Citing the country’s already vulnerable energy grid, William R. Forstchen, Ph.D. recently warned an electromagnetic pulse (EMP), attack would wipe out power and set off a cascade of deadly events. The first necessity people would lose is water, followed by food supply and medication. Then, disease would set in. Long-term survival, he added, would depend on being in the right place at the right time with the right food supply. The origin of an EMP can be natural or artificial from, for example, a nuclear missile exploding above Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City, the most likely bullseye in an attack on America.

“I believe the threat of America being hit by an EMP weapon is the single greatest danger to our survival,” Forstchen said. “Electricity is the fundamental building block of our society. Everything is predicated on electrification.”