Guest Post: by ‘Be informed’
A few ideas of possible events that could occur in the U.S.
that could cause a total national emergency.
For an actual long lasting national emergency to occur, probably at
least 1/2 to 2/3 of the country would have to be impacted. There are
definitely events that could cause this to happen in countries such as the
United States. The following list contains realistic situations that could
within the reasonable realm of possibilities put the United States or
other countries into a full blown national emergency.
1. Terrorism. Multiple attacks on major hubs of the country using
weapons of mass destruction. While conventional attacks would shock
everyone, they are quite recoverable. The actually shutdown of major
cities would likely only occur after extensive contamination from
biological, chemical, or radiological weapons used, or actual nuclear
devices detonated.
2. Economic collapse. The United States (a capitalist country) cannot
function if the monetary system is not working. The entire country is
engrained into money through transportation goods and purchasing of
everything, including services. Without a stable currency to regulate
everyday life, total chaos develops. Easily near 100% of the U.S.
affected. Almost certainly a long lasting state of national
emergency.
3. Mass civil unrest. The United States is more polarized now anytime
since the civil war 150 years ago. There are at least 20 states that
are totally fed up with the federal government and the laws and
policies of Washington. The people of these states are preparing for
something in the future by indications of the spiking gun sales. Many
past large scale riots have started after the final straw (act) boiled
over all the tension that had collected over the years. One simple law
passed could be what inflames everyone over the edge.
4. Out of control unemployment. Yes many countries have had economies
that still function while very large percentages of their citizens
remain out of work. To avoid the other aspects of what would likely
happen because of so many without jobs, such as civil unrest and
economic collapse, the U.S. government would likely go to a state of
full country emergency. This would include temporary job forces,
people “drafted” into government work.
5. EMP. If the sun belches a large flare directed at the Earth as it
did in 1859, or someone detonates a high altitude nuclear bomb most of
everything electrical not safeguarded is going to be fried. This would
throw the U.S. or any country into total disarray. A nuclear bomb
could be mounted on a missile launched from a ship, the Gulf of Mexico
would be the ideal place because of its central point to the U.S.
Getting the nuclear bomb would be more difficult than obtaining the
missile and its launcher.
6. Communications knocked out. This doesn’t have to be an EMP event, a
cyber attack could cave in the United States’ ability to communicate
within the country. Being blinded and silent is horribly serious for
any country so dependent on information getting from here to there in
an instant. The public panic that would ensue with no cell phones or
telephones, or television, computers, would be nothing in comparison
to the suffering infrastructure damage. Intense national crisis is
underestimated of severity by many.
7. Nuclear power plant failures. Aging power plants that are very
vulnerable to widespread melt downs. Flooding as well as ground
movement has proven its danger to the nuclear industry. Too many power
plants are right near seismic zones. Practically all nuclear power
plants are in danger of flooding because they are near large water
sources to cool themselves down. Wind spreads radiation all over the
place over hundreds of miles. Terrorists still have ideas of diving
airplanes into nuclear reactors as another possibility. A few Fukushima
type incidents could affect most of the entire country.
8. Series of earthquakes. Large earthquakes tend to put additional
pressure on faults in other locations, if the northwest thrust faults
break like they do every few hundred years that much energy could set
off earthquakes all over the country. There is not enough historical
record to ignore that this has not happened before. For example in
1812 there was a very large earthquake in California that coincided
with the series of New Madrid quakes that were in the 8+ range in
magnitude. Earthquakes could affect large enough areas to set off a
national emergency.
9. Volcanic eruption. It would not take a super volcano to erupt to
throw the U.S. into a catastrophic point, even a 7 on the volcanic
explosive index (VEI) could do this. The last volcano at a VEI of 7
was Tambora in 1815, so volcanoes of this level happen in the world
every once in awhile. On top of Yellowstone is a chain of volcanoes
from the Sierra Nevada mountain range to the Cascades of volcanoes
that have erupted geologically recently at least at VEI of 7. The
prevailing westerly winds and jet stream would carry and blanket
almost all the U.S. from the ash clouds. Ash would damage crops, roofs
would fall in from the weight of the ash, too much damage to mention.
10. Food shortages. Even though a country like the U.S. can mass
produce food in surplus, any number of events can result in large crop
failures such as an agricultural blight (plague), extreme drought, any
rapid climate change. The United States does not stockpile large
amount of food making it quite vulnerable to sudden unexpected
shortages. In such a national emergency all sorts of food rationing
would result and other regulations such as ration cards for everyone.
Also could cause an economic collapse.
11. Energy scarcity. Many people remember the 1970′s gas shortages
that were a result of the choice of some countries imposing an embargo
on the U.S. Imagine oil actually not being there, REAL shortages. Many
oil analysts have stated that OPEC nations have vastly overestimated
what is truly under the ground. True lack of oil would result in a
shutdown of most transportation and again economic collapse could
happen. An energy shortage would bring about an immediate state of
emergency in degree of severity to the degree of lack of oil.
12. Pandemic. Any infectious pathogen with a high mortality rate is
going to shut down everything. The entire economy would grind to a
standstill as very few would venture out of their homes in fears of
dying. Even with a high morbidity rate that would incapacitate people
for long periods of time would be devastating. A terrible plague is
overdue for this world and could break out anytime, and would throw
not just the U.S. into a deep crisis, but the world.
13. War. Any nuclear war would go far beyond national emergency into a
national apocalypse, but wars can still be fought in the conventional
manner and deeply affect countries. A national emergency can be
declared in the U.S. even without a single weapon hitting U.S. soil.
The need of manpower and the country’s private manufacturing and
production lines can be brought under state control to support the war
effort. Depleting natural resources have started big wars before, now
is really not any different.
14. Political coup. Like mass civil unrest lays dormant in the U.S.
one political party or the other that under what they consider a
radicalized president could attempt to take over the executive powers
for whom they see fit to run the country. Whenever there is an extreme
difference of individuals over the way things “should” be run, there
exists a hidden plan on taking over the leadership on your own party’s
merits. Has happened before in more stable countries that the United
States.
15. False flag. By choice the president can order a national state of
emergency on the notion of a perceived threat, wag the dog scenario,
whether it is real or not. Reasons for this stem from a distraction
away from something to simply madness. People are unfortunately so use
to the political run around and believing everything they are told by
the mass media that such a declaration probably would go over without
too much hassle or question. People also have been ready for something
to happen for many years now, some believable fictional situation
would likely work quite well.
National Emergency
