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Scenario · Burbank, CA · 90 days

90 days without power in Los Angeles

A family of four (two parents, two kids) in a house in Burbank. A cyberattack or EMP takes down the grid nationwide. FEMA and the National Guard are stretched across the whole country. No one is coming soon. This is the realistic version.

  1. Hour 0–24Disruption

    Everything goes dark

    • A coordinated cyberattack (or EMP) takes down the Western grid. LADWP and Burbank Water & Power go dark simultaneously, along with most of the country.
    • Traffic signals die. The 5, the 134 and Olive Ave gridlock within an hour. Your kids are at school; getting them home takes hours.
    • Cell towers run on batteries for 2–8 hours, then go silent. No texts, no 911 calls getting through, no news.
    • Card readers and ATMs fail. Gas stations can't pump. Most neighbors assume it'll be back tonight.
    • Family and friends across town have a few hours to regroup before the streets lock up. Without a pre-agreed meeting house and a cutoff time to stop driving, people end up stranded on the 405 with half a tank.
    • The clock on your fridge and freezer food starts ticking. Keep the doors shut and eat the most perishable food first.
  2. Day 2–3Strain

    The realization

    • Word spreads by radio that this is national. The Ralphs, Vons and Costco on Front St are stripped bare within hours; fights break out in lines.
    • Water pressure falls as pumping stations exhaust backup fuel. Homes in the Burbank hills lose water first.
    • Hospitals (Providence St. Joseph) run on generators and turn away all but critical patients.
    • Card terminals and ATMs are dead. Stores that still open take cash only, and small bills matter because nobody can make change.
    • FEMA and the National Guard are spread across the entire country. Los Angeles, 10+ million people, gets a tiny fraction of what's needed.
  3. Day 4–7Breakdown

    Taps run dry, toilets back up

    • Water pressure is gone and taps run dry. Toilets no longer refill — the only way to flush is to pour a bucket into the bowl.
    • Backyard pools become flushing and washing water, not drinking water. FEMA says don't drink pool or spa water, and boiling kills germs but leaves the chemicals in.
    • The LA River and flood channels are worse: street runoff carries oil, fuel and chemicals that boiling and ordinary camping filters can't remove.
    • Insulin, oxygen and dialysis patients begin dying. Nursing homes are the first mass-casualty sites.
    • Looting starts in commercial districts, then pharmacies, then residential streets near main roads. Police are absent or protecting key sites.
    • Gas is siphoned from parked cars. Anyone who tries to drive out gets stuck on the 5 or the 14 with no fuel.
  4. Week 2Critical

    Disease and desperation

    • Diarrheal illness from bad water spreads fast; children are hit hardest. Without clinics, dehydration kills.
    • Most households are out of food. Aid points, if any, are mobbed; distribution is irregular and sometimes violent.
    • Carbon monoxide deaths spike from people running generators and grills indoors.
    • Homes that appear to have food, light or generator noise get targeted. Armed groups go door to door in some areas.
    • In a dry season, a single uncontrolled fire with no water pressure can burn entire blocks. Santa Ana winds make it worse.
  5. Week 3–4Critical

    Survival of the organized

    • Neighborhoods that organized (shared watch, barricaded entries, pooled resources) are holding. Isolated households are being picked off.
    • Trash and human waste pile up; rats and flies spread disease. Bodies may go uncollected.
    • Cash still buys things, but prices soar. Lighters, coffee, batteries, medicine and alcohol start trading as well as dollars.
    • Rumors replace news. Some people walk out toward family in the Central Valley; many don't make it.
    • Your family is rationing, purifying water, staying indoors at night, and keeping the kids calm with routine.
  6. Day 30–60Critical

    The long middle

    • Supply chains remain frozen nationwide: no trucks, no fuel refining, no food processing. Imported water to Southern California has stopped.
    • Death toll across LA from lack of medicine, water, heat stroke, violence and disease is now severe. The elderly, disabled and very young are most affected.
    • Military or federal presence may appear at key points (ports, hospitals, water plants), with curfews and martial-law-style restrictions.
    • If the crisis triggers economic collapse, dollars lose most of their value. Barter goods and small silver coins become the trusted money; showing gold or silver marks you as a target.
    • Summer heat in the Valley (100°F+) without cooling is deadly for small kids; winter nights in the 40s without heat are miserable but survivable.
  7. Day 60–90Critical

    Grinding toward recovery

    • Transformer replacements take months to manufacture; power returns patchily, critical facilities first, residential last.
    • Aid convoys begin reaching parts of LA, but the line between stable and lawless zones can be a few blocks.
    • Households with 90 days of water, food, medicine and solid security are still intact. Most who prepared for 7 days are not.
    • Expect lasting damage: lost jobs, no school, trauma for kids, and a recovery that takes a year or more.

The families still standing at day 90 are the ones who prepared security, water and food before day 1.

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