We witnessed a lot of horrible things in the 20th century. Atrocities that we humans, surprisingly, seem to be circling back to! Then you wake up one day in 2025 and nukes are back on the table.
One of the things we have not seen is a city or even a nation ripped from the power grid and the municipal water system forever. That’s what an EMP can do.
People understand there is not much we can do in an event like this. Everything we have prepped till that moment is everything we will have to survive it. To maintain order, the leadership will not tell you all that should be feared. Instead, they will focus on recovery.
You need the full story. Here is what they don’t want you to know about the aftermath of an EMP.
The Water Will Kill You
There are a lot of things that can kill you after EMP. If your life depends on a pacemaker that could be your undoing!
However, one that hardly crosses our mind is the terrifying reality that the very water we drink could kill us, post EMP. This could happen for a couple reasons.
The first reason is because the water treatment systems that clean our water, and make it safe to drink, could fail. That means tap water would then be contaminated. This would kill lots of people because the EMP would also limit a person’s ability to drive to a doctor and receive proper medical attention.
The second reason is because the water tap requires power to keep pumping water. Eventually the pressure in the tap will fail and we will be left with nothing. Faucets all over America will run dry and people will start sourcing water from anywhere because they must to survive.
However, they may not treat that water effectively and that will make them sick. Untreated water should be filtered and boiled to ensure all contaminants are removed.
SCAVENGING TIP
So what can you do? One option is this portable water generator—an affordable, practical solution that lets you pull clean drinking water straight from the air. Off-grid and on your terms. This method has already been tested by over 40,000 Americans, and they all love it.
Alternatively, you can look at another proven option trusted by soldiers in the U.S., U.K., and French armed forces: The Water Freedom System. This system can produce up to 60 gallons of pure water per day—enough to keep your whole family supplied, even in a long-term grid-down scenario.
Both solutions generate pure, drinkable water without relying on failing municipal systems. And while nothing replaces having a renewable source like this, you can strengthen your defenses even further by stockpiling portable water filters and purification tablets.
That way, no matter where you source your water—be it from rain, rivers, or reservoirs—you’ll always have a way to make it safe.
The End of Electronics
Another terrifying fact is that every piece of electronics you rely on—phones, radios, even your backup generator—could be fried in an instant during an EMP. Think about it: without communication, transportation, or refrigeration, life gets downright medieval.
Most people don’t realize how delicate our electronics really are. In the event of an EMP, cars won’t start. Medical devices stop working. Your food storage could rot without power, and you’ll be left cut off from the outside world.
If you own a high-performance generator, like this one, you can preserve some of the safety and comfort of daily life.
But the generator is just as vulnerable as any other electronic device. This is why many preppers turn to Faraday protection.
Shielding your devices before disaster strikes is the only way to guarantee they’ll be there when you need them most. One of the simplest solutions is this EMP Cloth that offers 98% military grade protection.
It’s a lightweight, flexible shielding fabric you can wrap around radios, solar gear, or even generators to keep them safe.
You’re the New Family Doctor
Maybe you’ll be able to protect your devices, but it’s easy and smart to assume that the biggest part of society won’t be as ready as you. No power, no generators, no lights, no cars or ambulances, means our medical system would change radically.
It’s not to say that off grid medicine is not possible. American doctors travel to war torn and underdeveloped areas every year to help people in these types of circumstances.
However, the standard we are accustomed to is going to basically fall off a cliff after an EMP.
That’s assuming you can reach medical help, should you need it. For those in more rural areas, that could be a serious challenge.
There is one medical resource for off grid medicine that every prepper should own and that is The Home Doctor. Not only should you purchase this book but also all the OTC items detailed in the book!
Backup antibiotics are easier than ever to get your hands on. They are a bit expensive, but without them an infection can kill you—or make you feel so bad you might wish you were dead. In the same book I mentioned earlier, you can also find secret tips on how to get antibiotics, along with important advice on:
- How to give first aid
- What fatal errors you might make during a blackout
- How to recognize and manage a heart attack
- What happens if you take expired medication
You need some quality resources if you’re going to be the family doctor post-EMP, that’s for sure.
Natural remedies and essential oils can help with many things, too. In this regard, I recommend these 45 herbal protocols for common ailments.
SCAVENGING TIP
Every office building has a first aid kit. Places like Quest Diagnostics are not as noticeable as hospitals, pharmacies, or even doctors’ offices but will have lots of medical equipment.
Hygiene Becomes the Key
When you think about surviving a fallen world, I am sure things like roving gangs and starvation come to mind. Do you find yourself worrying about things like ingrown hair? What about that nagging toothache?
Hopefully personal hygiene is already a cornerstone of your day to day life but in a post EMP situation you are going to need to keep that up. Otherwise, you might have to deal with things like infection or even death.
Clean water is a massive part of this equation. So, establishing those clean water processes and sources outside of tap water is very important.
You will also need to stock up on personal hygiene preps.
- Soap – Bar soap is cheap, and you can buy it in bulk without breaking the bank. It goes a long way and if you are in an off grid situation you aren’t going to fret about the quality of the soaps ingredients, as long as it gets you clean. Soapmaking has also become a popular skill to learn. It’s not very complex and might be worth learning if it peaks your interests.
- Dental – Few people enjoy visiting the dentist these days. Dentistry off grid, without numbing patients, is a nightmare that most people cannot comprehend. Baking soda, salt, and essential oils can become a toothpaste that works to keep teeth clean and healthy in the worst case scenario. Stockpile toothpaste, floss, and toothbrushes.
- Shaving is another aspect of personal hygiene that you should prepare for. Razors are cheap!
SCAVENGING TIP
To take care of your teeth, I recommend a homemade mouthwash, based on natural ingredients you should already have in your home—and especially post-SHTF. In case of tooth pain, you can follow the Amish way and treat the problem using nature’s ibuprofen.
If an infection sets in, The Amish Ways Book also contains a recipe for a natural alternative to amoxicillin. Remember, we’re talking about survival situations, so you need to bulletproof your plans and make sure you’re not caught off guard.
No Help is Coming
FEMA is not coming to your rescue after an EMP. Every resource and every person will have to be transported. Our computer governed vehicles might not even work after an EMP. So, how is help going to come?
You might think pallets of water and food are coming. You might assume doctors from out of town will come set up big tents and treat people, maybe even hand out prescriptions.
How does it all get to your town or city if there are no vehicles to transport it? The truth is you are gonna be on your own.
SCAVENGING TIP
Make sure you have enough resources of food, water, and medicine. I’ve already talked about water and medicine, but your food stockpile is just as important.
Follow the blueprint laid out by Joel Lambert in A Navy SEAL’s Bug-In Guide, along with the advice from this book that focuses entirely on survival food recipes.
Build your stockpile, and then keep a guide on hand to help you maximize the potential of your supplies.
It Might be Just the Beginning
Just because we are hit with a massive EMP that surges power and damages electrical infrastructure, it could be far from over. The sun is capable of burping out a number of massive CMEs that can hit our planet delivering successive EMPs.
Even if we are dealing with war, the opposing military might detonate a high-altitude nuke and then detonate another the week after to assure the job is done.
Related: HAM Radio Secret Frequencies You Should Know About
What this means to preppers like us is that we should not give up on the Faraday technology immediately following the EMP. If you pull radios and other electronics from your Faraday cage, following the first EMP, put it back safely when you are finished using it.
Reserve one radio for listening to ping backs and other incoming comms. The rest should be stored safely because there could be waves of EMPs if the sun is really going crazy.
SCAVENGING TIP
Schools, Department Stores, Theme Parks, and large-scale operations all use comms devices. They may not work after an EMP but it’s worth seeking them out if you have no other options for communication.
Lambert’s book that I’ve talked about before also offers tips on how to communicate post-EMP. It’s very very important to know how to stay in touch with your family and learning that from an ex-Navy SEAL is the way to go.
Final Thoughts
Major cities will fall, people will suffer in numbers we cannot imagine, that is what a grid crippling EMP will do. Truth is, we don’t know exactly what that would take. Many of our top brass believe even rogue nations like Iran and North Korea could pull off a debilitating EMP strike on the US using high altitude nukes.
It’s time to prepare for the unthinkable and start building and prepping what you need to transition to an off grid lifestyle.
Our aging grid is a target for an EMP but also for cyberwarfare, and even direct strikes. Don’t worry though, we can repair the grid. We just have to buy all the parts from China. Sweet dreams!
You can build yourself a bunker that will protect you in case of an EMP, nuclear attack, or many other disasters. Honestly, between a bug-out location and a secure space right next to my own home, I’ve always preferred the second option. That’s why I turned to The Easy Cellar—and it’s exactly what I recommend you do as well.
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It can be for pimps (flsh in romanian)
Early in the article it says eventually the water pressure will fail, actually a typical city water system has 12 hours or less water stored and ready for gravity feed to its customers. Denver has almost zero, it depends on electrically powered pumps to pressurize the system with no elevated storage. When the power goes off things are going to go south faster than most people realize. Better have some stored and a source to get more on your own and then be able to filter and treat it.
Yeah… Most folks think the taps will keep running for days, but in a place like Denver it’ll stop almost immediately. A few five-gallon jugs can buy you precious time while you figure out the longer-term solution.
Where I reside, rurally, there is water pretty much everywhere… and, the humidity very seldom goes below 50%… usually much higher… personally here on my property I’m on community water, which would probably end in case of an event, but I also have a surface well, and a spring on the property… but what I’m leading up to, why not purchase a portable home dehumidifier, power it with a solar generator, or what ever you could rig up, then Wa La, water… My Son who lives 150 miles NW of me resides in a large city that has a lower humidity than me, uses a dehumidifier in his home, actually he has three I think, as his home is like around 3500+ sq ft… he has them all set up to where they will drain outside, and I’ve never been there that the dehumidifiers weren’t draining water out of the air… Now that I’ve read this article, and your sales pitch for something to turn air into water, I actually just ordered 2 dehumidifiers, and will run them off one of my solar generators… easy peasy fix for water, as a backup should my well or spring run dry… Sooo, I want to thank you for bring up this Water out of the Air issue… you prompted me to take action… sooo soon, I’ll have a water out of air system as a backup to my other water sources.. PS, the humidifiers I’ve purchased will pull around 4 gallons of water each per day depending on the humidity… Each one was less than $200..@ a big box store.. Had I shopped around I probably could’ve gotten one cheaper… but, it is what it is… Live long and prosper, Gig Em…
Note to self, cancel order for dehumidifiers from big box store, found same product on line for $100 each… same damn product… grrrr… learning can be tough sometimes…LOL, I have learned not to rush purchase, shopping around will be way more beneficial…
Pulling water out of the air works especially well in high-humidity areas like yours. This is why we always recommend you stuff like The Water Freedom System (https://hop.clickbank.net/?affiliate=lostways&vendor=waterfs&tid=A02CosminEMPAftermathWFScomm).
Our well is pretty deep so I have made well buckets and have a 500′ spool of rope. I need to order a spool of aircraft cable. Plenty of Hazel wood to make a tripod out of to hang a snatch block from. There’s a creek close by also that I can haul water from using a game cart. Hoping to install two 1000 gallon tanks next year so we can collect rain water from the goat barn to irrigate the garden and orchard . In the event of an EMP, I would be more worried about the people leaving the cities thinking that they’ll just live off the land. Keep prepping!
That’s a solid setup. Well buckets and rope are old-school but dependable, and a couple of 1,000-gallon rain tanks will make you nearly water independent.
And you’re right—the real threat after the lights go out isn’t always the grid, it’s desperate people pouring out of the cities.
Being rural gives you a head start, but it also means tightening security will be just as important as water.
Because of our widespread exposure to magnetic fields modern pacemakers are heavily shielded and won’t fail from EMP. Sadly, the nationwide grid is almost certain to fail, setting technology back severely for an extended period. That means no battery change for my pacemaker, right now i have an expiration date of about 3 years if replacement surgery is not available. Although the post SHTF landscape will probably look like Gaza City after the IDF finishes remodeling it, so three years might be too long.
Because of our widespread exposure to magnetic fields modern pacemakers are heavily shielded and won’t fail from EMP. Sadly, the nationwide grid is almost certain to fail, setting technology back severely for an extended period. That means no battery change for my pacemaker, right now i have an expiration date of about 3 years if replacement surgery is not available. Although the post SHTF landscape will probably look like Gaza City after the IDF finishes remodeling it, so three years might be too long.
I have said for years that potable water or lack of is going to kill the largest number of people in the first three weeks of an EMP/CME grid down disaster either through lack of or from disease.
sustainability will be the key to survival both in water and food production. deep wells that don’t need electricity to harvest water ( well buckets ) streems or creeks or rainwater collection systerm if you have a reliable way to filter or purify it.
Food- i keep enough for 3 yrs on hand untill i can get another garden in the ground.. we have.mason jars and lids and rings by the gross to store it in. just because you plant a garden does’nt mean it will produce, the weather has a lot to do with it. plan on a two year garden. we had a great garden 20 yrs ago and in july it came a massive hail storm and destroyed it, so you never know. location and sustainability will help along with so many other things. people in my part of the world have been doing this for hundreds of years, it’s just what they do- braggin rights and a small close community. that and hurricanes.
best of luck all
Geezer, absolutely! I have had some crops fail entirely on certain years. I have been saving and replanting seeds for quite a few years, but more than that, I also run controlled experiments with crops to see which conditions are ideal. Trials now equal success later.
Absolutely. Folks underestimate how quickly disease spreads from dirty water—it’ll take out more people than bullets ever will. And you’re spot on about gardening: one bad season or freak storm and your backup plan is gone.
That’s a tough reality to face, and I respect you for laying it out so honestly.
From what I’ve read, most modern pacemakers are indeed well shielded, but like you said, the real challenge is replacement surgery.
It’s one of those harsh reminders that high-tech medicine is one of the first luxuries to vanish when society breaks down. Makes the rest of us realize how fragile our “normal” really is.
Something to consider – solar charge controllers and even the LiFePo4 batteries all have built in electronics.
So don’t count on solar power after an EMP.
You could direct connect a 12v solar panel to a lead acid battery to charge it.
But not much you can do with is after that. Inverters are also electronic.
You might use it to make light from a 12 light bulb….
it would be great to have backups in some metal cans or something, i think that if a very wide grid down event happened that i would keep my stuff protected for as long as possible in the event of secondary attacks or events. we can get by just fine here for a few months here without elect.
i have a few “sacrificial” baofeng SW radios in an ammo can to get news from if needed.
P.S. some electrtronic control parts for your small engines could be handy as well. anything to keep the yards and gardens up and running for as long as you have fuel and the tools to replace them will make life alot easier
like a lot of things, buy a few once a month and they will add up and won’t hurt the pocketbook as hard all at once.
if the grid were to go down for years it won’t be a short race, it will be a marathon.
That’s a smart approach. A few sacrificial radios and spare engine parts tucked away could make all the difference when everyone else is in the dark.
Having a low-tech workaround—like direct charging lead-acid batteries—isn’t glamorous, but it’ll keep some lights on. Thanks for sharing!
The water system used in America has always had its flaws. In other places, you have a cistern and from there you raise the water to a tank that supplies water to the home by gravity. I find it very aesthetically pleasing, but it’s better than not having water.
The bottom line is that in the aftermath of a concerted HEMP attack all electronic and electrical equipment won’t work for at least weeks and maybe months or even years. We’ll be thrown back to a pre-industrial society. Electricity runs everything. So know your primitive skills and how to do more with less. Become more like the Amish.
Exactly. If it’s a coordinated EMP attack, we won’t just lose the grid, we’ll lose everything built on top of it. Learning primitive skills now means survival. The Amish never stopped practicing those skills, which gives them an edge. For the rest of us, it means a crash course in living like our great-great-grandparents, whether we’re ready or not.
The water system used in America has always had its flaws. In other places, you have a cistern and from there you raise the water to a tank that supplies water to the home by gravity. I find it very aesthetically pleasing, but it’s better than not having water.
You’re right. The U.S. water system was built for convenience, not resilience. Once the grid goes down, most of us find out pretty quick just how fragile it really is.
Gravity-fed systems like cisterns and tanks may look “old-fashioned,” but in reality, they’re far more reliable when everything else stops working.
This is also the principle on which systems like The Water Freedom System (https://hop.clickbank.net/?affiliate=lostways&vendor=waterfs&tid=A02CosminEMPAftermathWFScomm) or this one (http://hop.clickbank.net/?vendor=uswater1&affiliate=lostways&tid=A02CosminEMPAftermathJWcomm) are based.
If you don’t have to worry about radiation , then a sudden grid down over North America should be a cake walk . My guess , the main cities will recover first , with the right leadership which is a key component to any civilization.I only think that way because big cities have alot of experience in grid repair and they should have the money to get things done.If the leadership does nothing, then we’ll probably have a problem Houston. Also knowing the true cause of the grid down will be key. So if your source of information is slightly flawed you need to keep searching . I can just see the rumors…flying like bats on a hot summers night. A rum and coke would be in order…before all the ice melts….i know..what happens if it’s winter….all the better.
That’s an interesting take, and I agree leadership will make or break recovery efforts. But I’d be cautious about counting on the big cities.
Out in the smaller towns and rural areas, people may not have the same repair crews, but they’ve got skills, food, and community—and that might just be the true backbone of survival…