How will they deal with the silent killers typhoid fever, cholera, dysentery, yellow fever and all the other diseases that literally wiped out cities in Europe that will inevitably sweep across this country without any medical intervention?
How will a city of 2000 grow to 5000 without any immediate means to sustain them? Assuming the "event" occurs in November, after all crops have been harvested and shipped out as most farmers do, there will be no sustaining crops until the following harvest season which won't be until at least the following September...........and that's predicated on perfect climate conditions that allow them to grow their specific crops...........
Rural Missouri leads the nation in Meth Labs, once society breaks down, how will your community of 2000 deal with the influx of meth or the lack of by the addicts living there?
Yellow fever and dysentery are not endemic to North America. Cholera comes from polluted water supplies. Typhoid can be bad, but is rarely fatal if symptoms are caught early. Most farms in that area have wells. Even if a single well goes bad, water would be fairly easy to get.
My Grandparents did not have indoor plumbing at their house until 1968, their hand pump is still in the back yard of the house. This is fairly common in this area of the country.
Will all Doctors be killed by the EMP? Will all pharmacists and phramacologists? Will all Medical books? If not, then medicines can be created in small batches using simple methods.
There are several crops that can be grown and harvested fairly quickly in short order. Granted, an EMP in November would be the worst timing, but if they can make it to March on stretched rations, a crop of radishes and turnip greens can be grown in a month. At that point, the farmers in the area could easily start the business of keeping everybody fed.
As far as meth addicts... well that’s what guns are for.