The vulnerable electrical grid is under attack.
Occasionally I read an article or see a news report about the potential for a total electrical grid blackout due to a terrorist attack. I know as well as anyone that this is a possibility, but I have to admit that I don’t give it as much thought as I should.
At least I didn’t used to think much about it. But after learning about all the attempts to take down our grid that have already occurred and continue to occur daily – attacks that are seldom reported by mainstream media – I’m now thinking that it’s not a matter of if, but when.
One power company reports approximately 10,000 attempted cyber attacks per month. Many electrical utilities are reporting either daily or frequent cyber attacks, including probes on their networks that are searching for vulnerabilities. And, of course, there is also the very realistic threat of a physical attack on the power grid.
The vulnerability of our electrical grid is now fully documented, thanks to a declassified report from the National Research Council. Citing the grid’s old technology, lack of spare capacity and incapability of keeping pace with the increasing burden being placed upon it, the formerly secret report to the Department of Homeland Security states that a sophisticated assault against the grid could produce catastrophic results.
An attack could cause damage in excess of hundreds of billions of dollars and result in hundreds or thousands of deaths due to heat stress or extended exposure to extreme cold.
Our grid system is being called a “glass jaw” by industry experts, and everybody knows it, including the terrorists.
If the grid goes down, the supply chain for everyday necessities could be severely disrupted. This means that everything you count on being available at the stores you go to – from food and medicine to tools and hygiene products – might not be available when you need them.
The solution is obvious, at least for individuals. Get off the grid as much as you can, with solar panels, wind turbines, solar air heaters and solar water heaters. Then, at the very least, you’ll have the lighting, heat and air conditioning that you and your family require.
I think solar power for homes is a good idea. If you are young and have the time to pay it off. A good solar system will run you 20 to 25 K. But if you are a prepper? You probably want a system that you can transport. When all chaos hits, you can’t stay at home thinking the gangs down the street are going to obay the property line, especially when there is no police to protect and serve. If you live in the mountains, you probably have a solar system and are harder to get to than in the county or city. One day just go to a camp site and stay for 5 days. You will see what you need, then get the stuff you need. :) It’s that simple.
We were without power last summer for 24 hours and a few people were without it for 3 days. We couldn’t shop, get gas. Basically could do nothing. We did invest in a whole house generator, hopefully they wouldn’t get that too.
Having solar power via panels on roof or on the ground would help you survive without the power companies at least for a few days. Then when those who find themselves without food will start to loot and break into homes looking for food. BUT most of them would realize that those solar panels mean that those homes with them HAVE electricity and probably food that is still good and not spoiled thus those are the homes to break into for better prospects of getting some. And it would not be just one or two people it would more likely be bunches. Good luck at stopping them. Even Smith and Wesson runs out of bullets at some point.
Anyone that has prepared to defend their home would have enough ammunition to easily defend their family. One shotgun with.00 shotgun shells would amply do the job. People have an inherent self protection and when a single shot is sent down range, they would scatter like rats.
I don’t know Will…… In the early days of collapse? Perhaps so. A solitary firearm would likely do the job. But outside of 30 days when hungry people band together and begin marauding in ARMED groups killing for what’s left of the food and potable water? Whole different scenario and set of problems arise.
My thoughts…. You need MULTIPLE firearms, and not shotguns either. Those are good for deterring breaches and for short range use only. You NEED multiple shooters in the home.
1)Train the wife and kids to operate every firearm in the house.
2) Spend some money on serious amounts of both different firearms AND ammo. I would say NO LESS than 20,000 rounds on hand total for ALL firearms.
Different firearms for different jobs. Sounds like you have the short range stuff covered. You need intermediate and long range firearms to complete your defense system .
Intermediate range firearms, I would say firearms that will cover up to 200 yards for general defense and battle use. AK-47, AR-15 or so.
Anything north of 200 yards, you need a different firearm if you want any punch and accuracy. Any 30-30, 30-06, .308, even a Russian Mosin Nagant that fires the 7.62x54r cartridge! Mosins are dirt cheap, and so is the ammo. It’s a surplus firearm, but it’s built for punishment, has few moving parts, and requires almost NO maintenance.
When the hordes finally come, and they WILL when on-hand resources become scarce, attacks will NOT come merely from one direction, especially if marauders have multiple ARMED people. They will likely attack from 2 or more directions simultaneously. That’s what I’D do….. Thus the multiple household shooter scenario I spoke of above to cover the bases.
I hope this has been of some value….
Hello Frank
Power 4 Patriot could be a very good place to start helping people to be ready for an electrical grid failure. And yes you have done a lot of different things for helping people get ready. The next step could be to find a power source like a fuelless generator that works and people could build. Yes solar does work in sunshine but many people do not have the space for panels. Or can not apply power made from panels to grid because power company does not allow this enter of power without UL stamp on panels. Just like my power company ,SO, will not allow any one to joint their green power movement, saying membership is full with a waiting list if ever opens again. So I am going to have a way to attach my home made power to my home if grid goes down without any one being hurt if grid turns back on.
P4P could be the number one source for building a fuelless generator that works for our homes, with all your members someone or many people can have ideas that works. Just an idea
geraldc
I have a helpful tip that might help some in the event of a power outage. If the power goes out your land line is useless only because of the big answering machine on it. This runs off the power. Unplug it then plug in a old rotary or push button phone. It will work just fine. If the phone lines are up. You can still buy these for as little as $9.00. Some of them were called princess phones way back. Any of these old model phones will still work if the phone lines are up when the power goes out!
i need to know more about it so i can get off or out of the power grid.
Although your messages/videos are pertinent, the content is long & redundant. Helping the public, as you claim you wish to do, would be (1) make it short (2) get to the point (3) don’t repeat. Your credibility depends on it.
Yes, agreed. 1,2,3!
Short and concise is best.
Amen to that
I caught the tale end of a report the other day that a power station in some remote area ( I think in Az.) had come literally “under attack”. The station had gone dead and when they went to check it out they found damage to the transformers. so they checked the security cameras and found someone dressed in black walking around the outside fence line shooting a high powered rifle at them. When asked about it the official being interviewed admits that its not the first time and wonders if it is a test run for a bigger threat. Will try and find the report.
It is just a matter of when not if. With our laughable boarder security, it is just a matter of time, before some jihadist group decides to do it. Most of the east and west coasts will end up dead in a week or ten days. The midwest, south, great plains areas and mountain west will probably survive. Most military bases, other than some Air Bases which went nuts for ‘Wind Power’ or ‘Solar Power’ the last few years, have no power generation ability any more. They depend on the grid too. It will truly become a jungle out there, with starving, freezing or hot, people trying to find food and shelter to keep warm. The military and National Guard will be hard pressed to maintain their own bases or armories much less aid the public. We will become nearly defenseless. Congress had a chance a few years back to solve this problem when they passed the “Smart Grid Bill.’ By requiring power companies to become EMP and sabotage ‘proof.’ Harry Reid decided it was “provocative to our enemies” and gutted the provisions out of the bill.
Frank,
I work for an electric company and can tell you without reserve that things are more dire than you suspect. You are worried about the thousands of cyber attacks on the power distrubution, but you are missing a really basic weakness in our grid. This one hammered home to me in 2003. That was when the power went out in the NE states because of heavy load and a tree branch that fell across some lines. Yes, everything goes through distribution centers and is sent out from there. And those ARE controlled by computers. But really, there are only a relatively few number of feeder lines that support the whole mess. And most of that wiring is in very remote locations. You’ve seen the big towers marching off into the distance and hopefully you have noticed no real population around large chucks of it. If a terrorist group were really interested in taking down this country, it would make a coordinated attack against these unexposed feeders. Take out some of the feeders that supply the large population centers and do some serious damage to the lines/transformers and you will have millions of people without power for days, weeks, possibly months. A city like NY would not survive a blackout of a week without going crazy. Most big cities wouldn’t. And the beauty of it is that if you took out even half of the major power arteries, the rest would not be able to carry the load and would be rendered useless. Power plants could continue to operate, but would have no where to send their power. And since the power lines are in such remote areas, the chances of getting caught are nil. Scary, isn’t it?