EMP attack: What to do to prepare
Americans can dust off Y2K manuals to get ready for electromagnetic pulse
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Posted: May 21, 2005
1:00 a.m. Eastern

By Ron Strom
© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com

Though an electromagnetic pulse attack on the U.S. would wreak havoc on the nation's electrical grid and communication infrastructure, potentially sending the country back to the 19th century technologically, there are measures Americans can to take to prepare for such a scenario.

As WorldNetDaily and Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin reported, intelligence sources say Iran is not only covertly developing nuclear weapons, it is already testing ballistic missiles specifically designed to deliver an electromagnetic pulse, or EMP, attack against the U.S.

Such a a missile would be delivered from a ship offshore and carry a nuclear warhead that would be detonated by a remote-control device while still in high-altitude flight. An explosion over the center of the nation would emit an electromagnetic pulse, or high-density electrical field, that would knock out electrical power and circuit boards, thus rendering the U.S. domestic communications impotent.

"An EMP acts like a stroke of lightning but is stronger, faster and shorter," notes the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Such an attack, also known as a blackout bomb, would affect communication systems, computers, electrical appliances, and automobile and aircraft ignition systems. Though the initial impact would not harm people like a traditional nuclear bomb would, those with pacemakers or other electrical implants would likely be affected.

"A terrorist organization might have trouble putting a nuclear warhead 'on target' with a SCUD, but it would be much easier to simply launch and detonate in the atmosphere," wrote Sen. John Kyl, R-Ariz., in the Washington Post last month. "No need for the risk and difficulty of trying to smuggle a nuclear weapon over the border or hit a particular city. Just launch a cheap missile from a freighter in international waters. ."

In testimony before the House International Terrorism and Non-Proliferation Subcommittee, chaired by Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., James Woolsey, director of the CIA from 1993 through 1995, referred to the nuclear EMP threat, characterized in intelligence circles, he said, as "a SCUD in a bucket."

"That is a simple ballistic missile from a stockpile somewhere in the world outfitted on something like a tramp steamer and fired from some distance offshore into an American city or to a high altitude, thereby creating an electromagnetic pulse effect, which could well be one of the most damaging ways of using a nuclear weapon," he told the committee.

"That is a very serious threat, and one thing we need badly to do is to figure out ways to harden our electricity grid and various types of key nodes so that electromagnetic pulse blasts of nuclear weapons, or other ways of generating electromagnetic pulse, even if it knocks out our toaster ovens will not knock out, for example, our electricity grid."

Wrote the Wall Street Journal last year after the Commission to Assess the Threat to the U.S. from Electromagnetic Pulse Attack delivered its report to Congress: "No American would necessarily die in the initial attack, but what comes next is potentially catastrophic. The pulse would wipe out most electronics and telecommunications, including the power grid. Millions could die for want of modern medical care or even of starvation since farmers wouldn't be able to harvest crops and distributors wouldn't be able to get food to supermarkets."

The commission recommended that critical components of civilian infrastructure be "EMP hardened." The Journal noted most new units can be hardened for 1 percent to 3 percent of cost if done at the time of design and manufacture. Hardening existing systems can cost 10 times as much.

So how do Americans prepare for a potential EMP attack? Since the event would render electrical and communication systems inoperable, preparedness should include supplies that will allow survival without the usual comforts of home - like electricity.

For those who prepared for a Y2K scenario that predicted the demise of the electrical grid as we know it, preparing for an EMP attack will seem quite familiar. Such preparation includes putting together a typical disaster kit with food, water, medications, fuel and personal items. While the U.S. Department of Homeland Security recommends a disaster kit able to sustain a family for two weeks, if expert predictions are correct, recovery from an EMP attack could take months or even years.