blackout survival guide

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Copyright 2012 Peak 10 Publishing LLCSee other products at

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BLACKOUT SURVIVAL GUIDE

Copyright 2012 Peak 10 Publishing LLC | www.Peak10Publishing.com

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1Copyright 2012 Peak 10 Publishing LLC | www.Peak10Publishing.com

INTRODUCTIONITS SAFE TO SAY THAT AMERICA REQUIRES POWER to operate. Notpoli cal power, or purchasing power, or even military power sheneeds all of those - we are speaking of electrical power . Most everyaspect of our daily existence requires power to accomplish. Fromhea ng our breakfast to driving the kids to school, from growingthe food we eat to supplying the power to operate the lights in ourclassrooms, we depend on electricity and the power grid for our

every day life.

There are those that depend more on this than others considerthat there are currently approximately 40,000 people on life supportin America right now that depend on electrical power to run theirfeeding tubes, respirators, and dialysis machines in order to even live.On a larger scale, we all depend on power in some way or anotherfor basically everything.

Once considered a novelty, electricity is now an essen al part ofAmerican life. It is what makes us a rst world country. It is whatallows us to have running water in places that water would notnormally run. It is what allows us to pick up the phone and havethe police come within minutes when we hear a noise outside. Our
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power grid, the mechanism by which all this power makes its wayfrom the power plant right to our wall socket is aging, however,and is increasingly vulnerable to a ack. Consider that the averagehome will experience at least one power failure per year. This failureusually lasts a few minutes in extreme cases, the power might beout for half an hour or more. Some areas su er more frequent poweroutages due to the deteriora ng infrastructure on which they relyon; yet others su er brownouts, which are voltage reduc ons thats ll keep the power on but at a reduced and less useful capacity.

True blackouts las ng a few hours or more, and poten ally a fewdays, are rela vely rare, but are alarmingly increasing in frequency,especially on the East Coast where the power grid is heavily taxedat all mes, and even natural occurrences like heat waves whereinpeople overuse their air condi oning are enough to cripple analready fragile system. The handwri ng is on the wall Americaspower usage is growing exponen ally while its ancient power grid is

being repaired with band-aid solu ons.

WHAT IS THE POWER GRID EXACTLYThe power grid in America is made up of three main components;the rst of these is the power plants that actually produce the power.In America, there are several methods of genera ng power that arein use: hydroelectric power, meaning that water in a river or dam

passes over a series of turbines which spin to produce electricity;coal, wherein coal is red to heat boilers, the steam generatedtherein spins turbines, thereby producing power; nuclear, in whichnuclear fuel is used to heat boilers which once again produce steamthat drives turbines that produce power. There are several smallerspecialty types of power plants in its quest to diversify powergenera on, America employs wind farms, natural gas plants, biomass

plants, wave farms, solar farms, and a host of other technologies.The second component of the power grid is the thousands of milesof transmission lines. The power needs to get from the power plantto the consumer, and this journey is accomplished through thesuperhighway of transmission lines that connect the en re countryusing the ubiquitous towers seen everywhere.


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Lastly, the power grid relies on a massive network of substa ons toform the distribu on network. High voltage lines bring the electricityfrom the power plant to the substa on; the substa on must thenstep that power down using transformers and then distribute itto individual homes and businesses at a reduced voltage. Thesesubsta ons are cri cal because of a factor called voltage drop . Abasic example of voltage drop is thus: If one had a 12 volt ba eryand connected a wire from the ba ery that was 1 foot long, and thenone measured the voltage at the end of that 1 foot wire, the voltagewould be 12 volts even. If that wire were a mile long, however,the voltage from the ba ery would barely register if at all. This isbecause as the length of the transmission line increases, resistancediminishes the power seen at the far end of the wire. Thus, if theaverage American home requires 240v alterna ng current voltageto operate, the transmission lines must be many thousands of volts

in order to move that voltage short distances, and many hundredsof thousands of volts to move that voltage long distances. Clearlythese voltages would fry the wiring of a modern home so beforethey enter homes they are stepped down by a series of transformersand then distributed from there. Some large industries and hospitalsrequire several hundred volts of power to operate and are thus sent


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more voltage; residences require the least amount of power but aremost numerous and thus are appor oned accordingly.

POWER GRID WEAKNESSESAll by itself, even without external threats of any kind, the power gridis constantly on the verge of failing. Americas power demand hasoutpaced the construc on of power plants and her move into furthersuburban development has taxed transmission lines na onwide.Its so bad that Bill Richardson, a Clinton era Secretary of Energy,calls America a superpower with a third world grid. The gridgenerally su ers from age in the East; some power genera on andtransmission equipment there is decades old, while the West su ersfrom inadequate transmission lines to bridge the great distances toever burgeoning developments.

There are several mundane and unexci ng reasons why the powergrid can fail locally. One of these is the transmission lines. As they

carry more voltage, the lines heat up, which causes them to sagbetween transmission towers. Any errant vegeta on that touchesthese lines can trigger a short, which will immediately trip theautoma c power relays and shut down the line. The load will thenbe moved to other transmission lines so that the consumer doesnteven no ce the outage. However, if those other lines are alreadyrunning at or near capacity due to usage, the power failure can

cause an overload in those lines and shut them down one a eranother in what is called a cascade. Its these cascades that causethe widespread power failures that last for hours as engineers fromdozens of companies a empt to x the damage to power lines,systems, and transformers that are inextricably linked to each other.

There are all sorts of nefarious why the power grid can fail; one ofthe foremost fears of the US government is concerted cyber a acksdesigned to bring the grid down. The reason why the electrical gridis such a cri cal infrastructure is that our lives essen ally dependon its constant and unfailing opera on. Our enemies know andrealize this, and would love to take the grid down, knowing full andwell that poten ally thousands of deaths could be caused by themanifold factors that we depend on electricity for. Our enemies


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could launch something like an Electromagne c Pulse (EMP) a ack,but that requires the high al tude detona on of a nuclear weapon.Not all countries have access to nuclear weapons or the deliverysystems (rockets) to get the nukes into orbit. Also, an EMP a ack is adeclara on of war by whoever launches it, thus is not a palatable riskfor even the most radical of rogue na ons. A cyber a ack, however,is anonymous, silent, prac cally untraceable, and capable of beinglaunched by a small cell anywhere in the world and it will causemuch of the devasta on an EMP a ack could.

It has been es mated that a targeted cyber a ack on the power gridcould last for as long as nine to eighteen months just by an internetbased shu ng down of certain cri cal transformers. The reasonthese a acks are so feared and so paralyzing to American securityagencies has to do with new computerized smart grid technology.In days of old, power genera on, transmission, and distribu on wasaccomplished by hand that is to say, humans were responsible

for keeping the system running and balanced. Security consistedof locked gates to sensi ve areas. The problem with these oldersystems is that they were not par cularly e cient. Modern smartgrid systems use computers to balance the loads and send power to


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where it is required automa cally and on the y. These computersare linked via the internet not directly linked as your computer athome, but s ll very vulnerable to a acks by experts that can in ltratethe systems and shut them down or cause damage that would takeweeks or months to repair. The government recognizes the gravethreat to this and is currently scrambling to rush bills into law thatwill channel new funds and personnel to guarding against thisproblem.

It is important to note that these sensi ve power genera on,

transmission, and distribu on facili es are s ll open to conven onalterrorist a acks using personnel, small arms, or high explosives.Many cri cal infrastructure systems related to the power grid areextremely lightly guarded, if at all. Hardly anyone has given thoughtto the fact that these systems might come under a ack. Nuclearpower plants are guarded mainly for their radioac ve fuel ratherthan for their importance on the grid, and most conven onal power

plants only possess the most cursory security measures, mainly usedto prevent pe y the . Some substa ons and distribu on networksonly contain rudimentary security measures such as chain link fencesand padlocks; all of these facili es are highly vulnerable to a terroristthreat.

Geomagne c storms are another major threat to the power gridand unfortunately there isnt much that can be done to preventagainst them; the sun does as it wills. Solar rays and powerful coronalmass ejec ons release energy into space that hurtles at high speedtowards the Earth. These rays hit the Earths magnetosphere andcause it to be electrically charged these electrical charges are inturn imparted into long, metallic conductors on the surface and justunder the surface of the Earth, things like power lines and pipelines.These power lines experience surge ac vity and unexpected highvoltages that fry line equipment, disrupt computer control systems,and cause massive blackouts like the Quebec Hydro blackout in 1989,which le 6 million people without power for the be er part of a day all caused by natural occurrences that are certain to happen again.


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THE NORTHEAST BLACKOUTThe Northeast Blackout of 2003 remains the single largest blackout inUnited States history, resul ng in the loss of power to over 55 millionpeople. This monster blackout a ected people in dozens of statesand resulted in the blackout of large metropolitan areas like Torontoand New York ci es, which were without power for the be er part of12 hours.

Heat was named as a contribu ng factor in the outage; it was themiddle of August and the temperature on the day of the blackout

averaged 88 degrees in the Northeast. There wasnt a single glaringcause to the event the outage had several triggers, among them,trees in the Ohio area making contact with 345,000 volt power linesoverhead. As the hot day grew ho er and air condi oners wereturned on by the overheated populace, the power lines began tosag; soon enough, one made contact with a tree and shorted out,followed by another. As power was diverted to other lines, a series

of cascading failures ensued that ul mately shut down over 100power plants in an unprecedented outage as demand dropped, onegeographical area a er another simply dropped o the grid. By theend of the outage, 256 power plants would be rendered inopera veand 55 million people would be without power.

To understand what this means, one need only look at the e ects ofsuch a massive and uninten onal power failure:

Millions of homes were totally without power, some for closeto 20 hours.

Many areas lost water pressure the water pumps areelectric. Imagine a situa on with extreme heat and extremelylimited water.

Loss of electricity in water treatment plants causedcontamina on in the water supply, some of which lasted fordays a er the event.

Numerous chemical spills into waterways were reported fromplants that had their control systems fail due to lack of power.


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Sewage backups were widespread due to the fact that the

electric sewage pumps were o ine and could not movesewage out of the drains.

Most trains running into and out ofNew York City were inopera ve.

Flights were cancelled due to inabilityof screening and E- cket systems tofunc on.

Gas sta ons were unable to pumpfuel since their electric pumps wereinopera ve- many unpreparedmotorists were stranded.

Several oil plants were shut down, losing produc on, andcausing gas prices to increase for weeks a erwards.

Cellular telephone communica ons rapidly failed as backupgenerator power died.


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Cable television networks went o the air and did not resumebroadcas ng un l the power was back on, e ec vely leavingconfused and scared ci zens without a method of receiving

mely news on the disaster.

Tra c jams and backups were widespread as street lightsbecame inopera ve.

In New York State alone, over 800 stalled elevators withpeople inside were reported, as well as over 600 rail carsstalled between sta ons.

Deaths were reported due to heat stroke, especially in elderlyfolk as temperatures reached over 92 degrees.

As power generators failed due to lack of fuel, 911 servicesbecame sporadic.

Overall, the blackout had many insidious e ects only realized oncepeople saw how interlinked all of the na ons systems were and howthey all contributed to u er chaos when they failed. Over 11 deathswere blamed on the power failure as well as dozens of injuriesand overall, hundreds of millions of dollars worth of economice ects. All of this occurred due to natural causes, a perfect storm ofcircumstances that lasted less than 24 hours.

BLACKOUT SURVIVAL LONGER TERM EFFECTSIf all of the above happened in less than 24 hours, what would theblackout have been like if it lasted for weeks? What about if it hadoccurred during the winter, instead? All of these scenarios haveplayed out recently, and they all have their ups and downs for thosewho are prepared; for those who are unprepared, they can bedeadly.

Imagine for a moment that the power is out for two weeks. Twoweeks doesnt seem like a long me many people have gonecamping for two weeks at a me without power whats the bigdeal? Consider these e ects a er just two weeks without power to awidespread area:


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Thousands of dead as life support systems in hospitals fail.

Flights grounded as repair, cke ng, telemetry, and air tra c

control systems fail.Roads gridlocked with vehicles that have run out of fuel.

Fuel unable to be pumped from gas sta ons.

Widespread water contamina on due to lack of electricpower for puri ca on.

Public transporta on of all kinds e ec vely halts.Widespread loo ng and panic as security systems becomeinopera ve and 911 ceases to func on.

Grocery stores cannot be resupplied with food causingwidespread food and water shortages and associated panic.

The above is only a slight sampling of how devasta ng the e ects ofa long term blackout could be. Realize that while Americas enemiesare planning for such an a ack, it can happen right now from naturalcauses without any human interven on! To say that such a blackoutwould be staggering to our na on is an understatement.

The reason why a blackout is so devasta ng is because of ouru er reliance on electricity for everything. A blackout doesnt

just shut o the lights it shuts o the food, the water, the fuel,the communica ons, and much more. Therefore, you need to beprepared for every con ngency that might occur. Also, considerthat the longer the power stays o , the harder it will be to recoverfrom the e ects. Like a bad hangover, it will take the a ect areaa long me to resume normal func on once again. If you have acon ngency plan for a two week power outage, you be er have a

month or more of supplies on hand to deal with the a er e ects!


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FOOD AND WATER PRIMARY CONCERNSWhile the power outage represents aninconvenience as far as electronics, lights andcommunica ons is concerned, realize that anextended power failure will be a direct threat toyour life and the lives of your loved ones. Besidescity water that can fail or become contaminateddue to lack of electrical power to operate pumpsand decontamina on equipment, understand howgrocery stores operate. A modern grocery storeonly stocks enough food for a couple or three daysof normal consump on at a me. These storesrely on a eet of ever present trucks to bring themfresh food from distant distribu on areas. Withoutthis resupply, supplies of food would quicklydwindle on its own not to men on the pillagingthat would go on at the stores once the average ci zen caught wind

of the fact that there were no more incoming deliveries.

Food and water must be your primary concerns before all elsewhen facing a blackout. If and when a blackout occurs, immediatelybegin lling the homes bathtubs most homes have at least one.This water will be present for some me a er the failure and youneed to get it before the pressure drops. Also remember that the

water in your toilet tank is good to drink. These strategies should beconsidered last minute top o s to an already exis ng water supply,which should be built up over me.

This water supply can bebuilt up in many easy andinconspicuous ways: everyhome has at least one bedraised o the oor. Usually,the space under a bed isunused or lightly used. Every

me you go to the grocerystore, buy a gallon of water ina square container, and throw


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it under the bed un l water containers occupy the total area underthe bed. These last almost inde nitely and can be rotated for use,and represent an investment of a li le over a dollar each. Do thatto three or four beds in the home and youll nd yourself si ng ona very comfortable water supply that is essen ally out of sight anddoesnt occupy any space that you were previously using. Keep inmind that water weighs approximately eight pounds per gallon soyou dont want to point load a weak home structure. S ll, any homethat could accommodate a waterbed can accommodate this plan.

For addi onal water supply, focuson water ltra on or puri ca onstrategies. No power for longperiods of me will eventuallymean no natural gas, so boilingsurface waters from creeks orrivers will be impossible. Keep in

mind that all naturally occurringwater must be boiled in order tobe safe for consump on. Parasites, bacteria, and harmful organismsare naturally present in creek, lake, and river water, which manypeople will try to drink directly from in despera on. Dont fall intothis trap! Obtain a portable membrane based water ltra on nowwhile it is s ll available so that you maintain the capability to purify

water for months a er the blackout if need be.The availability of food at our nger ps is part of what makesAmerica a rst world country, and the lack thereof will quickly starveand kill ci zens who are unused to not ea ng. Panic always followsanything resembling a natural disaster and sheep-like ci zens willstrip down grocery stores like locusts in short order, even bulk buyingthings they dont need in a terror. Dont succumb to this madness!Your food supply, like your water supply, should be carefully plannedout and purchased over me. Not many people have the ability tobuy $4000 worth of emergency food in one single expenditure; mostof us, however, can spend an extra ten dollars on each trip to thegrocery store and stock this food away for a rainy day.


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Your emergency food supplyshould consist of a healthydose of canned goods rstand foremost. Canned goodshave been known to last upto a century if the integrityof the can remains intact.Canned goods arent justfor fruits and vegetablesany longer; a wide array of

meats, sh, and even en recooked meals is now available for purchase basically anywhere. Lookfor a variety of foods that have healthy protein content since youare more likely to be more physically ac ve during the me withoutpower. Addi onally, buy foods you will actually eat- taste thembefore an emergency to ensure sa sfac on. There is no need to dieof a bland and monotonous diet!

Legumes and rice should be stored in sealed, food grade buckets as acheap source of carbohydrates that will also last inde nitely. Roundout your emergency food supply with a supply of treats like energy


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bars and candy bars, both of which will keep for quite some meif stored in a cool, dry place. Avoid such emergency meals as MREs(Meals Ready to Eat), as military food of that nature is designedfor extremely ac ve personnel, causes radical cons pa on withprolonged use, is expensive for what you get, and is bulky to store.MREs are designed for war ghters, not overweight couch potatoes ina survival situa on. While having a case or two would round out yoursupply nicely, realize that you can buy much cheaper, be er tas ngfood in a much larger quan ty dollar for dollar than MREs.

FIRST AIDLack of power means for anextended period of me putsyou on your own as far asmedical care is concerned. Beready to treat injured familymembers or have themtreat you! Your medical kitshould be comprehensiveand extensive for such thingsas lacera ons and puncturewounds as well as burns. Lacera ons are an easy way to bleed out orget serious infec ons from. Ensure your kit contains tourniquets andcompression bandages to staunch blood loss.

An extended power failure means the power of the internet mightnot be available to you. Americans have a propensity to self diagnosevia the internet, and that isnt a bad thing. One can look up photosof rashes, symptoms, or condi ons on the internet and quicklypinpoint the cause of a problem. You can keep this knowledge aliveby downloading it now to a laptop or burning it to a CD for posterity.

Solar chargers for laptops are available everywhere and with the rightmodel you could charge your laptop inde nitely and access cri calmanuals for medical care among other things. Remember to keep along term supply of prescrip on medica on available for any of yourfamily members that require it.


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POWER GENERATIONJust because the grid isdown doesnt mean youcant s ll make powerto charge laptops, HAMradios, and other gadgetsthat make life easier.Solar power is cheap andwidely available. Fromroof mounted solar panelsto portable units thatcan charge small equipment, solar power comes in all shapes andsizes. Dont wait for a power failure to purchase this, as it will not beavailable for long!

Generators seem like a good idea at rst but quickly become moretrouble than they are worth. Besides requiring fuel and regular oil

changes, generators are loud and those that use them generally usethem in a foolish manner. It is not a cool novelty to use a generatorto run all of your lights when everyone else is out of power its anOPSEC (opera onal security) nightmare. You are iden fying yourselfas the only person on the block with power, and if you are thatprepared, you must have more emergency supplies that you mightneed to be relieved of. Also, if your

generator doesnt have a lockout toisolate your home from the powergrid, you might be feeding powerback into the grid, which could harmpower company workers who thinkthe line is dead. If you must run agenerator, do so sparingly.

An inverter is a be er choice; asimple box that converts DC powerfrom things like car ba eries to ACpower that you can use to powertools, equipment, and appliances,inverters are inexpensive and silent.


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When coupled with a vehicle, they create an almost limitless supplyof AC power. A car uses its engine to spin an alternator, whichcharges the ba ery, which could in turn power an inverter andmake AC power. An idling car uses very li le fuel and makes almostno noise and if used judiciously, the car doesnt even need to bestarted to make power.

OPSEC AND HOME DEFENSEA me without power can quicklyturn into a me without law andorder. Realize that most homeswill be darkened (except for thegenius with the generator!) andhome security systems will beinopera ve; police and emergencycrews will also have their handsfull. Your home defense willdepend on you!

Even if you have a generator or some other form of emergencybackup power, have materials on hand to black out your windows.It is important to exercise good light discipline when everyone elseis darkened. This is because there is a certain criminal element thathas no survival prepara ons to speak of their plan is to take from

others if and when the day comes. Having lights on in the midst ofwidespread blackouts shows people you are prepared you mostlikely have weapons, food, and fuel as well, all for the taking.

Stand watch during the night, and consider arming members ofyour family to ensure that you arent surprised. Keep in mind thatevery member of your family able to wield a weapon should haveone, as well as several thousand rounds of ammuni on on hand todefend the home. Dont discuss your prepara ons with strangers oreven with neighbors. They will remember all your hard work whenthe power goes out and come looking for handouts perhaps evena empt to take it by force!


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* * *

A widespread blackout can be a true test of your ability to survive in

a modern world without modern conveniences. All of your skills andprepara ons will be put to the test; your ability to feed, administermedical care to, and defend your family will be needed. The meto get training on survival situa ons is now, while the trainingis available. The me to stock up on food, water, medicine, and

rearms is also now while they can s ll be acquired.

For many people, an extended power failure will be a life and deathsitua on. Realize that it doesnt have to be. Whether you ride it outcomfortably fed, hydrated, and safe in your home or whether youstarve to death, freeze, or die of thirst, it is up to you.


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Copyright 2012 Peak 10 Publishing LLC

blackout survival guide

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