Wicky_42 said:
Well, one key issue there is that we wouldn't be able to replace the transformers in anything like a reasonable timescale. In event of such a catastrophe, there's not much scope for recovery in a timescale that would avert panic.
No fridges or freezers, main communications out, water pumps off, no electrical lighting or heating. No electronic payments. No computer coordination of anything from banking to traffic lights. Police radios would probably work until the battery runs flat, so perhaps there'd be some law and order presence initially, but with the majority of people unable to work, access their money, use the money they have or store fresh food you're not going to have a civilised experience.
It's an eventuality that's quite scary to contemplate, really, and one that the ordinary person can't really do much to deal with, save actually getting their apocalypse plan dusted off and stocking up on non-perishable foods.
Very true, there would be quite a bit of unrest about it. Replacing all of the infrastructure would take quite a bit of time, if we're lucky, it'd be fully restored in a year or two, but that's an optimistic estimation at best.
That said, the core of our civilization would survive intact. The average person would be without power yes, and the price of generators would skyrocket, but anyone who owns a generator or a wind turbine or possibly even solar panels, would be just fine. They would have to see a drastic decrease in their power consumption obviously, as it would be prohibitively expensive/unfeasible to generate the normal level of electricity used by the average household, but they'd be able to keep the fridge running at least (assuming it wasn't knocked out in the EMP, the odds of which are somewhere between unlikely and moderately likely).
The biggest problems will be:
1) Current power grid will cease to function for some time
2) Long-range communication will be difficult, since many of the antennas, transmitters and receivers will have been fried.
3) Civil unrest about the lack of conveniences
It's certainly something to prepare for, but it's definitely recoverable and it's most certainly not apocalyptic.