EMP or HEMP: Federal Government Not Prepared - Are You?

EMP was briefly covered in military training in late 1980s and on into 1990s. The media reports that the federal government is not really prepared to confront the use of EMP weapons or the side affects of a nuclear explosion.

 

EMP  is an acronym for Electromagnetic Pulse. This particular EMP is caused by weapons designed to take out electronic equipment to disable a target entity. It is different than a Nuclear Electromagnetic Pulse, where the side affects of a nuclear explosion, especially one that occurs in the air instead of impacted on the ground. It is feared that terrorist organizations could obtain such weapons, non-nuclear or nuclear. The media has mostly misrepresented EMP and myths have developed. 

The series Doomsday Castle, produced by National Geographic addresses EMP possibilities and the family who built the modern castle in the Carolinas to prepare (thus called preppers) for any disaster and to thwart human predators from taking what they have.

A military without communications (anything electronic) is not effective and could be defeated more easily; and the civilian population would be forced to resort to the way America was before electricity. The damage could be, for the most part, temporary; but it could also be destroyed. It is supposed to affect the phone systems, electric power transmission, which in turn would affect many things like factories, financial systems, Internet access, and transportation. It all depends upon the type of attack and its characteristics.

It was revealed by a Chinese defector who brought with him Communist Chinese Army strategic and tactical planning information that included tactical attacks upon US or anyone via EMP after weakening by economic strategies.

EMP was first discovered by mistake when in 1962, a test called Starfish Prime, where a nuclear missile was detonated (1.4 megaton) at a height of 248 miles over a remote area in Pacific Ocean. The blast disrupted radio transmission as far away as California and Australia for several hours. It also damaged and disabled six orbiting satellites, one being the Telstar that transmitted the first live TV broadcasts from the US to Europe and back again.

This, of course, was noticed by the Chinese and Soviet communists, who then decided to include it in their strategic plan policy. The Soviet Union collapsed and returned being Russia again, but since then rogue nations like North Korea and Iran have other nations worried. In addition, terrorist organizations purchase weapons for their operations with intent to kill and produce damage on a large scale in order to achieve their Islamic Jihad.

Jerry Emanuelson, B.S.E.E.E. of Future Science wrote a paper n EMP and HEMP [High-Altitude Nuclear Electromagnetic Pulse] myths.

Emanuelson states that people think that all vehicles using modern electronics will be put out of commission after an EMP strike. He says that there will be some vehicles affected, but a small fraction. Watches are too small to be effective. There is truth to the recommendation that electronic equipment will be less likely affected if turned off at the time of an EMP attack. HEMP or EMP devices are not considered harmful to humans – not including the affect of a nuclear blast itself and the subsequent radiation.

The Heritage Foundation has produced several papers on this subject:

Congress Must Understand the EMP Risk

A Survey of EMP Preparedness Reveals Significant Shortfalls

EMP Attacks – What the U.S. Must Do Now

Missile Defense Matters

EMP: The Clock is Ticking

American Blackout: What an EMP Would Look Like

Unconventional Warfare: The Forgotten Threats

The federal government has made efforts concerning strategies to prevent and to prepare; but it has been a slow process with other plans and policies superseding it.

Right Side News:

While the ability of an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) to inflict catastrophic damage on U.S. infrastructure has been a known fact for decades, insufficient efforts have been taken to mitigate the threat. A survey of congressional, federal, state, local, and international measures to deal with the threat reveals more complacency than action.

In an article published four days ago by World Net Daily – State Warns on EMP: There's No Help Coming:

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer has signed legislation to require the state’s Department of Emergency and Military Affairs to prepare materials outlining what citizens need to know to deal with either a natural or man-made electromagnetic pulse event that could knock out the vulnerable electrical grid system over a wide geographical region. … “It’s too expensive for the government to prepare on a national scale,” Shooter said. “This time around, it’s people who can do the most to prepare. It’s even possible to EMP-proof your electronics. It just takes time.” ...

“The food, the water, everything has to do with electricity. And an EMP in an instant would shut that all off,” he said. Ralston said that less than 15 percent of the Arizona population is prepared for an electrical disruption of 30 days or more. Experts agree that if there were an EMP event, the U.S. could see some 90 percent of its population affected. Experts believe food, water, energy and other supply systems could be nonoperational, possibly for periods extending to years. Arizona is but the latest state to take action due to the failure of the federal government to address the EMP issue. Last June, Maine passed and the governor signed legislation ordering its grid to be hardened against an EMP. … The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has failed to look at EMP as a major threat in its 15 planning scenarios, even though DHS officials have testified before Congress that they are very aware of the consequences of an EMP event, whether natural or man-made.

It is time to stop spending federal funds on foreign national security and infrastructure and tend to our own backyard, as President Theodore Roosevelt once stated. Our national debt is disastrous, and worse, Chinese communists have planned for decades on strategies to topple other nations, primarily economically, and yet we are helping them by making the Chinese government wealthy enough to achieve those goals. Chinese are doing business everywhere and either leasing or buying up land in other nations; as well as flooding the markets with their products.

Natural EMP problems also exist.

Between August 28^th and September 2^nd, 1859, numerous sunspots and solar flares were observed emitting from the Sun. It was a solar storm that generated particles so strong it only took 17 hours to reach Earth, normally taking three to four days. A geomagnetic storm developed where the aurorae usually seen in the far north, was seen around the world, even over the Caribbean Sea. The light over the Rocky Mountains was so bright it woke up gold miners and made them think it was morning. Telegraph systems in Europe and North America failed, and it was reported that telegraph operators received electrical shocks. Telegraph poles sparked and telegraph paper caught fire.

Next year, a similar solar storm cycle is expected to come into full development and it is expected to be as bad as the one in 1859. I do not think I would be in a flying aircraft when that happens.

If you do not have a “bug-out kit” prepared in case you must evacuate, it would be good to put one together just in case. Make sure it contains items that will help survival without electricity; but that does not mean not to have a radio that operates by battery, crank and solar energy. If it is shut off and stored in a backpack or storage unit, it should survive an EMP. That way if there were any forms of communication going on on AM or FM or shortwave – or even national weather channels – you would be able to keep informed as to what is going on.

Remember the New York City blackout and the Hurricane Katrina disasters? Unfortunately some people take advantage of the disaster and loot, pillage, and other evil things. Be prepared for that. Hopefully, like in the case of Hurricane Katrina, the state and/or feds will not go around confiscating firearms from lawful citizens. Remember, that was during the GW Bush administration.

People do not have live in fear, just be prepared; if something happens then you will have the means to deal with it. It is mostly common sense.