Ripping through the Mid-Alantic region at speeds over 60 mph, the massive Super Derecho thunderstorms that formed west of Chicago, left a trail of destruction that spanned from Northern Illinois all the way to the Atlantic Ocean.
The fast moving storm, which caused widespread blackouts throughout the country, has some people wondering how prepared our country is to face any type of disaster.
From the complete failure of the 911 system in Northern Virginia, to the millions of people who are still without power four days after the storm, a number of troubling question were raised as to how prepared our nation is to deal with a large scale disaster or attack.
The Economic Collapse Blog posed the question, If One Storm Can Turn D.C. Dark for Several Days, What Would a Massive EMP Burst Do? I think this question, along with a number of other issues that were raised, should be a serious cause for concern.
If our nation’s capital can go dark for four days from a storm, how prepared is the country to respond to a large scale disaster or attack?
The answer to that question is probably scarier than most people realize. In my opinion, our nation is dreadfully unprepared to deal with even small scale disasters, let alone a major attack. With the huge number of technical advancements we’ve made over the last 50 years, is there really any excuse for 5 million people to lose power because of a storm?
Government Only Part of the Problem
While I could go on the listing government preparedness failures for days, the fact is the general public is not much better at being prepared. In fact, it’s estimated that somewhere around 90% of the public has little to no emergency preparedness training or supplies.
When the general public can’t even take the subject of emergency preparedness seriously, how much can we really blame the government? In my opinion, there is a personal responsibility component that cannot be ignored. We live in a society where most people are completely unable and unprepared to care for themselves in a major disaster. I hope this storm serves as a wake up call for those who are unprepared, but sadly just like every other natural disaster before this, I fear this to will be forgotten.
I find it unbelievable how that the one thing this stupid government is supposed to do they can’t even get that right. Trillions of dollars are spent on DHS and FEMA so there is no reason for this type of failure. How the hell does a States 911 service go down for 2 days? How are traffic lights still out? Are you telling me that we can’t install some backup solar panels with low power LED lights for these types of emergencies? What exactly are these thieves in Washington doing with our money?
THIS IS AN EMBARRASSMENT. The richest nation in the world taken down by a stupid storm. Why the hell aren’t all the power lines buried underground? A hundred years of trees taking down power lines during storms and we still haven’t learned to bury the damn lines when they are installed? Are infrastructure is a joke and a disaster waiting to happen. Stop spending our tax dollars on bullshit and fix our country.
It’s really very simple. Dependence on the power grid and ultimately, technology. Without power 1/3 of the population would die within a month..chew on that for a bit. Solution? Stock up on long range sustainables and learn to survive without electricity.
If you really think about it, we as a species havent had it all that long, and what guarantee do we relly have that we will always have it…or that we will evenbe able to access it…
Love that you added the part about personal responsibility. I’m no fan of the government but its way past time for the people to rise up and realize they must learn to take care of themselves.
I’m sorry, with almost $16 Trillion (with a T) in national debt accruing at the rate of almost $4 Billion (with a B) a day, I do not believe the USA is the “richest nation in the world” any longer. THIS IS THE ACTUAL EMBARRASSMENT!
According to Forbes, Qatar is the richest country in the world (thank you OPEC); and if you look at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) or World Bank lists, the United States is 6th or 7th, and both align with Forbes that Qatar is the richest. Why do you think the IMF has requested removing the US Dollar from its global reserve status and is seeing the decline of and the acceptance rate of the US Dollar globally?
With statements like “If our nation’s capital can go dark for four days from a storm, how prepared is the country to respond to a large scale disaster or attack?”
I also believe that this is leading into a conditioning paradigm where the government can and will likely overreact, allowing the President to declare yet another national emergency (thank you NDAA) and placing the country into a Marshall Law condition; for which the evidence has shown even on this site that ‘the fed’ has been training US military troops hand-in-hand with local law enforcement organization on our own soil. These kinds of statements are conditioning the general population into believing that if and when it gets to the point that US Military troops with local LE officers are patrolling our street is an acceptable behavior “for our own good!”
read- one second after by William R.Forstchen. scary book at what can happen in a short amount of time.I can only hope that im prepared as much as i think i am.
Just finished reading the book, which is eye opening; and yes it is scary to think what ‘could happen’ in a short amount of time. Even following along as sheeple in an organized community under a martial law setting; if you depend on medication to sustain life, your days are numbered. Period. The higher your dependency on a specific medication, the shorter the number of days you have left. Prepare as best you can to wean yourself off medication if at all possible, and if not, stockpile as much as you possibly and realistically can, and more importantly protect the longevity and preservation of that stockpile.
But then again, in a martial law setting, what is to say the powers that be will be as allowing as in the book… ‘The people cannot get a ration card assigned unless they subject to a household search and provide all their food to the general population.’ Consent or not, a true martial law scenario may be that they will search your home and take all your resources to be applied to the general population of the area making you a ‘non-hoarder’ placing you into an equally impacted condition, where no one can have more than another; placing you all on an equal playing field. That falls back to protect the longevity and preservation of that stockpile. How do you safely cache something that needs refrigeration like insulin?
In respect to an EMP impacting the majority of a continent, how are you going to harden your electronics to protect against that danger? IMHO, building a small Faraday cage to house just the necessary communication equipment would be a good start, and probably the least expensive. Make sure rechargeable batteries and solar panels are included.
The Storm hit the Eastern Shore of Virginia (between the Chesapeak Bay to the west and the Atlantic Ocean the the east) at areound 12:30am and believe me it was no fun. 70 mph wind gust, lightning like it was a strobe light constantly flashing, one crack of thunder right behind the other…power stayed on, light flickered twice, about 2:30am everything quiet and humid as hell….went to bed around 3am…got up at 7:30am…no freaking power at all until 8:30am…have no idea what caused power to go out…it wasn’t the storm that was long gone by the time the power went out. WTF?
People need to “wake up” and realize that it is once again their own responsibility to care for themselves, NOT the government’s. Only when we choose to do that can we–as a country–become great again.
If the government is taking peoples guns and raiding their houses to make sure they are not “food hording” during a disaster it will be difficult to impossible for people to take individual action and responsibility. Gun confiscation is VERY likely, it already happened during Katrina
It’s truly amazing that 90% of the public have little or not training and supplies to take care of themselves after a disaster. Think about this, almost every week another disaster is reported on the nightly news. The public must think that disaster only happen to other people. Well, disasters can and does happen in your own back yard.
I was in Northern Minnesota for the week of the Fourth. We had a severe wind storm blow through the city of Bemidji. Reported winds of up to 80mph. trees and power lines were toppled. The government didn’t come to clear the landscape. The people came out, after it was safe, with their own chainsaws to remove the trees from the streets. Neighbors helping neighbors. Street lights were down until just before I left, and everyone just stopped as though it was a stop sign. There was no looting, and people waited in lines to buy things.
I live in another state, near a big city, and it was refreshing to see all of this.
I live north west Ohio it took people three days to for some people start reals that power was going to be
out for some time I found that I was short on three things 1, cash 2, fuel 3, ways to stay cool. I was more set for winner because when because that’s when i loose power most of the time. My 12v system worked fine my neighbor thought i was crazy but i made a swamp cooler and it made it tent comfortable
mind over matter
I have the fema answere to preparednes /You sign the bradly truck co to me and capability to lic tanks and tank titles ! The military national guard was ileagaly sent off shore and that weakened fema ? And created office crooks ! Dempsy gen 4 star was sumons to congres and ordered to start draft to make ofice criminals recieve draft and death penalty in losing batle in caribean – Can nationl guard respond if there out of the country ? The office cleark says they have to return and that order would be femas responce -Now what didnt raise up to substituet national guard physicaly should be drafed to aruba as non helpfull