If you have never heard about what that event was, stop here and go wiki about it and come back here to continue!
Those of you that know (or went and learned about it) about the catastrophic results an event of such magnitude would have today for the world as we know it, what do you think will happen in the DR if it did happen?
Just to give an idea of the impact let me put this little reading here:
A study by Lloyd?s of London has concluded that it would have taken a $2,600,000,000,000 chunk out of the global economy, and it would take up to a decade to repair the damage. Unfortunately, scientists insist that it is going to happen at some point. The only question is when.
But in the worst case scenario, we could be facing a situation where our electrical grids have been fried, there is no heat for our homes, our computers don?t work, the Internet does not work, our cell phones do not work, there are no more banking records, nobody can use credit cards anymore, hospitals are unable to function, nobody can pump gas, and supermarkets cannot operate because there is no power and no refrigeration.
Basically, we would witness the complete and total collapse of the economy. According to a government commission that looked into these things, approximately two-thirds of the U.S. population would die from starvation, disease and societal chaos within one year of a massive EMP attack. It would be a disaster unlike anything we have ever seen before in U.S. history.
The first 24 ? 48 hours after such an occurrence will lead to confusion among the general population as traditional news acquisition sources like television, radio and cell phone networks will be non-functional.
Within a matter of days, once people realize the power might not be coming back on and grocery store shelves start emptying, the entire system will begin to delve into chaos.
Within 30 days a mass die off will have begun as food supplies dwindle, looters and gangs turn to violent extremes, medicine can?t be restocked and water pump stations fail.
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Now, if we were to draw parallels on these impacts, would you say the DR is better situated to deal with the initial shocks than other countries in our hemisphere?
After all, we deal with power loss since birth. At the same time, the water goes with it 95% of the time. Not to mention perishables are not the forte of the food supply chains like in the other better situated nations.
No cell phones? Ditto. Internet? Ditto. Banking online? Ditto. Farm to market to table? Ditto.
We have native pharmaceuticals able to produce most generic and pretty much brand medicines, other than highly specialize types.
If it's on the computer, it's first on paper for the DR. Banks in the DR haven't changed much since the industrial revolution. The effects would leave people lining up at the teller (as pretty much usual) instead of the ATMs.
Food? Dominicans can survive easy out of rice, beans, vegetables and any protein that can be had. The supply chain is hardly broken, save for the imports, or goods that required imported raw materials.
Interruption of the gasoline/diesel supply from oil producing countries? During the worst of the 1973-74 oil the DR was OUT of gas and diesel. The little you could buy after doing long lines and using the Gov issued tickets, was gone as fast as you drove the next couple of days.
Cars were parked and motorcycles were they main stay of the roads. That's pretty much when the first pay for ride on a motorcycle was done in the DR.'
The first things to go into the airwaves will be the radio stations, with the bulk of older equipment less affected by the pulses. Then the TV, again with old tech and equipment salvaged.
I think the DR will handle the chaos better than many other countries in our Hemisphere, save for Haiti (they are better suited than us to have nothing).
The bad thing will be exports will halt almost 90% and the good thing is that our debt will be gone with the wind.
The DR is self sufficient for food staples. Clothes, shoes, etc... We have some oil we can use for plastics and non-fuels application.
Another good thing is that when they start to address the blown transformers and power grid, it will be rebuilt anew.
What do you think?
Those of you that know (or went and learned about it) about the catastrophic results an event of such magnitude would have today for the world as we know it, what do you think will happen in the DR if it did happen?
Just to give an idea of the impact let me put this little reading here:
A study by Lloyd?s of London has concluded that it would have taken a $2,600,000,000,000 chunk out of the global economy, and it would take up to a decade to repair the damage. Unfortunately, scientists insist that it is going to happen at some point. The only question is when.
But in the worst case scenario, we could be facing a situation where our electrical grids have been fried, there is no heat for our homes, our computers don?t work, the Internet does not work, our cell phones do not work, there are no more banking records, nobody can use credit cards anymore, hospitals are unable to function, nobody can pump gas, and supermarkets cannot operate because there is no power and no refrigeration.
Basically, we would witness the complete and total collapse of the economy. According to a government commission that looked into these things, approximately two-thirds of the U.S. population would die from starvation, disease and societal chaos within one year of a massive EMP attack. It would be a disaster unlike anything we have ever seen before in U.S. history.
The first 24 ? 48 hours after such an occurrence will lead to confusion among the general population as traditional news acquisition sources like television, radio and cell phone networks will be non-functional.
Within a matter of days, once people realize the power might not be coming back on and grocery store shelves start emptying, the entire system will begin to delve into chaos.
Within 30 days a mass die off will have begun as food supplies dwindle, looters and gangs turn to violent extremes, medicine can?t be restocked and water pump stations fail.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now, if we were to draw parallels on these impacts, would you say the DR is better situated to deal with the initial shocks than other countries in our hemisphere?
After all, we deal with power loss since birth. At the same time, the water goes with it 95% of the time. Not to mention perishables are not the forte of the food supply chains like in the other better situated nations.
No cell phones? Ditto. Internet? Ditto. Banking online? Ditto. Farm to market to table? Ditto.
We have native pharmaceuticals able to produce most generic and pretty much brand medicines, other than highly specialize types.
If it's on the computer, it's first on paper for the DR. Banks in the DR haven't changed much since the industrial revolution. The effects would leave people lining up at the teller (as pretty much usual) instead of the ATMs.
Food? Dominicans can survive easy out of rice, beans, vegetables and any protein that can be had. The supply chain is hardly broken, save for the imports, or goods that required imported raw materials.
Interruption of the gasoline/diesel supply from oil producing countries? During the worst of the 1973-74 oil the DR was OUT of gas and diesel. The little you could buy after doing long lines and using the Gov issued tickets, was gone as fast as you drove the next couple of days.
Cars were parked and motorcycles were they main stay of the roads. That's pretty much when the first pay for ride on a motorcycle was done in the DR.'
The first things to go into the airwaves will be the radio stations, with the bulk of older equipment less affected by the pulses. Then the TV, again with old tech and equipment salvaged.
I think the DR will handle the chaos better than many other countries in our Hemisphere, save for Haiti (they are better suited than us to have nothing).
The bad thing will be exports will halt almost 90% and the good thing is that our debt will be gone with the wind.
The DR is self sufficient for food staples. Clothes, shoes, etc... We have some oil we can use for plastics and non-fuels application.
Another good thing is that when they start to address the blown transformers and power grid, it will be rebuilt anew.
What do you think?