this post was submitted on 19 May 2025
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"The exercise was held from May 8 to 9, 2024, at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, and at a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) site in Denver, Colorado."

Article refers to a PDF of the report it's based on:

https://www.jhuapl.edu/sites/default/files/2025-04/Space-Weather-TTX-Report-Summary-v3-FINAL.pdf

(page 2) 19 comments
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[–] [email protected] 26 points 2 days ago (8 children)

I'm not a doomsday prepper, but stuff like this makes me want to sequester some gear...

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago

you cab use it unless you have it.

get what you need, take what you want.

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[–] [email protected] 48 points 2 days ago (1 children)

lol we couldn't even prepare for fascist takeover of the country. why tf would anyone think we'd be prepared for a solar firestorm

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 days ago

Invest in metal stoves and big tents today!

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Im starting to think the fermi paradox is based around what philosophy it follows. "Efficiency" like lean or robustness like six sigma.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 2 days ago (1 children)

If a transmissions company tried to spend money preparing for a disaster like this, their shareholders would sue them into the ground and lobby to make it illegal to acknowledge the existence of the sun.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago

I mean, having a tested and proven DR/BCM plan is kind of an important part of being a serious business....

[–] [email protected] 56 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (2 children)

I'm glad this threat is at least starting to be taken seriously. As an amateur radio operator, I got incredibly interested in how the weather on the sun affects radio propagation and power management here on Earth.

Better a CME than an EMP just simply because there is at least some time to prepare for a massive CME. Whereas an EMP has absolutely no warning whatsoever.

In the event of a massive CME off-grid homes and buildings are likely to fare much better because they are not connected to the power grid. The problem comes with long transmission lines where incredibly large charge differentials can build up over distance. shorter wires can't build up nearly the same amount of charge differential.

Edit: I feel it's important to mention that grid tie systems are going to be just as vulnerable as on grid because you still have the grid actually physically connected to the building.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 2 days ago (2 children)

It's worth noting that even though a building might have solar, the systems usually disable themselves in the event of a blackout to prevent back feeding into the grid.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 days ago

That wouldn't be an off grid building then.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 2 days ago (1 children)

That's known as a grid tie system and my edit mentions that. The only way it's going to help is if the grid is physically disconnected from the building as in the wire is not connected to the building at any point.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Unless I'm missing something here, thats what an LVD should do, and anyone grid-connected with solar should have.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 days ago (3 children)

During a normal power outage, you're right. That does keep you isolated on your own island. But in a case like this, the voltage is likely to spike to incredibly high levels on wires that aren't meant to carry it and cause arcing and possibly fires. That's why you want to be physically disconnected.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (3 children)

Got it, at that point (extremely high voltage) you'd need suppression at the panel. Which I would hope people have inline, but not expect like an LVD.

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[–] [email protected] 145 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Note: "Would Be a Catastrophe" even back when the agencies involved in mitigating the disaster still existed.

[–] [email protected] 34 points 2 days ago (4 children)

Oy. I really don't want to see what happens when we're faced with an actual challenge. This is... yikes.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 2 days ago (3 children)

I would get a case of beer and go to the library and read until the internet was back on. You can't stop my escapism that easily.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 2 days ago (2 children)

We could party like it's 1899!

Or instead go bonkers as society devolves:

The Carrington Event

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