The threat of a long-term electrical grid failure was addressed by me several times in the past, but 11 years after I first wrote about the threat most Americans are still not aware that they are in danger. An extended electrical grid failure in the United States would result in the death of most people living in our cities.
This is not some danger that I am pulling out of thin air. It is not a conspiracy theory. Extended grid failure is a grave danger to our nation established in scientific fact. Experts who looked into the Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) threat with the resultant extended grid failure threat have warned our leaders of the dire consequences since 2004. Nevertheless, thus far our representatives in Washington have not taken any significant action to protect the lives of Americans.
We basically have 18 critical infrastructures in this country and virtually all of them are dependent on electricity. Most people in this nation receive electricity from power stations that transmit their electricity over our electrical grid infrastructure. If the grid goes down, those on it will not have power. Think about everyone trying to live without electricity for weeks or months in the city where you live. If that does not frighten you, think about the nuclear power plant meltdowns that would occur if their back up generators do not function for any reason.
I will briefly get into the most likely reasons an extended grid failure could happen. I get into more detail on three of these in my Imminent Danger Series. (This does not include all-out nuclear war with Russia and China because there is no practical defense for that other than the threat of mutually assured destruction.)
The four most likely long-term electrical grid failure threats are:
1. An earth directed coronal mass ejection (CME) from the sun. The electromagnetic radiation could fry high voltage transformers.
2. One or more high altitude nuclear blasts causing an electromagnetic pulse (known as an EMP or HEMP). A HEMP could fry most electronics and destroy generating equipment and voltage transformers.
3. Cyber attacks that bring down and damage the computers and the electronic equipment that control the grid.
4. Sabotage coordinated to target critical points of our electrical grid in order to make it fail.
1. CME’s happen all the time on the sun. They usually are not strong enough to cause damage on the earth because our magnetic belts and our atmosphere block out most of the electromagnetic radiation. Nevertheless, an earth directed CME’s of such power that it would generate enough back amperage in long power lines to fry modern ultra high voltage transformers occurs about every hundred years on the average.
We have about 200 of these ultra high voltage transformers on the national grid but there are few spares. These transformers are as big as a house. It takes a year or two to build just one transformer and they are shipped from overseas. There are known ways to protect these transformers from a solar caused electrical surge but someone has to pay the cost. Apparently pleasing special interests is more important to most in Washington than spending a billion dollars to protect millions of American lives. Doing nothing is like playing Russian Roulette with the lives of Americans.
The solar flare and CME known as the Carrington Event took place in 1859. It produced enough electricity in telegraph wires to overload them and start fires. A Carrington like event today would fry many of the high voltage transformers on our grid.
2. A nuclear weapon exploded at 10 to 300 miles above the earth will cause an electromagnetic pulse If a nuke designed to produce an EMP was exploded 300 hundred miles in altitude above the center of the U.S., it very well could fry much of the unprotected electronic equipment within the entire nation. An EMP also could destroy many of our electrical generators and transformers. Nuclear bombs at just 50 miles altitude fired from off all three coasts would have the same impact.
Experts that have reported to Congress on this EMP threat said that between 60 and 90 percent of the people in our nation could be dead in the first year after such an attack. I wrote on this EMP imminent danger in 2006 but little has changed since.
You might get the book “One Second After”if you want all the gruesome details in novel form of what it could be like living in America after such an EMP attack.
There are four nations that are openly hostile toward America that could attempt an EMP attack.
Iran – has been working on developing nuclear weapons for over 30 years now. Other nations have developed nuclear bombs in less than a decade so we should not be naive. Iran has secret nuclear facilities that nobody has inspected. Iranians are participating in the nuclear testing in North Korea. The testing of nuclear warheads can also now be simulated on computers. Iran has medium range nuclear capable missiles that can be fired from small cargo ships. Iran is putting satellites into orbit and they are working on land based ICBM’s that can reach the United States.
American intelligence has always been blind-sighted on the nuclear bomb development in other nations. I think that will also turn out to be the case with Iran.
North Korea – they have proved that they have nukes and a long-range missile system. Apparently they now also have the H-bomb. They have put satellites in space and there are now two in orbit that takes them over the U.S. Further, two SA-2 nuclear capable missile were recently found on a ship near the Panama Canal that came from N. Korea.
Iran and N. Korea are working in cahoots on their nuclear programs so we should assume that they have similar nuclear capabilities.
China – definitely can produce EMP’s over the U.S. from their submarine forces and ICBM’s. There simply is no defense against sub launched nuclear missiles. I think they were sending us a message when a sub launched missile was fired from off of our Pacific Coast toward the open sea in 2010.
Russia – is as advanced as any nation in the world in nuclear capabilities. They probably could pull off an EMP over the U.S. and make it look like someone else did it. Why would they do that? I have news, the Cold War is not over. Putin has delusions of grandeur and he plans to reform the Soviet Union. He would love to see the U.S. crippled and out of his way.
Any of these nations could fire off nukes and scuttle their ships and we probably would never know who did it with any degree of certainty. Not that we would be in any position to fight them anyway after a long-term grid failure.
An EMP might even be pulled off by a Islamist terrorist organization that acquired a nuclear bomb from one of the nations above or from Pakistan. Scuds are available on the black market and can be launched from cargo ships. Who do we attack then and how do we fight the resultant world war from a crippled nation?
3. All of our recent defense chiefs and homeland security chiefs have said that they think a cyber attack is the greatest threat to our electrical grid and national infrastructures. In fact, at least one said that such a cyber attack should be expected within two years. That was said well over two years ago.
A cyber attack on the grid might not be quickly restored. Cyber attacks can actually damage critical equipment. That was proved in Iran. Power is needed to even start the process of restoring the electrical gird. It could take weeks to restore the electricity to most of the nation and by that time there would be massive food riots and looting in the cities.
4. Direct sabotage could take place on key targets like substations. A few years ago there was such an attack in California. Much of the damage was caused by rifle fire shot at the substation from long-range but there also was hands on sabotage to the station as well. These people apparently knew what they were doing. The damage took out this major substation for months. It did not take down the grid because they were able to reroute the power, but this was only one substation. If several substations were taken out at the same time, our grid could not handle that. Terrorist enemies that have infiltrated America are quite aware of that. Many of these substations are very remote and they are not protected. That makes them easy targets.
“Christians” in America like to think this cannot happen to them because they think God would not allow their death. I think that is a false presumption. For one thing, most “Christians” in America have a hope of salvation not taught in the Bible. They have their own designer God and designer Christ and get saved by doing more good than bad in their own eyes. Visible Christianity in America today appears to be more of a harlot than a bride.
Another fact is that God allows Christians in nations to suffer the same fate as the nation that the Christians occupy. Christians died in all of America’s wars. God does not promise to deliver us from death of the body. All Christians that ever lived have died for one reason or another. The death of the natural bodies of God’s people is not some major issue for God because they remain spiritually alive. There is no true death for true believers, there is just a passing on to what God has prepared for us.
Some think God needs Christians in America to get out the message out to the world before the end comes. Really?? Is God dependent on American evangelism that mostly presents Christianity to the world as a false gospel of social justice, your best life now, or some form of new age signs and wonders Dominion Theology? The gospel of salvation to those bound in their sins is not being taught by most leaders of American evangelism. God can and will raise up 144,000 Israelis to get out the gospel before the end comes. He does not need America.
We should not be so smug as to believe that America will not reap what she is sowing at home and abroad just because there are Christians in America.
People ask me what can we then do to prepare? This is my article on preparing for such situations. Actually, other than getting saved through trusting in Christ, there is not much you can do to prepare for anything of this magnitude. You can be proactive and tell your representatives in Washington to start taking this grid vulnerability and EMP threat seriously. You can tell them to take action to harden our infrastructure or they could be living in their very own political dark age.
If the majority of people in this nation choose to do nothing to protect themselves from danger, they will receive the just fate of their carelessness. The people have been warned, but they choose to live like nothing can happen to them. History is full of examples of people living in false security before sudden destruction came on them.
Other than getting your representatives to take defensive action, you really only can prepare for the aftermath of a grid failure for a few weeks. Anything more, like stocking large quantities of survival supplies is likely to get you killed even sooner if it not a joint community effort. The human predators will just come and take all that you have. If you physically try to stop them, you will be dead. Sure, a remnant will survive, but your own physical preparations probably will have little to do with who it is that survives.
America has had over a decade to prepare for the grid failure threat but has done nothing. The nation is rapidly running out of time to harden its infrastructures. If you expect to see the new decade, I suggest that you tell your Washington representatives to get busy and make the survivability of our grid the top national priority. It already may be too late. Everyone is worrying about many economic and social issues and those issues are important. Nevertheless, if our electrical grid goes down for an extended period, these other affairs will become totally meaningless.
Editor note: this article was posted on my old blog on March 3, 2014 under a different title. The article has been modified.
I was about to opine on who would protect Israel if we are out of the picture and I quickly realized that in the Ezekiel 38 attack on Israel God alone shows his might, protecting Israel and defeating it’s foes. I was about to list my prepping but thought better to publicize this info. I understand that even automobiles will be fried and not drivable (do you know of any protection for vehicle ignition systems)? I have a hunting lease that is far enough from any cities and has enough water, wildlife and fish to survive until our Saviour’s return but if vehicles are inoperable this escape is mute and will have to go to plan B which is hunkering down and defending the homestead. I will mainly rely on my Father’s promises in Psalm 91. You either were holding this article for this day (N. Korea H-bomb Test) or it is huge coincidence. Don, any thoughts on September 23 and Revelation 12? I find it interesting that it speaks of China’s symbol the dragon within this scripture and this could spin out of control very quickly. Always keep looking up!
Good post Don. It again reminds people how dependent our society is on things like electricity. I grew up wild in the woods in the southern Ozarks in Oklahoma and my dad and grandmother taught us a lot about how the Cherokee (Grandma was full blood) lived off the land. But though I have to rely on heart medicine to keep going, in reality we are all dependent upon God and his grace for all of our provision everyday. If the grid goes, our infrastructure breaks down, I am one that will die regardless of whether I am a prepper or not. Though I do not think the destruction or diminishing of the USA will not happen this side of the rapture, I could be wrong. What we do have is the promise that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. What better promise can we have?
I can’t bring myself to consider reading “One Second After”.
Yeah, tick-tock.
Hi Stephen,
It is more than just the ignition. All modern cars have computer chips that could get fried. You need a early model car. Something like an old Jeep would make sense if you plan to travel after an EMP. You will only be able to go as far as the gas you bring takes you. After a grid failure the gas pumps will not be working and neither will the people selling gas.
The article was a coincidence but I did insert the fact that Korea now has an H-bomb before I posted it today.
I do not have anything further on Sept 23 and Revelation 12 than what I already wrote in my article on that. I am not convinced that what takes place in the heavens that day is any fulfillment of what John saw and I am not convinced that what happens on Sept 23rd means anything prophetically. What makes up the crown is very subjective as is some of the rest.
All I can say is, if there is an EMP attack, before blaming NK, Iran, China or Russia, better check to make sure there aren’t any fire-proof passports or driver’s licenses falling from the sky. Makes one wonder about all the DIA-style bunkers being built, and why certain entities are moving resources back into a certain hole in the mountainside near Pikes Peak? Seems an EMP would be a great start on getting world population down to around half a billion, which I hear-tell some folks more valuable than me think is the proper number. Maybe the reason Congress hasn’t done anything is because they don’t want to do anything? Or have been told not to do anything? Now . . . where did I leave that roll of tin foil?
good point doug
Don,
Once again I find myself forwarding two of your no nonsense hard hitting articles – comments to those I love and care about as a thought provoking warning. Hopefully they will pray about it and prepare along the line of your sound advice.
Personally, I have felt led to take many detailed steps for well over a decade to become as self-sufficient, independent and rural as possible, working the grid going down (and other potential chaos) into that equation.
One Second After was one of many warnings, both fictional and non-fictional, written by Christians and secularists (even Ted Koppel penned a grid down warning book) that motivated and guided me in preparing to stand on my own and be able to help others.
During the second Obama circling slide down the drain, when the mask was really slipping and it looked like Jezebel was going to take over, I upped all my preps adding two cases of paperback Bibles that I keep sealed in buckets in my barn’s hayloft.
Even though I live on a modest working rural farm the interstate is close, a medium sized city is only 20 miles away, and the break ins and property crimes are rising steadily year after year. Five homes around me have been recently burglarized and an elderly couple murdered in their home two years ago not far from me. If the grid goes down the death and crime that would pour out of the cities would no doubt be similar to One Second After.
As you have noted,if the grid goes down for whatever reason in the U.S. it would explain why America does not…and cannot play a major role in end time prophecy. If that was to happen it could be (in my mind and as you stated) before or after the Rapture.
If before the Rapture I intend to try and be a refuge for those I love…and who I hope and pray could make it to my farm. I am also building a network of neighbors, church members (who are like minded) and friends to support one another…as I live by other farms and around many people who could survive without electricity…if we banded together.
The last component is self-defense. As a combat veteran I have a significant edge (and wide and deep dread) with that inevitable component of what could happen. I have extensive preps in that category as well, but like you stated I realize my place would be a lightning rod and a tribal community (I am striving for a Christian community) would have the best chance of surviving (not lone sheep or even lone wolves). Most importantly being a bold witnesses (no matter what happens) while having a strong God honoring ending….of the beginning is my wish/prayer.
Doug,
I think it is wrapped around your hat.
Don,
I have to ask myself, Is our Godless Nation and ever increasing abomination of demonic practices asking for an event such as this ?
I personally believe that big events long before The Tribulation will happen to cripple our nation, whether it be an attack as you mention in this article or something as simple as the U.S. losing its world reserve currency status.
We are most certainly a big target by the Islamic religion as we are called “The Great Satan”, Islam lives to destroy anything that doesn’t agree with them, of course…not to mention The New World Order cannot happen with superpower independent nations like ours who have the ability to oppose it.
Our nations ever increasingly thumbing its nose antics toward God Almighty and the 8 years of Obama that put into motion extreme anti-semitism that seems to be the norm against the Jews and Israel today in our nation while supporting or taking no action against Islam is a clear indicator of our destiny to me.
We currently have the Trump administration and decent people like Nikki Haley who seem to understand what is happening in our nation and have taken action to support Israel, but the majority we hear about (News, Media, Entertainment) in our nation seem to hate Trump and all that he stands for…the majority in our nation seem to have a brainwashed Islamic / Palestinian Gaza Strip empathy and a school and media taught hatred for the Jewish people and Israel…which I think is a clear death sentence for any nation via The Covenant with Abraham.
I do take very seriously, “ I will bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you”.
Not to long ago, I was talking about the Jews to an acquaintance of mine who claims to be a “Christian”…he told me the “Jews are @$$holes”…Wow, I was stunned…just my opinion, there are severe consequences for saying such things against God’s Covenant People.
I think as we near The End of the Age, we will continue to see severe consequences ramping up in intensity.
I think those calling themselves “Christian’s” (Worldwide, not just U.S.) who think they have some Devine protection because they follow some religious creed, who love this life so much are, and are anti-Semitic at their core are in for a BIG surprise….coming very soon.
We are witnessing the end of an age and a nation. The dismantling of the American system as we know it. We would be lucky to merely have an electrical grid failure and no power for a month. It is much, much more severe than that. My advice to anybody that will listen is very simple. Do not get to attached to your stuff. A system is coming where no ownership of anything occurs. I Will give you a little advice though. We do not own anything anyway. We are mere stewards, nothing more. Some of us can not even steward our own bodies. However as our Lord Christ Jesus instructs us, Be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world.
http://www.breitbart.com/radio/2017/09/06/frank-gaffney-consequenses-north-korea-emp-attack-truly-nation-ending/
Right on target with Don’s article.
Hi Caitlin,
China makes North Korea possible and The United States makes China possible. We are still buying 1/2 trillion more each year from the Chinese then they buy from us. Fair trade does not exist. We created the Chinese superstate with the many trillions that we gave away to them. We are about to reap the consequences.
Hi Don,
I just checked the link I provided and it didn’t link to the article. Sorry.
I know what you’re saying. Kim says he has a gift package for us. Previous leadership made all this possible.
A X9.3 solar flare occurred on the sun today. That is very powerful. It is the strongest solar flare in more than a decade. If we had one much stronger, we all could be whistling in the dark.
Don ~ That’s a pretty strong flare. I missed that one, and I get emails from the Australian Space Forecast Center whenever anything in the C, M, or X class occurs. The Carrington Event is thought to have been a X10. If one like that hit us today, it would fry the grid and anything attached to it. Fortunately, unless the flare is directed at earth, It doesn’t do us harm. Did you hear if this X9.3 will strike us, and if so, when it’s forecast to arrive?
Hi Doug,
I think the Carrington Event was much more than an X10. Off the top of my head I would say it was something more like an X40 or higher. I think we have had about a dozen solar flares above X10’s in the last three or four decades. Yes, they would need to be earth directed to have any impact on the earth. I believe this one is.
The related CME is supposed to bring a G3 storm on the 8th. I think it would need to be a G5 to have impact on electrical grids. This flare is kind of strange because the sun is supposed to be well into its quiet cycle. The sun was blank just a few days ago but now these huge sunspots have appeared.
It’s all coming together, amen.
Don, I know you’ve written many articles to an audience of believers but can u write a brief summery as writing to someone that is just waking up to the realization that something is going on that will help them to see?
I wrote out a synopsis on paper today to help explain the world events leading up to the rapture.. tribulation and w/ Israel being the fig leaf Jesus talked about and how it’s leading up to now being the end of the age.
Just that you won’t leave anything out where I know I have holes in my summery but scratches the surface.
Thanks, great article here.
ps. going put on my solar glasses now & go look at the sun 🙂
Hi Bill,
I have already written about the signs of the time. There are signs that point to a soon second coming but nothing more needs to happen for the Rapture to occur. I have also written an order of events leading to the seconded coming but I would not cut it in stone.
Don, your article is correct, as is usual.
I was working for a very wealthy man in the 90s when the first asteroid striking the earth movies came out. He had me look into things – there was nothing that could be done back then to defense against a planetary or national shut down event. Nothing can be done today either.
What I do know, and it was brought home day after day this week as I distributed New Testaments, witnessed to the lost, encouraged the downtrodden and prayed and counseled both this week in both of Houston’s major rescue shelters – God is and always will be in charge. We, as His relatively few real followers on this planet, are called to do nothing more than love Him and love others as we love ourselves. That puts our highest good as sharing the Good News of Jesus which is the only way off of this rock that will be eternally joyful.
I see what is happening in Houston today and in Florida next week as training grounds for the faithful in witnessing to the hurting and lost. We are to be the models for other communities as they have to address the much bigger problems to come upon our whole planet over the next few years. Be the light where you are and where you go. That is the ultimate prepping!
Hi Fount,
Thanks for the work you are doing. It looks like short term electrical failure will be widespread in Florida this week. We will see how that goes.
We had an X8 and a X1 flare on the sun today. The sun spots (solar storms) causing this are now near the sun’s horizon so I don’t think the related CME’s will be heading toward the earth. The sun spots causing this will be on the back side of the sun for about two weeks. I wonder about the relationship between big solar storms and earthquakes. Will there be another big one in the next couple of days?
Miami Dade County was 75% without electricity today. Having lived there when Hurricane Andrew came through 25 years ago, almost all of Miami Dade County was without power for about two weeks back then. Society can get through without power… if it knows that power will soon be restored.
Only the worst of society does the looting during the power down, but the best of society stops most of that nonsense. I remember more than one armed citizen sitting in store fronts.
I don’t think modern society would fare very well at all if the power were to go down and no one would have any communications or any clue as to when it would come back up. “One Second After” does a good job of more fully expressing my opinion about that scenario.
But when I look to the Bible I don’t see solar activity / flare type events until the wrath of God – bowls stage. The sun burns and scorches in one bowl then the kingdom is moved into darkness with the next bowl. A literal darkness and to the modern mind most likely an electronic darkness. To occur after our rapture, not before, as I have opined before. The anti-Christ has to keep up the whole world grid in order to enforce the false prophet sign of the beast 666 restriction on ALL commerce.
May God spare us that indeed!
The Mexico City area just had a 7.1 earthquake.
Sign sign’s everywhere a sign…look up our redemption is drawing neigh. I wonder if we start getting earth quakes every day after Sept 23?
People say we always had them but their not looking at Israel (1947-48) as the first official sign to validate the other signs.
Re: earthquake… I support a missionary currently in Peublo (just 30 miles from the epicenter), who used to be in Dominica and Puerto Rico.
I see these relatively minor (in terms of deaths only) storms as beginning a multi-year period of how we born again Christians should be responding to these terrible (physical damage) events in our world.
Houston will be the multi-month (severe water flooding) model for Christian witnessing and support. Florida will be a short term (normal hurricane) model for the Christians to respond to. Based on my works in Houston, government at all levels and all non-Christian non-for-profits have gone out of their way to prevent an adequate Christian witness (such as in the rescue shelters, etc.) However, in reality, the great majority of recovery assistance to date here has been from neighbors and Christians – not government.
Unfortunately, now we get to see how Puerto Rico serves as a model for Christian response when they have (what seems to be now) a long term electric grid failure (such as this posting is discussing). Based on their recent lack of success in governing (witness their pension crisis, budget crisis, bankruptcy issues) – things don’t look very good for their formerly beautiful country now. Yet, we must pray, assist, observe and learn.
I do believe God is allowing us these last few years before the greater tribulations (in terms of deaths) to learn how to better love our neighbors. May we all be successful in our efforts to build His kingdom despite what befalls our truly fallen world!
Maranatha!