I happen to notice that under Global Disaster Discussions - the one that I am preparing for does not seem to be listed and what is not thought about won't be prepared for - So I would like to raise awareness of this...
Many sources (including Michio Kaku on Fox news, representing physicists of the world) predict that solar storms (that go on an 11 year cycle) will be at a maximum later this year as they were...I think about 100 yrs ago. Matthew Stein (talked on Coast to Coast Radio Nov 20, 2011 and Feb 21, 2012) brought up an excellent point - that if a CME were to take out the grids, it could destroy the ~300 transformer stations in North America and that new transformers are only made in Europe and they have like a three year waiting list for one single new one. So if there was a solar storm that took out the grid, it wouldn't come back on for decades. AND just having your own solar system or back up generator may not be enough, as the storm could destroy all electrical equipment even if they wasn't connected at the time of the storm.
Think what that would do to the world. Most every mode of transportation has electrical parts. No cars/ no planes/ no boats/ no factories/no heat/ air conditioning/ no communications of any sort. When Michio was on Fox news, the idiot reporters made a joke about not being able to use their blackberry. But there are hundreds of nuclear power stations in the states and there is only back up power systems for a few weeks. I think it takes years to safely shut one down. So 300 Chernobyls...forget no food...99.9% of the water wells are submersible/electric. This means even if you have your own well - you have no water. All of this potential for disaster and you guys don't even have a heading for it??? Heads up!!