EMP survival: Follow these tips to survive the first 72 hours after an EMP event

12/05/2023 / By Olivia Cook

Electromagnetic pulses (EMPs) can have catastrophic and devastating effects on society. EMPs can be caused by natural sources like solar flares, also known as coronal mass injections (CMEs), or man-made sources like non-nuclear and nuclear weapons used by governments and terrorists alike.

Whatever the cause, EMP incidents could damage significant portions of the nation’s critical infrastructure, including the electrical grid, communications equipment, water and wastewater systems and transportation, explained the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).

Follow these tips to survive the first three days after an EMP event:

Have a plan

Prepare for an EMP event ahead of time by routinely practicing drills with your family to ensure that every member knows what to do if an EMP event happens at home, at school or at work. Have a transportation plan – such as having bicycles or other non-electric modes of transportation.

If you all have practiced your “survival” plan, you will have already put a survival plan into action, especially when caught in the city during the day when it happens. (Related: Skills, strategies and supplies you’ll need to prep for an EMP, solar flares.)

No one is looking forward to an event like this, but IF and WHEN it does happen, what you do during the first 72 hours after an EMP event is crucial and to boost your chances of survival, here are steps to immediately take.

Stay calm

Assuming you practice preparedness, you know how important it is to stay calm and composed during a crisis. Stop where you are to get your bearing. Take deep breaths to calm your nerves, sit down to conserve your energy and think. Is there a way you can verify what has happened?

Assess your situation

Use all your senses to observe and assess the impact of the EMP on your immediate surroundings to help you prioritize your next actions. Are there any immediate dangers? Do you have access to food, water and shelter? Understanding your situation will help you prioritize your actions. (Related: 12 Tips to survive an EMP attack.)

Get home ASAP

If you’re not home when an EMP hits, consider finding a safe location to shelter until the immediate aftermath settles before you decide to go home. It is assumed that this safety action is known to all your family members as well whenever an emergency or disaster strikes.

Older model diesel vehicles with minimal electronics could survive an EMP event so make a move to get home before chaos happens and traffic piles up with roads clogged with abandoned vehicles.

If your car doesn’t work, be ready to abandon your vehicle, grab your get home bag from your vehicle and start walking. Get to your children (if you have any) as soon as possible and head home.

When possible, stop at stores that are still open to buy essential supplies, even when you have these in your emergency survival stash at home – you can never have enough to use or barter these essential survival items, as needed.

Prioritize your safety. Avoid unnecessary risks. Stay vigilant of potential dangers. Be cautious around downed power lines, unstable structures and potential criminal activity.

Secure your location

If you’re at home when an EMP event happens, you may need to initially stay indoors to avoid panicked crowds and avoid riots. (Related: EMP survival: 4 Ways to protect your home from an EMP attack.)

Lock your doors and windows and reinforce them if necessary.
Take your fire extinguisher with you (assuming you keep one or several in your home) and go around every nook and cranny in your home to check for electrical fires that may have resulted during the EMP event.
Check all your electronics and separate those that still work from those that don’t.
Once your home inspection is complete, go outside your house. Check your surrounding areas for scorched transformers, downed power lines, etc.
Bug in until you have more information about what caused the EMP event. For instance, in case of a nuclear EMP attack, staying home will help you from the fallout to survive.
Take stock of all your survival essentials (food, water, medicine, emergency gear, supplies, etc.) so you will know how to ration them in the next three days (or more).

Keep informed and updated

A portable shortwave radio can receive broadcasts from stations in regions of the world that are still “up and running: and could be your information lifeline after an EMP event.

Theoretically – because there hasn’t been any real “hands-on experience,” you can protect a portable shortwave/AM/FM radio from an EMP by wrapping it in a non-conductive material. Ensure that no metal part of your radio is exposed before you put it inside a zip lock bag where it fits. Then, firmly wrap the bag tight and well with aluminum foil. Repeat the process for even more protection before putting the now fully wrapped radio in yet another bag to protect its outer cover from tearing.

Establish communications

Citizens band (CB) radios and ham radio sets with solid metal casings, which act like a Faraday cage for its internals, might surprisingly still work after an EMP event.

Keep your sets, including the antenna disconnected from the power grid UNTIL you intend to use them following an EMP event. This way, you protect them from the surge of EMP energy, which can cause irreparable damage and even a fire. Additionally, the antenna can provide an entry point for the EMP to enter and fry the radio’s internals.

As with CB and ham radios, walkie-talkies use simple, rugged technology that is not particularly vulnerable to the effects of an EMP. So, consider investing in those that run on batteries – whether disposable primary cells or rechargeable secondary cells that are not directly vulnerable to the effects of EMPs.

Always keep any dedicated survival communications equipment sets in a Faraday cage or other protective enclosure in your survival stash, including an adequate supply of batteries.

Connect and reach out to whoever is also looking to see how you can support each other and share information and resources. Use the information you gather to help you and your family decide if it is wiser to bug in or bug out to a safer location.

Find more related stories at EMP.news.

Watch this video to see what an EMP event looks like.

This video is from the GoneDark channel on Brighteon.com.