The EMP Threat

From The Wall Street Journal:

Imagine you're a terrorist with a single nuclear weapon. You could wipe out the U.S. city of your choice, or you could decide to destroy the infrastructure of the entire U.S. economy and leave millions of Americans to die of starvation or want of medical care.

The latter scenario is the one envisioned by a long-running commission to assess the threat from electromagnetic pulse, or EMP. The subject of its latest, and little discussed, report to Congress is the effect an EMP attack could have on civilian infrastructure. If you're prone to nightmares, don't read it before bedtime.

An EMP attack occurs when a nuclear bomb explodes high in the Earth's atmosphere. The electromagnetic pulse generated by the blast destroys all the electronics in its line of sight. For a bomb detonated over the Midwest, that includes most of the continental U.S. Few, if any, people die in the blast. It's what comes next that has the potential to be catastrophic. Since an EMP surge wipes out electronics, virtually every aspect of modern American life would come to a standstill.

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My Comment: Every second month there is an article on the threat of an EMP attack, and I always say the same thing. I am not an expert on EMP technologies, but I can argue that in the event of an emp attack it will NOT be a disaster to all. My expertise comes from living through the ice storm/no electricity for almost a month in Montreal, January 1998.

Starting in the first week of January, 1998, the entire region of Montreal was hit with three distinct ice storms. Freezing rain is a common experience in Montreal during winter, but not to the levels that we experienced then. The net result was a complete shut down of the electrical grid. The damage was widespread. Numerous transmission lines and poles were broken. Roads were blocked with broken trees. Repair crews could not even reach the damaged areas (which was everywhere) because of the ice that coated everything. The entire grid was shut down. No power for anyone in the middle of winter.

Economic activity shut down, it was -10C outside, and the phone lines were sporadic. What happened?

We all survived and adjusted. There was no crime .... no crime at all. Everyone worked together. Shared what we had. There was no starvation. Information and news was stilled passed around. Hospitals were prioritized. Shelters were established. It was tough .... it was winter with -10C to -20C temperatures .... millions had their routine put upside down .... but after a few weeks our electrical grid was put together, and within two to three months the economy and our way of life returned.

An EMP attack will impact America in many ways .... but it will not be the complete disaster that people think it will be. Some areas will recover quicker .... some areas will suffer more than others .... but in the end America will be what it has always been.

Pity the group or country who would initiate such an attack. The response against them will be far worse than having our electrical grid fried for a few months.