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Solar Flares

B

Brado78

Senior member
Hey 🙂 I was wondering could the sun throw off a flare strong and far enough. to "burn" Plants and Animals?
 
If it's big enough to cause that the resulting magnetic storm would be pretty bad too and probably wipe out most electronics. It would not be a fun time. Even if living off grid. Solar panels, charge controller, inverters. Everything fried.
 
Carrington event knocked off telegrams from the electrical system back then. The solar flare that affected the Quebec power grid in 1989 impacted far smaller region. So while a direct impact of a solar flair wouldn't affect life directly, the power outages is going to be insane.
 
eelw said:
Carrington event knocked off telegrams from the electrical system back then. The solar flare that affected the Quebec power grid in 1989 impacted far smaller region. So while a direct impact of a solar flair wouldn't affect life directly, the power outages is going to be insane.
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About 5 years ago we had a "freak" line of storms pass through my area that took out a crap-ton of big/old trees and electric wires making for a real mess.

Took 4 days for power to come back in my neighborhood largely due to an abundance of the aforementioned huge/old tree's and it was a nightmare finding things like ice locally. Good news is I have a gas grill and power was on a half-mile away so it wasn't that serious just a PITA.

If the whole grid goes down for any significant period of time it'll be chaos in the streets.
 
Captante said:
About 5 years ago we had a "freak" line of storms pass through my area that took out a crap-ton of big/old trees and electric wires making for a real mess.

Took 4 days for power to come back in my neighborhood largely due to an abundance of the aforementioned huge/old tree's and it was a nightmare finding things like ice locally. Good news is I have a gas grill and power was on a half-mile away so it wasn't that serious just a PITA.

If the whole grid goes down for any significant period of time it'll be chaos in the streets.
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Yeah I wouldn't want to be in town if that happens. Power wise I would be able to manage especially if it's not winter, but it's the other people going crazy that are the real threat. That goes for any SHTF scenario really. Want to be out of the city.
 
Red Squirrel said:
Yeah I wouldn't want to be in town if that happens. Power wise I would be able to manage especially if it's not winter, but it's the other people going crazy that are the real threat. That goes for any SHTF scenario really. Want to be out of the city.
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Whatcha gonna do for water? No power means water pumps stop working without gennies (how many water towers have generator backups?). Same for well water unless you got something fancy going on.
 
[DHT]Osiris said:
Whatcha gonna do for water? No power means water pumps stop working without gennies (how many water towers have generator backups?). Same for well water unless you got something fancy going on.
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I recall when my grandfather was re-doing the kitchen for my grandma as a gift she refused to allow the hand-pump (which is rare these days but not "fancy" at all lol!) to be removed so when the power went out it was a none-issue.

45a9679c67a8473978f5a0a4e9c65e8e.jpg
 
Captante said:
I recall when my grandfather was re-doing the kitchen for my grandma as a gift she refused to allow the hand-pump (which is rare these days but not "fancy" at all lol!) to be removed so when the power went out it was a none-issue.

45a9679c67a8473978f5a0a4e9c65e8e.jpg
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Smart woman, with that hand pump you can still retain sanitary conditions no matter the circumstance. Also guarantees you'll have a gang knocking a few days after the collapse 😛
 
[DHT]Osiris said:
Whatcha gonna do for water? No power means water pumps stop working without gennies (how many water towers have generator backups?). Same for well water unless you got something fancy going on.
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TBH I have not thought that far yet, where all electronics cease to work/exist. But in a pinch probably use water from a lake/river or snow, and just boil the hell out of it with a camp fire. The biggest issue is the pollutants that may not be easily filtered out without more modern tech but in a survival situation you take the chance.

Once I setup my off grid place I will have pumps, UV etc running off solar, but yeah if a big CME hits all that stuff will cease to work so still need a backup plan. I need to pickup more books on primitive living. My goal off grid is to still have most of the tech I'd have in town, just manage it myself, but still good idea to know more non tech ways of doing stuff.
 
Red Squirrel said:
TBH I have not thought that far yet, where all electronics cease to work/exist. But in a pinch probably use water from a lake/river or snow, and just boil the hell out of it with a camp fire. The biggest issue is the pollutants that may not be easily filtered out without more modern tech but in a survival situation you take the chance.
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Your far bigger issue will be starting and maintaining fires, without attracting attention. Boiling water is a PITA under good circumstances, and long-term you're gonna have a hard time once matches run out.

I wasn't even thinking of some EMP-level event, just something that kills off the power for a solid 6 months timeframe (if recovery happened at all). Burn out a majority of the transformers and we're toast for a good long while.
 
[DHT]Osiris said:
Your far bigger issue will be starting and maintaining fires, without attracting attention. Boiling water is a PITA under good circumstances, and long-term you're gonna have a hard time once matches run out.

I wasn't even thinking of some EMP-level event, just something that kills off the power for a solid 6 months timeframe (if recovery happened at all). Burn out a majority of the transformers and we're toast for a good long while.
Click to expand...

If all electronics still work I would not be as worried. Well the only worry is attracting other people I guess but so would everyone else. Assuming I'm still in town, then I'd be focusing on fridge and freezer, then in the day excess power to cook. Those could be done fairly low key inside. I'd avoid using lights at night. I assume the city would try to keep the water plant going, but I would want to start collecting water in any container I have, to be safe.

If it turns into a walking dead situation then at that point it's not so much a technical issue anymore, more of a self defense survival one. That's where being established off grid would pay off. Even then it's not 100% safe. People will eventually find their way further in the bush hoping to find any camps to take over.


Speaking of CMEs northern lights are out tonight, actually. If we got one bad enough to wipe out the electrical grid at least the sky would be really pretty while it's happening! lol.
 
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