Category: Emerging Threats

Cell Phone Outage-Induced Chaos Illustrates an Over-Dependence on Technology

James, The cause of the recent cell phone outage in Kentucky isn’t being stated, but they are appearing to distance themselves from an CME or EMP event. Nevertheless, how much preparedness do most of these AT&T users demonstrate? (This could of course happen with any carrier.) One of my employees who has an AT&T phone said the only number her school age son has to reach her is her cell number, as an example. Why her son can’t have her work number I have no idea. An embedded terrorist cell springing into action and striking a school during such an …


Letter Re: Solar Storms

James, The recent solar storm prediction was not a wake-up call for me, but it was certainly an “oh-no” moment. I am not completely prepared, and I already know it. We are moving to our retreat this weekend. Would we be able to rent a truck if the power went off? Or would I be able to find enough gasoline for multiple trips with my pickup truck? I had also put off some large purchases until after the move. We currently have three months of food on hand. That will increase to one year’s worth after the move. Solar and/or …


Letter From David in Israel Re: Solar Storms

James There was a bit of excitement when we flew the Earth through this last coronal mass ejection (CME) it might be useful for people to understand how the 1859 event was set up to cause such a powerful hit as well as its effects on Earth. The 1859 Carrington [CME] Event was a very rare perfect storm in space where sci-fi type examples are probably the best language to illustrate what happened. The sun is a big bubbling liquid death star, it can spew and splash at times with great power. Since we orbit the sun and it has …


Two Letters Re: Solar Storms

Dear Jim, Regarding the Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) that occurred this week that everyone is concerned about. I advise some caution in over-reacting to these types of events. While the CME itself was of a very high magnitude and is spectacular in images, it was never anticipated that it would cause us any problems. Predictions for auroral activity were only in the high latitudes, and auroral activity is a dead-giveaway as to how strong the impact on the ground will be. The spectacular images we have all seen over the last week immediately told me we had nothing to be …


Letter Re: Solar Storms

Hi Jim, Your note of last night regarding the pending solar storm was the strongest prep wake up call I’ve had yet. Especially as I finished reading One Second After Been just last night! I’ve been up all night making sure things are in order the best I can. Now that I’ve done what I can, and still wound up on adrenaline, I spent some time digging through the Internet for more EMP information. I thought that this Huffington Post article really explains some of the real dangers quite well – such as how the transformers that are damaged by …


Three Letters Re: Real World EMP Effects on Motor Vehicle

Sir, I read the report in the government document regarding the effects of EMP on vehicles. The vehicles were only tested at 20k V/m then up to 50k V/m if they survived the first test. The reason that they were not tested beyond 50k V/m is that is what is the “known” maximum that would be released. The Russians have purpose-built EMP warheads that are speculated to emit 1m V/m to 2m V/m (100k V/m to 200k V/m). These weapons would completely destroy sensitive engine management controls. To put this in a little more perspective, the Starfish Prime test in …


Letter Re: Riots and Civil Unrest in America

Mr. Rawles, I had one more observation to add to B.B. in California’s letter about the 1992 Los Angeles riots. At the time, I was living in Bakersfield, a city a two hour drive from L.A., and I vividly recall watching the news coverage of the events. This was followed by stories of similar, albeit much smaller, incidents of ‘unrest’ in cities as far away from L.A. as Fresno, and Oakland, California. The most alarming thing was this: Each of these cities, indeed, even the city I lived in, had already sent some of the Police Officers (mostly California Highway …


Letter Re: Criminal Gangs Gaining Military Expertise

James: Thank you for your great blog. I have learned a lot from it and it has been a motivator in getting friends to begin to prep. I just wanted to share this article with you: ‘Scary’ growth of gangs in war zones. It talks about Gangs in the war zones of Afghanistan and Iraq. It specifically mentioned gang members being arrested recently that had military service and had brought back their manuals. If the stuff hits the fan we may not be faced with untrained, sideways shooting gangsters but with gang members who at least have some training and …


Letter Re: Riots and Civil Unrest in America

CPT Rawles: One thing that was not mentioned by B.B .was that it was Federal [Active Duty] troops that had to come in and help put the rioting down. The 7th Infantry Division (Light), which I was with at that time, and Marines from Camp Pendleton. I can assure you that we had plenty of ammunition. We too were passing out ammo to both the police and the National Guard. Our Rules of Engagement (ROEs) were very strict we could not fire unless fired upon, and we had to have a visual on the bad guy. Also were going out …


Three Letters Re: Riots and Civil Unrest in America

James Wesley: BB in California was spot on with his assessment of the 1992 riots and I doubt that will be the last time we will see such an uprising. One thing B.B. didn’t mention was the ripple affect to other parts of the LA area and around the nation. Don’t be fooled into thinking that this will never happen in your area. I worked 20 miles east of downtown and lived another 20 miles further east – 40 miles from downtown, in a nice neighborhood. Even though I was a prepper way back then, I felt after the first …


Riots and Civil Unrest in America, by B.B. in California

I am writing this article not to glorify what I have seen, but perhaps to make some of you think about some unknowns.  I am a U.S. Army veteran who served in the 1980s, and when I honorably discharged I was recruited into law enforcement at a termination of service briefing at Fort Irwin, California.  From there I went into law enforcement in Los Angeles for over 20 years and never looked back.  I am writing this article because many people are writing about living through and how to survive civil unrest (I am sorry, a riot is a riot …


Two Letters Re: How Long Can You Tread Water?

Dear CPT Rawles: The article “How Long Can You Tread Water?” was indeed a scary analysis of the advent of either an EMP attack, or a natural sun storm which would create the same series of events. There is no doubt that our society would come unglued in many parts of the nation. There is also no doubt that eventually, urban gangs will fan out across the countryside in search of food, women, drugs, liquor, weapons and gold. If your farmhouse is in their avenue of advance, it will be taken. As in all military activities and survival of TEOTWAWKI …


Two Letters Re: How Long Can You Tread Water?

Mr. Rawles: I have been reading your site for over two years now and have two of your books. I have a growing concern on what is going on in the world and working to prepare myself and my family for what the future may or may not bring us. I eagerly await the next day postings of SurvivalBlog each and everyday and look forward to what your other readers bring to the table. I took great interest in “How Long Can You Tread Water?” by Tom S. but more in the initial response. I am sure there will be …


Letter Re: How Long Can You Tread Water?

Mr. Rawles: Regarding the recently-posted article on EMP, while some of what Tom S. says is true, some of it is just plain silly. The results of a nation-wide EMP pulse would be catastrophic to be sure. Banking, communications, even food supply would in fact be disrupted. But to suggest that well organized gangs with armored vehicles would be systematically destroying farm homes and lake cabins is simply preposterous. Please consider: 1. If fuel production is halted, no one is going to get further than one tank of gas outside the city limits. 2. If fuel is still being produced …


How Long Can You Tread Water? by Tom S.

Noah may have questioned God about why he should build such a big boat.  To quote the comedian Bill Cosby, God might have asked: “How long can you tread water?” In the event of an Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) burst 250 miles above Kansas or a super solar flare, the loss of the electrical grid would stop almost all food production and importation in the USA.  Some estimate there is, at any given time, more than 1,000 pounds per capita of food in consumable form available in the USA.  Unfortunately, it is very poorly distributed and will not be available to …