Electricity out = social unrest

[Alpine]

One thing that keeps people home, good or bad, is severe weather. If it's too hot or too cold, people just stay home.

Once people get hungry and thirsty, then you start to have problems.

[SpikeMike]

I think people are behaving because they do know the utilities companies are actually out there working the problems. They still have flowing water, so they can cool off and at least stay hydrated. They also still have food, so they're not hungry. Now, that being said, you take away power, take away potable water, take away food sources, then you have a problem. A very large problem.

Which begs the following thoughts. What happens in a sort of middle-scale nuclear event? Water and food sources contaminated. People with radiation sickness and contaminated. Animals running loose, etc.
Part of me believes the smaller communities will be better off. Towns in the 500 to 5,000 range for a population. It is easier for a small town to bind itself into a cohesive unit than say someplace like Denver or Westminster or Boulder.

We saw from Katrina what can happen to a major city when the entire infrastructure falls completely apart. Most of us I believe have learned some lessons from that. You can bet your bottom dollar that the initial Federal response will be swifter and much more harsher in some regards. FEMA knows it is a limited entity. They have neither the man-power or the organization so effectively handle major disasters. They are more likely to follow the protocols used by the DoD and hire private security contractors to handle problems, policing, security, etc.

That is a frightening prospect as those same corporations have demonstrated time and again that they are above the law, they make the law and rules and do as they will when enforcing them.
Just food for thought.....

[SigShooter]

My parents have handled 2-3 weeks without power following an ice storm in the NE. It's wonderful what having a wood stove, a pitcher pump and a store of food can do.

Thing is, there wasn't any unrest... people banded together for food, heat, water, checking on the elderly, etc.

Course that was rural... cities got messed up a lot worse.

[Mattallen0506]

Natural disasters have been around forever. There just happens to be a lot more people now in densely populated areas all over the world. These disasters certainly can ruin lives and throw cities and whole regions into chaos. But I personally think an area would fair far worse from something more sudden, like an EMP or even a cyber attack targeting our precious wallets. When something happens that is quick and unexpected, and we all lose use of our smart phones and our 401k's and the like disappear, that's when people's true colors come out.

All that to say: Be adaptable. And don't be cought with your pants down.

[SpikeMike]

Ask yourself this question, would your own government use a high-level detonation for EMP to prep an urban area for assault during a major incident?

There actually is a protocol for this and yes, they would. The reasoning behind it is that it allows for absolute communications and movement disruption. It allows them to move freely without facing heavily organized opposition.

Cell phones, radios, radio stations, TV stations, almost all vehicles would cease to work, not to mention the power grid.

[HoneyBadger]

Ask yourself this question, would your own government use a high-level detonation for EMP to prep an urban area for assault during a major incident?

There actually is a protocol for this and yes, they would. The reasoning behind it is that it allows for absolute communications and movement disruption. It allows them to move freely without facing heavily organized opposition.

Cell phones, radios, radio stations, TV stations, almost all vehicles would cease to work, not to mention the power grid.

Do you have a source for this protocol? I think by this point, we would all be pretty established in our bug-out or bug-in locations.

[Blockhead]

Ask yourself this question, would your own government use a high-level detonation for EMP to prep an urban area for assault during a major incident?

There actually is a protocol for this and yes, they would. The reasoning behind it is that it allows for absolute communications and movement disruption. It allows them to move freely without facing heavily organized opposition.

Cell phones, radios, radio stations, TV stations, almost all vehicles would cease to work, not to mention the power grid.

A statement like that is going to need some substantiation.

[keylay31]

Ask yourself this question, would your own government use a high-level detonation for EMP to prep an urban area for assault during a major incident?

There actually is a protocol for this and yes, they would. The reasoning behind it is that it allows for absolute communications and movement disruption. It allows them to move freely without facing heavily organized opposition.

Cell phones, radios, radio stations, TV stations, almost all vehicles would cease to work, not to mention the power grid.

I agree with the comments above. This comment deserves a tinfoil hat until proven otherwise.