Without power, how long does it take to turn back into barbarians?

This week's super derechos are still wreaking havoc over a large portion of the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic states. Though derechos are not common but do occur once per year in the Midwest, in the Mid Atlantic states and northern states they do not. In those areas, what happened is an extremely rare occurrence, as this meteorological story says: "Derecho’s are pretty rare in this area to begin with; a “Super” Derecho is almost unheard of. And, they are even harder to forecast than tornadoes because they are so rare." (Left, birth of the super derecho that affected millions this week.)

The Duluth Weekly's headline tells the story pretty starkly: " Super Derecho "The Land Hurricane" Slams 700 Miles of the US". "AccuWeather.com reports a "super derecho" of violent thunderstorms left a more than 700-mile trail of destruction across the Midwest and mid-Atlantic on Friday, cutting power to millions and killing thirteen people. ... States of emergencies have been declared in Virginia, West Virginia and Ohio. With 2.5 million in the dark, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell stated that his state experienced its largest non-hurricane power outage in history." (Above right, derecho in Nebraska).

Power outage. Now there's a problem. Just a few weeks ago I posted a blog essay titled "Our fragile electrical grid." I've published several articles in the past about how God is stripping away our infrastructure to reveal our helpless condition in the face of the Creator.

For example, in this essay from February 2012 I wrote about the futility of prepping for Armageddon in the way the secular media presents it, and the only secure location is in Jesus. I mentioned the book, One Second After by William Forschten. The blurb summarizes:

"New York Times best selling author William R. Forstchen now brings us a story which can be all too terrifyingly real...a story in which one man struggles to save his family and his small North Carolina town after America loses a war, in one second, a war that will send America back to the Dark Ages...A war based upon a weapon, an Electro Magnetic Pulse (EMP). A weapon that may already be in the hands of our enemies. Months before publication, One Second After has already been cited on the floor of Congress as a book all Americans should read, a book already being discussed in the corridors of the Pentagon as a truly realistic look at a weapon and its awesome power to destroy the entire United States, literally within one second."

An EMP fries every electronic chip within its pulse. That means no banking or ATM machine so no access to money, no gas pumps, no lights, no heating, no cooling, no refrigerator, no working vehicles, tractors, combines, or harvesters, no elevators, no cooking, no business transactions, no stock market, no traffic lights, no water pumps, etc. No nothing. Nada.

The novel was written in 2009 and is realistic in the scenarios it depicts. The end of the book talked about the likelihood of a given population's survival after an EMP with all the societal collapses. The Wiki on this book states, "Refugees from the cities show up looking for food and shelter and the fight over scarce resources leads to confrontation, home invasion, and more violence-related die-offs. The community becomes an inviting target for free prisoners and organized gangs and more violence-related die-off. Ration cards are issued to conserve the little remaining food; regardless, the community slowly starves with the elderly the first to die off. Next parents starve themselves to save their children. Throughout this period suicides are common. After a year, approximately 20% of the initial population has "survived". It was stated in the epilogue section from actual sociologists and scientists that such a die-off rate (80%) in the aftermath of an EMP is likely....but also optimistic due to the favorable location of the 'lucky' survivors. Some scientists put the survival rate at a mere 5%.

The super derechos downed power lines, blew transformers, and greatly impacted the electrical grid itself. Our favorite doomsayer, Michael T. Snyder at the Economic Collapse blog asked the question yesterday:

If One Storm Can Turn D.C. Dark For Several Days, What Would A Massive EMP Burst Do?

Our "civilized" world is relatively new. The industrial revolution's impact was not felt for the average American until the early part of the 1900s, when the 'labor saving' gadgets started becoming available. Automobiles, telephones, cross-country train travel and freight delivery, canned and frozen goods transported mass distances, electricity...all new. Only the last one hundred years, really, have been one of 'civilization' and 'ease'. It takes relatively little to turn us back to barbarians. (Illustration source- Wikipedia)

But in the industrial age, we relinquished that tie to the land for what was believed to be a superior way of life, and in that supposed superior way of life, there was no need for a higher power, because it seemed like we had tamed the earth.

We haven't.

It has been four days, and yet "Frustration Grows as Heat, Power Outages Persist". The Governor said "recovering from Friday's rare derecho storm is, in some ways, harder than hurricane recovery:"Unlike a polite hurricane that gives you three days of warning, this storm gave us all the impact of a hurricane without the warning of a hurricane," he said." Imagine the suddenness of an EMP.

We ask again, 'If one storm can turn D.C. dark for several days, what would a massive EMP burst do?' The only safe harbor is Jesus.

"The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe." (Proverbs 18:10 ESV).

The Lord is showing us just how foolish we are to depend on our own power.

"The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, and the LORD will by no means clear the guilty. His way is in whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet." (Nahum 1:3 ESV)

"[God] will drag away [these] mighty men by his power. These people may prosper, but they will never feel secure about life. [God] may let them feel confident and self-reliant, but his eyes are on their ways. [Such people] may be prosperous for a little while, but then they're gone. They are brought down low and disappear like everything else. They wither like heads of grain." (Job 22-24 GWT)

He is coming, The only refuge is to be ready: that means repented, making Jesus your Lord, and living by His rules and ways thereby producing fruit for His name.