Power Grid: In the first half of Wednesdays show, WNDs Washington senior reporter, Michael Maloof, talked about the vulnerability of Americas power grid and infrastructures, and how they could be damaged by a solar flare as well as an EMP or cyber attack. The utilities have been fooling themselves in thinking they can handle such events, with todays national power grid drill an example of them remaining in denial, he commented. But if you have an EMP (electromagnetic pulse) over a wide geographical area, theres no way theyre going to be able to control that and it will certainly take months and years to make repairs, and urban centers could be wiped out, he warned. Such effects could also be seen from a solar flare if we take a direct hit, he added. NASA estimates if the US takes a direct hit it will cost upwards of $2 trillion in the first year, and 4-10 years to recover, with some 160 million lives affected, he reported. People will basically die of starvation and diseases simply because critical life-sustaining infrastructures depend on the grid to run, he continued. Maloof cited the need for congressional action to fund the strengthening and protection of the grid. The bipartisan EMP Caucus in the House of Representatives is one such effort in this direction. (Nov 14, 2013 - coasttocoastam)
Posted on: Thu, 28 Nov 2013 04:42:29 +0000
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