American Blackout Nat Geo 10/27 9PM | Page 2 | Emergency Preparedness | Forums

alright,I won't ruin it then, will post some thoughts in the morning, interesting thing though, my DVR said made in 2006 as well

So I watched this last night here are some general comments and some specific comments on the scenarios they presented, so lets start with overall comments.

Overall I give the show a B-, and here's why.

I applaud Nat Geo for not getting to much into the fear mongering as they have in their previous shows about a grid down situation, such as this one

http://youtu.be/Q9z4EnE9baU

the current technology for a emp bomb on this magnitude is non existent, but a nuclear bomb set off at altitude can result in a emp which would have the same result, but it would need to be set off above Kansas, the chances of someone launching a nuclear device above the plains of KS are so low, it should not even register on your radar. You can read more technical jargon about it here if you would like.

http://www.fas.org/n.....ke/emp.htm

http://www.aussurviv.....ection.htm

I think they presented a real concern with a cyber attack, but failed to mention natural causes for a grid down scenario such as a solar flare on the level of a Carrington level event or greater. There isn't a boogey man behind every door, but sometimes mother nature will throw us a curve ball, such as the issue that happened in Quebec

But I digress, that is the subject for a whole different conversation.

So the premise of the show was a cyber attack, which is a concern. Yet, they didn't give any historical reference or evidence as far as why that is a concern, well here you go.

http://www.marketpla.....cal-attack

http://www.theregist.....ck_report/

a very dry pdf, but a good read

http://democrats.ene.....3-5-21.pdf

http://phys.org/news.....09303.html

another dry pdf, but good info

http://discovery.csc.....rGrids.pdf

Russia and China, who could have known right?

http://voices.washin.....ource.html

Another report of hackers attacking the grid, from 2009 as a lot of the others I have posted

http://www.greenbiz......ctric-grid

another

http://online.wsj.co.....5204099085

sorry if you are overwhelmed, but I just want you to realize that is a concern, most people have not been paying attention.

But it's not only a cyber attack though, physical attacks are a danger as well, as seen this month

http://www.nytimes.c.....ansas.html

there is a power line that runs by my property that literally if a bad person wanted to do bad things wanted to take a few of the towers out, it would shut off power to a large portion of the northeast, we have those same scenarios all over the country.

I did appreciate that they interjected some real world facts through out the show, such as how vulnerable our just in time inventory system is, here is a interesting read showing just how critical it is by the American Truckers Org

http://www.trucking......0Stops.pdf

Them interjecting realistic news coverage of the past decade or so was also a benefit imo. I saw news footage of 9/11, Katrina, Sandy, the NYC blackout, and several others. That's not science fiction, that's the history of our country.

One thing that did confuse me was on my DVR it was showing a production of 2006 as did Jon, not 2013. I have never seen this and I'm not sure if this was older production they revamped or is new.

Probably my last biggest complaint would be how they wrapped the show up, but I will touch base on that in my scenario assessment,

to be continued ..

The high rise couple, the boy and the family.

My personal feelings are they portrayed everything that is wrong with this country in the first couple minutes of meeting the high rise couple.

I have money, I don't care what is going on around me, I want to be taken care of now, if not I will sue. Why is no one helping us?

In a Urban area, living in a high rise is a worse case scenario. Add on top of that of someone with a sense of self importance, it makes it even worse.

Here are some suggestions for people that need to shelter in place.

Opening cans, all kitchens should have a swing away can opener

if not you can use a rough surface

or a knife

but here are some ideas for people that are trying to shelter in place as these three groups were

Charge all portable devices with a usb cable from any laptops ect..

Stay away from all downed power lines even if you think they are dead, you don’t know if the power company is working on it up line and when it can become hot.

Make sure you know where your gas shut off valve is and unless you are using it keep it shut off.

http://www.pge.com/e.....index.page

If you do lose electricity shut off your main breaker on your electrical panel, only turn it back on once you have established electricity has been reconnected to your area.

Fill your bath tub with water in case you lose water at your house.

If you do lose water do not forget your hot water heater has 40 to 80 gallons of potable water, just drain from the bottom of the tank, make sure tank is off though, do not drain it while it is on.

A option for people on well water if you lose power is you can make a well bucket out of simple materials.

http://www.alpharubi.....itfire.htm

Along with water, waste is just as important, assemble a simple portable toilet if you lose water and sewage

If you are sheltering in place in a high risk flood area, put a ax in your attic in case you have to retreat there, look at how many people were trapped in attics after Katrina and there have already been reports of people trapped in attics due to Sandy.

If you just bought a generator, make sure you are only running it in a well ventilated area, people die every year from missing this basic step

Get all your important family documents together, birth certificates, marriage certificate, insurance policy, passport, recent picture of family members etc. Put them in a safe place in case something does happen, you do not want to be searching for them after the fact if you need them

Here is a excellent example of a family document binder

http://www.yourownho.....documents/

If you are in a cold environment and have no heat, shelter in a room on the southern side of your home and seal all doorways into the room to retain heat.

Cooking can be a issue if you have no power or fuel but there are a couple low tech methods you can use to overcome that. With some basic material from around the house you can make a Solar Oven

or a Brick Rocket Stove

Have a basic first aid manual on hand. Here is one that you can download and utilize.

http://www.gobookee......printable/

get the hell out of dodge would be my recommendation though

Last but not least, lets talk about the preppers that are portrayed.

I have seen on others forums and social media today heralding them and presenting them as the best prepared.

I strongly disagree.

IMO, they were the biggest screw ups in the whole show.

They were the most aware of any of the other portrayals and they messed up on the most basic mantra of a prepper, be the gray man, keep your mouth shut on your preps.

If they had followed these basic steps of prepping, they would have never ended up in the situation they were in.

Another issue is not integrating yourself into your community and taking the lone wolf mentality versus a pack mentality

1st instance,

Daughter insists on bringing boyfriend along, father should have refused, at that point in time, they had no idea how bad the situation was going to become. As far as they knew, the power would be back on in three days.This was just a test run for the family. They should have dropped the boyfriend off at his house and said see you in three days. The boyfriend was a unknown.

2nd

Once they got there, they showed the boyfriend all their preps and their back up plans. "This is the decoy food, our real food is down here".

This puts into the boyfriends mind that food is not important, it is just a throw away.

3. .

From the first interaction with the neighbor, you can see there is no personal interaction. Besides the fact that the neighbor was standing behind 3 strands of barbed wire, begging for food. This goes against the 1st rule of being gray.

Posting your property with fencing as portrayed screams, LOOK AT ME! I HAVE SOMETHING!

Also, there obviously is no relationship between the father and the neighbor, so he is not accepted, he is a outsider, this is important and escalates the later portrayal.

4.

The boyfriend giving away food.

This should have been instant expulsion from the home and the location should have been put on lock down security wise.

But this goes back to the lone wolf mentality, it would have left only 4 people in the compound. There is no way to do a proper watch rotation plus handle all the day to day requirements.

Here are a couple of articles on looking for land, they are quite eye opening for those that think they are just going to buy 20 acres in the woods and live off the land

http://www.oftwomind.....l6-08.html

http://www.alt-marke.....t-location

I also question their fuel storage and what caused him to go outside and defend gasoline. There was one shot where it looked like he was standing in front of 4 1000 gallon tanks of propane. Everything in that house including generators should have been run on propane, if they were true preppers. Gas should have been just for bartering.

What are your guys thoughts who have seen it?