More than that, a lot more!
I believe you may be confusing the effects of a nuclear-explosion's EMP with the effects of a "Carrington" (solar flare) event.
A Carrington event would knock out the power grid, but would not destroy run-of-the-mill electronics. So it could be mitigated by:
1. A big stock of high-voltage transformers, per your suggestion; and
2. A warning system that would take the power grid's functioning transformers off-line temporarily when an incoming flare is detected.
But a nuclear EMP not only would cripple our power grid, but it also could fry most solid-state electronic devices (e.g., in all modern cars) under its "umbrella" -- unless those devices had been suitably shielded, grounded and otherwise hardened.
“But a nuclear EMP not only would cripple our power grid, but it also could fry most solid-state electronic devices (e.g., in all modern cars) under its “umbrella” — unless those devices had been suitably shielded, grounded and otherwise hardened. “
‘most’ = possibly some
And a Faraday cage yes, but grounding doesn’t do squat...
There is no doubt an EMP attack would be much more deadly than a Carrington event. I think we could deal with a flare with “reasonable” success especially with the advanced warning we would have.
I agree that an “EMP” attack would send us back to horse and buggy days very quickly. As bad as a nuke over Washington or New York would be, it would be nothing compared to even a “small” EMP attack.
And the worst part of this is that I am convinced it is only a matter of when, not if.