5 Tips For Preparing For An EMP Attack
There is little to no question that an EMP attack would be one of the very worst kinds of attacks that could ever happen in the United States.
The devastation that an electromagnetic pulse strike could cause should not be underestimated. It could take years, if not decades, to recover from. The entire power grid would be knocked out either in a certain area of the United States or across the entire North American continent, depending on how powerful and how high in the atmosphere the EMP weapon is detonated.
In the blink of an eye, the U.S. would be effectively sent back to the Stone Age. Take a moment to think about what that will mean. You can kiss goodbye to internet, cell service, heat, electricity, and power. There would be instant road chaos — not only would traffic signals be toast, so would many cars, as well as fuel distribution networks.
And what about the banking system? So much of our society today relies on data stored in vulnerable computer systems.
What’s more is that you might have to do without these things for years. A major EMP attack is not going to be an overnight or even an “over year” fix. Some estimates say it would take the nation decades to recover .
With that in mind, here are the top five tips for preparing for an EMP attack:
STOCKPILING SUPPLIES MUST BE YOUR TOP PRIORITY
The reason stockpiling should be your top priority for preparing for an EMP attack is very simple: you will not have the opportunity to be resupplied, possibly for many years following the attack. Food supplies? You’re going to have to provide for yourself. Factories and machinery will be useless without the power supply, distribution networks will be chaos, and there will be widespread looting.
The only way you will be able to get supplies of any sort is either through what you have stockpiled or what you can barter from other people. Begin to work on building the largest stockpile of supplies that you are able: canned food, water, personal hygiene supplies, first aid items, ammunition, clothes, you name it. You can never truly have enough.
GET READY TO MOUNT A DEFENSE
Security will be another major priority for you following an EMP attack because opportunistic looters are going to take to the streets, after which organised raiders will begin launching attacks on innocent people and homes for supplies.
These raiding parties will largely consist of once ordinary people who have been driven to turn to violence out of desperation to get food and supplies for themselves and your families.
Your best odds here will be to have supplies and weapons on hand that will enable you to mount a successful defense of your home.
Not only should you have defensive arms and ammunition, but you can also invest in physical defenses such as setting out a barbed wire fence around your home and property, as well keeping sandbags and secure window shutters prepared that would help you fortify your home.
BUILD A FARADAY CAGE
A Faraday cage is simply a container or device that can shield electronic items from an EMP strike or solar flare, so long as it is properly built.
Fortunately, it is much easier to build than you may anticipate to make an EMP shield. For example, wrapping an electronic item such as a phone or laptop in a towel and plastic wrapping, and then placing that package inside a cardboard box that you then wrap around with three to four layers of aluminum foil should keep the electronic item inside safe from the EMP.
WORK WITH OTHER PEOPLE
You and your family alone will never be able to survive the entire duration of an EMP attack and its aftermath without help. Something you can do right now is to put together a prepper’s group with your friends and other people within your community.
When the EMP does strike, you will want to immediately get in contact with your neighbors, because the very LAST thing you will want is for your neighbors to turn on you when in fact you can help each other by exchanging resources and defending the neighborhood as a whole.
HAVE A BACKUP PLAN
Last but not least, you need to have a backup plan. If things get really bad in your area, you’ll need to have a plan to get you and your family out to a safer bug out region that is outside of town.
This will be difficult in the case of an EMP, because if cars are no longer working you’ll have to either go on foot or by bicycle, which means that you can’t bring very much in the way of supplies with you.
The solution here would be to create a second stockpile of supplies for your family to rely on at the bug out location. The bug out location can be anything from a remote cabin, to property that you own outside of town, or a friend or relative’s house who has given you permission to head over and bunker up in the event of a major disaster.