It's Christmas Day!

[Jonas]

(25 November 2013, 18:27)Mortblanc Wrote: And the wife looks at you and says, "Its below zero out there, we have to walk three days and I have to carry this 2 year old the entire way. I don't think so!"

Remember Jonas took your car and all comms away from you.

No I didn't! Reread th scenario. The situation is no more or less than as it's described!

Quote:You are in England with no weapons,

Firearms are not involved in the scenario. You can presume that Grandpa carved the Christmas roast with something other than a penknife however. Being a grandfather myself, living in an urban setting, there are garden tools, etc. should weapons become necessary.

Quote:a major urban area to traverse,

Reread the scenario - Grandpa and Grandma live in a "medium sized town". NOT a "major urban area"

Quote:no knowledge of the situation between you and home.

Knowledge of the overall situation is missing... that's one of the challenges written into the scenario.

Quote:and the prospect that the lights will probably come back on within a short time

Yes, the electricity could be restored in an hour or two... but that is more likely if only a small portion of the town was affected... is that the case here?

Quote:As for the real situation with the vehicles? You will probably be able to crank them up and drive home. That is what NASA does when coronal mass ejections blast the equipment orbiting the Earth outside the protection of the atmosphere.

Possibly! Or maybe two vehicles will crank and three won't. Or maybe only one will start...

Quote:They turn them off, then turn them back on when the EMP event is over. Electronics far more delicate than those in a vehicle, and they work just fine.

But if they don't?

Quote:The comms will probably be back up before daylight as the crews crank up the mobile transmitting vans that were not in use during the surge. Nashville TN once lost a TV station to a tornado and the affiliate transmitted for nearly a year out of a transit van with a mast antenna. They had restored operational capabilities out of that van, within a few hours.

But there are times when frequencies are completely blocked by solar flares - the 40 meter band was nothing but static here two or three weeks ago for about a day. And if the comms don't come back up, what then?