
I just finished William R. Forstchen’s “One Second After” and it is an eye opener. Like “Into the Forest” or “Gift Upon the Shore”, it paints a picture of the U.S. after a disaster strips away the thin veneer we call civilization over the whole of America. “Into the Forest” is written mostly from an individual perspective about coping with the loss of civilization and “Gift Upon the Shore” from a small group’s ability to cope with disaster. “One Second After” is about a small town just outside of Ashville, North Carolina and how it deals with the aftermath of an Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) attack on the U.S.
An EMP is generated by the exploding of a nuclear weapon 250 to 300 miles over the U.S. The electric pulse that is generated fries the computer innards that run our society. The electronics in our modern cars is fried, our financial system, that is primarily electronic, is fried along with anything in the way of energy production, food production, and hospital care. We suddenly living in a country as it was 400 to 500 years ago.
Forstchen writes a page turner that pulls at your heart. His city must confront ways to handle the sick and their medical needs. It must confront lawlessness and summary justice, food shortages with no help from the outside. In fact with all communications cut off, thwere isnooutside any longer.
In an EMP attack we may lose 10% of our population in the first week. Just imagine the plight of commercial aircraft. On an average day there are 3,000 planes flying over the U.S. and an average of 200 people on each plane. With no way to steer, six hundred thousand people would be lost in an instant as the planes fall from the sky.
Forstchen thinks that in the farm belt we could lose up to 60% of the citizens. In the big cities after a year only 10% would be left.
In 2004, a reprt was issued called the Report of the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack. The report is 62 pages long and outlines the threat we face and seems to focus on stopping an attack rather than hardening our electronics to withstand such an attack. It is dry reading. I recommend “One Second After” and when you are done, I ask you to contact Congress about protecting the nation.
Or you can start accumulating arms and ammo to protect yourself and to forage for food. You can start setting up a food larder. You can acquire knowledge to make your self useful in the new society, like how to generate electricity, steam engine technology, animal husbandry and horticulture.
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