you’re also worried about thousands upon thousands of unburied bodies.

We could be in a situation where we literally could see a 90% die-off in the major metropolitan regions. Ninety percent population loss and that’s just based on loss of the power grid alone, not counting the violence of people as food supplies dwindle, going from house to house taking what little is left – fighting over the scraps in effect.[END QUOTE] Came from the first sight that came up on the yahoo search

I also read that it would only take approximately $300 million to harden the grid against such an event but the politicians do not have the political will to start the process. You might do a Google search for some type of prepper sight they seem to think of stuff like this and actually MIGHT have some of the info you seek.

Again you can read anything on the Internet and just because you do does not make it so.

I just typed a yahoo search: if the grid goes down......many pages dealing with the subject.

search.yahoo.com...=A0oG7mHkR.JQVBAAzXNXNyoA;_ylu=X3o'___'E1dWNhYTAyBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMQRjb2xvA2FjMgR2dGlkA0FDQlkwMl8xMDA-/SIG=1 5gvuck2d/EXP=1357035620/**http%3a//www.shtfplan.com/emergency-preparedness/rawles-if-the-power-grid-goes-down-i-would-not-recommend-being-in-a-town-of -more-than-500-population_09032010

Every time the power goes out, I always flip the light switch when I walk into a room. Even though I know that the lights are out since i'm wearing a flashlight on my head or carrying my cell phone or trying not burn myself with my candle.

I have a very hard time being without power. I mean, we live in the 21st C . . . electricity is a given. I use it abundantly every single day.

I'm sure that one day, for whatever reason, we will lose power. The scientists, et al, are all predicting a major global earthquake. Extreme weather is becoming the norm. The breadbasket of America is in the first stages of drought. Our ecosystem is collapsing! Asteroids fly by Earth all the time, nearly missing us. America's economy, as well as other economies, are on the brink of collapsing.

What did humanity do in the past when similar catastrophes happened? What has already happened, will happen again. History just repeats itself over and over and over again.

I suggest you consult your higher power (Yahweh is mine) for guidance, protection, wisdom, serenity, love, and anything else you might need or want. Also, show love and forgiveness to others. Humans are pretty amazing. When something bad happens, we always go to the rescue and work together providing blankets, food, prayer, etc.

Do what's important in life. Stand up for your rights. Love and spend time with your family. Be kind and merciful. And love life. Live each day to the fullest.

reply to post by seeker1963


Wrong. My grandpa works for Davis Besse. They have generators that can run the plant indefinitely or until we run out of oil. They are the size of locomotives and run on pretty much any fuel you put in them. I asked my grandpa and he said that pretty much only a direct attack is a threat to them, or natural disaster.

If the grid ever actually does go down...

It would quickly turn into absolute utter complete chaos as soon as people found out the power won't be coming back up and running anytime soon.

The entire globe depends on electricity to function in every way we could possibly imagine.... and in every way we can't imagine.

We would all literally be up poop's creek without a paddle.
Prepared or not.

Gawd, the thought of all the nuclear plants spread out everywhere, as one poster pointed out, is enough to screw us all.

There is no amount of preparation for something like that.

This past year I purchased and read the book One Second After, by a man named William Fortschen. It can be purchased online and at major retailers. It is a novel about this very scenario, an EMP hitting the eastern United states. The narrative begins about a day before the event, and ends years later. Set in a mountain town in North Carolina, it describes the very things discussed in this thread; mass chaos, crime, starvation, cannibalism, you name it. I'm not much of a fiction reader, but that book is a real eye opener.

reply to post by BSFC123

Read the book One Second After. It provides a realistic (in my opinion) scenario of what would happen.


Edit: I guess I should have read through the whole thread...or even the one post above me!

Originally posted by BSFC123
First off, I am a decently intelligent guy, but I know next to nothing about the power grid and how we actually receive electricity throughout the country.

I have been reading scenarios here and there about possible loss of the power grid due to an EMP, and I have read the massive sun flare theories. I never put alot of credence into the stories, but I read about a "vision" that a guy had in which power was lost to the country and then there was just absolute chaos. SOmething about the guys story struck a nerve.

Any board experts...what is the real world scenario if something were to happen to badly damage grids around the country? How many EMP blasts in the atmosphere would it actually take to cripple the country? How long would it theoretically take to restore power if everything went at once? I am sure t thathere are back ups and more back ups, kinda looking for something to level my head about the idea.

I have this nightmare of losing power for weeks in the winter, and my family and I having to fight off looters and crazy people trying to steal my house. I have a small child and I find that things I used to never think about really bother me. Five years ago I really wouldn't have cared.

edit on 31-12-2012 by BSFC123 because: (no reason given)

We just can’t afford to become animals in such circumstances.

edit on 8-1-2013 by madenusa because: image

reply to post by superman2012


I'll check it out.

We were out of power for 3 days after a storm a few years ago.

It sure was dark in the house until we figured out we could bring those solar yard lights in the house during the night hours.

I suggest everyone get a set of yard lights.

Originally posted by riverwild
We were out of power for 3 days after a storm a few years ago.

It sure was dark in the house until we figured out we could bring those solar yard lights in the house during the night hours.

I suggest everyone get a set of yard lights.

That's funny. I'm glad i've got a bunch of those. Another handy light source are the ones that you have to wind up.

We might not want to depend on solar powered anything because when the big earthquake hits and the volcanoes erupt the sun will be blackened because all the smoke. So, those yard lights wont be of much use when the sun ain't shining through the smoke.

We'll each just have to shine like stars in this crooked and depraved generation.

Also check out the novel "Lights Out". I got it for my new Kindle HD (love that) and am on page 175 out of 600.

I have read the other book. It was good as well.

The Stand by Stephen King is really good. A little scary too.

Originally posted by RidgeWalker
This past year I purchased and read the book One Second After, by a man named William Fortschen. It can be purchased online and at major retailers. It is a novel about this very scenario, an EMP hitting the eastern United states. The narrative begins about a day before the event, and ends years later. Set in a mountain town in North Carolina, it describes the very things discussed in this thread; mass chaos, crime, starvation, cannibalism, you name it. I'm not much of a fiction reader, but that book is a real eye opener.

Zach and Ginger, the two idiots, made me think about my own dogs if the SHTF. I've moved to a Great Dane and a Puerto Rican rescued flesh shredder mutt. Still have the Golden Retrvr, too.