I think the problem is zero transportation, zero communication and zero electrical grid. We aren’t talking about hours, days or weeks, but likely to extend into months and maybe two or three years.
Pick out an area of western Washington, and one-third of Oregon’s west coast...then figure no movement. US Army would have to come into each region...likely pick up thousands per day and transport them out of the affected area. Lack of confidence with the authorities would start up, and civil strife would move on quickly.
If you had horses and bicycles...you might be able to move around. This EMP thing is a lot bigger than people think.
First off, the entire grid may or may not go down from one EMP attack. Even if it did, it would likely be due to a cascade failure like the one that hit the Northeast in what year was that, 2005? The grid can be brought back online for those areas not directly hit by removing the connections to other regions and supporting only thier own. Many regions that regain their nuclear and hydro power in particular will then begin to rebuild and reorganize and support neighboring regions.
A lot of people have backup generators. The problem will be fuel. But let’s not assume that refineries are going to be down for a while year. And why would transportation go down. If refineries get back up and running, pumps are powerered and tanker trucks can run, what is the problem? Traffic signals? You suggesting no one is going to solve a traffic light problem in a whole year?
People will fix things one at a time. Prioritization and seperation of effort.
Yes...I laugh at my neighbors who are so proud of their EMPTY garages...well, empty except for their cars. They’d be on our doorstep in a day...