So I'm writing a prepper novel

[LadyRoman]

Hello Everyone!

I've decided my next novel is going to be a shtf situation and would love your input and advice. I don't want to over look anything. I'm new at prepping so I would appreciate your experience and knowledge. Who knows? Maybe this will end up becoming really successful and then it will get more people thinking about prepping! (That's kinda my goal)

My scenario is Solar EMP kills power grid.
I know the obvious things that will no longer work. But I was wondering about smaller things like walkie talkies, flashlights, things running on batteries. Also what about older cars (60s-70s) that don't have an electronic starter? Would solar panels or gas/wind generators still work?

All these questions are assuming they have not been protected by a faraday cage.

I know some of these might be obvious to you. But, like I said, I'm new at this.
Thank you!

 

[jimLE]

one thing you might want to look into,is the 1859 emp and what it did...pluse there's other documented emps as well..reading up on them might help you understand what a emp can and will do...walkie talkies has electronics,so does cell phones desk top computers electroniic lights that come on at night when it detects movement..i beleave any solar panel most and likely wont after a emp.a wind powered generator most n like wont in my opinon,simply because it's electric

 

[LadyRoman]

Thank you for the 1857 suggestion. Tons of material from that.

I knew about the cell phones and computers exc. I was just wondering about things running on batteries. Someone had told me that flashlights would still work but I wasn't sure. Thats why I figured I would ask here.

What about the older cars? Gas generators?

If something was unplugged or powered down would it still be effected?

 

[DrHenley]

Hi LadyRoman, have you read the book One Second After? There is some fairly accurate information in that book about EMPs, although I think it exaggerated the effects of an EMP a bit.

The big danger is a high altitude nuclear blast. In a low altitude nuclear blast, the atmosphere dampens the emp limiting its range. In a high altitude nuclear blast an artificial radiation belt is created in space that interacts with the Earth's magnetic field.

For some actual, non-hypothetical information about EMPs caused by high altitude nuclear blasts, you might want to read about "Starfish Prime", which was a high altitude nuclear test (1.4 megatons at 250 miles altitude) conducted in 1962:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starfish_Prime

 

[Overlord]

Check out this link in Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_flare

I monitor solar flares through http://www.tesis.lebedev.ru/en/sun_flares.html

You can also use this PDF file. It is a Solar Flare Impact Study written in 2007 by James A. Marusek. It contains a lot of useful information.

There are things to consider aside from just Solar Flares. One of them is CMEs or Coronal Mass Ejections which they say can really cause damage. Each one travels at their own speed and hits the planet at different time frames from the flare.

If you want the Solar Activity to be the cause of your EMP, then it has to happen during the 11 year cycle of the sun. This year is actually the 11th year of that cycle so you can use 2013 as a counting point.

"One Second After" is pretty good although I haven't finished reading it yet. Been so busy.

Hope these help.

 

[LadyRoman]

I went out and bought the book. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[Tyler]

The thing that got me into prepping was the fear of an emp. (Kinda ironic that I don't prep for an emp anymore) The way it was presented (in a book that the title is escaping me at the moment) the author says something like "you wake up in the middle of winter and your house is cold, maybe you forgot to shut the windows last night before bed time. You walk over to the fridge to find the milk is the only warm thing in the house and has gone bad. You notice now of the lights turn on either. You sit in darkness, eating. You then go to go to work but your car won't start. The guy with the 70s diesel car drives by. You are in the moddle of an emp, now what do you do?" Not sure if that helpsnor gives you an idea but that is what got me thinking of prepping