As geopolitical tensions escalate between the United States and several adversarial nations, experts are increasingly sounding the alarm about the potential for a major catastrophe.

This year, the U.S. has conducted military operations in Iran and Venezuela, igniting concerns among cyberwarfare analysts. They caution that these nations might retaliate by targeting the outdated U.S. power grid, a move that could leave millions without electricity and internet for extended periods.

Such an extensive power outage would have immediate and widespread impacts on daily life: traffic signals might cease functioning, grocery stores could close, financial transactions would halt as ATMs and banks go offline, healthcare facilities might face overwhelming demands, and emergency services could struggle to respond.

Adding to the strain, Pentagon officials have indicated that China is preparing its intercontinental ballistic missiles, raising fears of a potential nuclear conflict. This mixture of cyber threats, military strikes, and nuclear tension is motivating many to begin preparing for worst-case scenarios.

Sean Gold, a veteran of the U.S. Air Force and the founder of the preparedness website TruePrepper, has advised Americans to prepare for a significant blackout. He warns that, given the current international climate, either the East or West Coast could be plunged into darkness without warning.

‘Otherwise, it’ll happen with slightly more notice when it’s accompanied by regional weather-related disasters, deteriorating political stability or space weather (Coronal mass ejections – CMEs),’ Gold told the Daily Mail. 

The veteran keeps a large stockpile of goods including survival knives, MREs (Meal, Ready-to-Eat), communication radios and gallon-sized buckets of food.

Gold emphasized that prepping isn’t just about hoarding supplies, but about practical, realistic planning for daily life without electricity or basic services. 

Sean Gold, pictured in gas mask, started his disaster-prepping website TruePrepper in 2016 after the birth of his first child

Gold keeps stockpiles of food, including MREs (‘eal, Ready-to-Eat), in case of an emergency that cuts off local supply chains

Prepping experts have noted that during a full-scale blackout, households could run out of accessible drinking water within a few days, and grocery store shelves would quickly empty. Experienced preppers rotate their food and water supplies regularly to prevent spoilage and maintain back-up power solutions for critical devices. 

Gold said Americans looking to leap into doomsday prepping should begin by making an emergency communication plan to coordinate with loved ones and have set procedures that do not rely on power or cell phones in the event of an outage. 

‘Pre-planned meeting points and target times are usually included,’ he added.

‘Work on your general preparedness. Power outages often come hand-in-hand with supply chain disruptions, so have food, water, fuel, etc on hand. Planning for three days of self-sufficiency is a good starting point.’ 

Gold also recommended having water-purifying equipment ready in case sources become unreliable. 

The prepper noted that communication gear is crucial, from weather radios to licensed amateur radios.

‘These can handle power and internet outage rather well, and allow people to communicate with walkie-talkies a few miles, or across the world if you have a nice ham radio set-up,’ Gold said. 

Regions of the US most at risk for power outages include the hurricane-prone southeast, the wildfire and drought-stricken southwest, and low-lying areas such as Louisiana and Florida, where infrastructure is already under stress from ongoing natural disasters.

While events such as electromagnetic pulses (EMPs) – sudden bursts of energy that can disrupt or damage electronics – solar storms or attacks by hackers and state actors could potentially affect the entire country, Gold noted that the timing and scale of such high-impact events are impossible to predict.

His ‘all-in’ moment as a prepper struck when his first son was born in 2015. 

‘I made TruePrepper less than a year after he was born, not just to share what I know, but to spur myself to learn even more and apply it to my own family’s preparedness,’ Gold explained.

‘Most preppers are pushed to preparedness by near-misses, disasters and tragedies, so I consider myself lucky to be motivated by a positive experience.’

Gold has used his website, TruePrepper, to provide advice on the best survival gear for an emergency, including knives for all situations

Gold also recommended having water purifying equipment ready in case water sources become unreliable

Beyond natural disasters and geopolitical tensions, the US electrical system is around 120 years old, and Gold noted that government budgets rarely prioritize modernization or resilience measures, leaving the grid vulnerable to cyberattacks and hacking.

Robert Siciliano, a cybersecurity awareness trainer for more than 30 years, said the age of the equipment used nationwide only multiplies the chances that foreign adversaries could successfully cause widespread blackouts across an entire coast.

If the power grid goes down for a long time due to a major cyberattack or other failure, there would be no lights, heat or air-conditioning. Phones and the internet stop working, gas pumps and ATMs fail, and food in refrigerators would spoil quickly.

After a few days, things could get scarier with shortages of clean water, rising health risks as medical devices stop working, more accidents and crime in darkened cities, and major disruptions and delays for hospitals and emergency services.

Such a crisis would not only lead to panic in the real world, but also cut people off from their sensitive information, bank accounts and major forms of communication on the internet.

‘You aren’t just losing the ability to scroll social media,’ Siciliano told the Daily Mail. ‘You are losing your digital defensive line.’

Siciliano explained that cybercriminals use major internet outages to cover their tracks because they know victims can’t receive suspicious activity alerts in their email, use secure login codes or check their bank statements in real time.

To avoid fraud during a blackout, the expert advised everyone to create their own ‘digital survival kit’ by freezing their credit if they suspect a power outage is coming and printing out their last three months of bank and credit card statements.

He added that Americans should also switch their smartphones to app-based login security systems rather than sticking with Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) sent by text messages, since cell phone service will likely disappear during a blackout.

‘Print “Backup Codes,”‘ he recommended, adding that ‘most major services (Google, iCloud, banking) offer a one-time list of “Recovery Codes.”‘

While he said foreign cyberattacks pose the greater risk for long-term blackout emergencies, Siciliano noted that storms and ageing equipment are likely to continue to cause local outages.

Sean Gold, pictured, served in the US Air Force for six years working as a hazmat technician and received a degree in emergency management

Gold revealed that there are three things everyone can do today to get themselves and their families ready for an emergency that cuts off internet access and power across several states.

First, Gold said to ‘make an emergency communication plan to coordinate with loved ones and have set procedures that do not rely on power [or] cell phones in the event of an outage’. He added that this plan should include having pre-planned meeting points and target times should something go wrong.

Next, he told the Daily Mail that purchasing an emergency weather radio is vital so folks can stay updated on what’s going on and charge mobile devices – plus, he said, it functions as a flashlight.

‘[The radios] run between $15 and $80, so they can fit most budgets and do some heavy lifting in emergencies,’ the disaster prepping expert explained.

Finally, Gold said it is important to have at least a three-day supply of food, water and fuel in case help is delayed.