The power routinely goes out in major storms or when a squirrel chews through the power lines. These are minor circumstances, though.

If the country is hit with an EMP, or if the world is hit with a natural one via a solar storm, the entire electrical grid is going down, and it's impossible to know when, if ever, it will be repaired.

Keep reading to learn what the reality of this situation is.

Day One: Cities are Hit the Hardest
Thousands are trapped in elevators
All electrical appliances are shut down and inoperative, including refrigerators, freezers, heating units, air conditioners
Water faucets run dry
Because there is not water, toilets no longer flush
ATM machines are inoperative
Banks and other businesses are shuttered
Emergency generators provide pockets of power and light but, for the most part, there is profound darkness everywhere
Battery-powered radios and cell phones still operate but there is no word as to the cause or scale of the power outage
Gas stations without generators cannot pump fuel
Day Two: Confusion Reigns
Drugstores and supermarkets have been stripped clean of all goods
Batteries on laptops and cell phones are dying
Bridges and tunnels are backed up for hours
Day Three: No Gas, No Water, and No Food
All gas stations have run out of fuel
Water is at a premium
FEMA has provided emergency generators to pump water and keep sewage systems operational, but supplies are limited
Millions of “Meals Ready to Eat” have been distributed.
Backup food and water supplies do not exist
End of Week One: You Are On Your Own
Emergency rations have been depleted
Hundreds of the elderly and infirm have died
Hundreds of thousands of refugees have migrated to areas where there still is power
Unequipped to house or feed them, some states have instituted plans to keep the refugees out
Week Two and Beyond: Board Up the Windows and Protect Yourself from Looters and Thugs
With no end in sight, hiding and defending your goods is a full time job and a number one priority
Law enforcement personnel are abandoning their post in order to secure their own families
Stockpiled food is rationed to the minimum amount needed to maintain necessary caloric levels
Hunting, fishing and foraging for food begins and stored goods begin to dwindle

A destroyed grid means, essentially, that we will be plunged back into the Stone Age. While you may be thinking it will simply mean we will have to live like they did in the 1800s, you'd be wrong.

Even though they didn't have electricity then, they still had a complex system of living, a system that is now extinct outside of Amish communities. In the event of a complete grid meltdown, it will essentially be every person for themselves. Are you prepared?

For more information, or to read the entire article, head to Backdoor Survival.