well the aoc's of the world would be happy. they want to see a 95% reduction in human population

My preparation has been for when all the earth is cleansed by fire. Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess, Jesus Christ is Lord. If you are prepared to meet my Lord, any devastation should not bring fear into your life. I know the One who brought water from a rock and He also created this earth and knows when it will pass...….there are many preppers out there but few will enter His gates.

An emp or cmi that knocks out the large majority of the power grid in north America would result in 25%+ of the people dead in 30 days, 25%+ more dead in 90 days and 25%+ more dead in a year. Nuclear power facilities would melt down due to no power to cool them. No food or any type of product delivery.
If you can find a spot where you will have enough food/water/shelter to survive for the first 90 days your odds of being able to live for years after would go way up.
If the larger components of the electric grid are fried there are really no replacements available. It would be a very long time for 'normal' times to return if they did at all...the strong/self-reliant people would do the best, the weak/unable to care for themselves would not do well at all.
Food/water/shelter.....staying hidden would be better than 'fighting off the hoards'.

And, about 95% of those family’s would have that (7 year food storage) thing going on.

Boco has it right. It's the small rural communities that pull together that will have the best chance to survive a cataclysmic event. It's not just about having the resources and capability to keep warm and feed everyone. Civilization requires a social structure that allows specialists to thrive. Blacksmiths, mechanics, doctors, carpenters, etc are all needed. Everyone can't be hunting, planting, and harvesting all the time and have civilization survive. The high population areas that depend on mass transport for all of their goods, beginning with food, will be the first to devolve into chaos and terror. Anyone expecting to "bug out" better have some very special skills to offer the small rural community or they will be on their own.

Well Marty, wolfcreek is south of us and close enough to cook us both with a meltdown . (prevailing wind) Getting old also. Was completed almost 40 years ago. Im thinking if it gets that bad it will be best if old geezers like us die off anyway. More resources for the young strong and healthy

I need medication now to stay alive anyway

I am not ready to die, thanks anyway. I will do my best to survive any situation I find myself in. There would be time to evac before wolf creek goes, at the first sign of emp/cmi head to a remote area not near any nuke facility. Most folks will hang around waiting for 'help'....get going quickly. I would be gone from Lawrence within a day.

Another thing is that in the late 1800's there were lots of horses and people who knew how to use/handle them. The majority of horses around today would be eaten within the first 2 months. A half dozen pack goats would be good to have thou... ..along with a good/light floorless shelter and packable wood stove.

well if you want to flee nuke plants you will need to go west. not to the rockies as that part of the world is crowded . the praire along the co ks border has very limited water and wood for fuel. the people living there may not want any refugees. you could maybe hide out in the mo. breaks of s.d. winters are horrible but there is wood. again though you may have to kill some of the people already there. what makes your life worth more than theirs that you can justify stealing what they have?

i doubt people here will eat horses. plenty of beef available. horse would be very valuable. especially a stud

I never mentioned killing anyone or stealing anything but I certainly will defend my life/well being anytime/anyplace.

You guys give the "hordes" too much credit, most if not all city folks will die curled up in a ball sucking their thumbs in their tiny apartments.

If you need refrigerated meds, you're in trouble in the first week. For anything else, you'd had better be stocked up or know what to look for as herbal remedies. Hard pills last longer than their expiration date, though the effectiveness dwindles as they go on.

Next thing is reliable water source. You'd need to have wells with non electric pumps or artisan wells or rain water collection or access to clean surface water. Running water is gone, if you have a water tower that might last till its supply runs out.

Then you'll have to be able to have multiple food sources within walking distance of your home .plus learn how to preserve food without refrigeration via canning, curing, root cellars, etc.

It took fema days to just get water to people after Katrina and that was a localized event.....water purification ability will be critical.

I bet you all would be thankful for those wild boars running around eh!

I've been thinking the same thing JP. Those carp and bullhead catfish in the river below the house would quickly go from trash fish to a delicacy.

I also have to think those people trying to take our guns would be doing everything in their power to get one of their own. And the so called bunny huggers would quickly develop a taste for rabbit.

This is just like the 70's when we were all gonna die from nukes now its global warming going to do us all in don't you know?

Oddly enough, I just spent the last couple of days researching both The Hollow [Hamlet in Day, NY] and Oniontown [Hamlet in Dover Plains NY - I think...] where the folks are very simple.

When I mean simple, I mean they live very pure practical lives - and yes they are poor - dirt poor - but they have the knowledge to survive on nothing year after year after year, and have been doing so since the 1800s with the only real issue being harassment from outsiders.

There's a pretty good documentary about The Hollow that can be viewed via the Folkstreams website.

Oniontown - now those people are just plain nuts - astonishing to find out that's real close to Connecticut - but anyhow - the first thing that came to mind was that these are the people who would survive an EMP or something similar - because they don't use any modern things in the first place.

I've often wondered if technology will bring about the end of life as we know it, because it does make people lazy, myself included... I'll be the first to admit that !!

I truly admire those who live off the land, because they got what it takes to survive under any circumstances, because that's what they do - they survive, on their own - as it is... because they don't know any other way, and I believe there is something to be said for that.