SAFE HAVEN HOMES Along with
Quality Affordable Homes &
Consultants Combine Expertise
to Give You the Ultimate in .......

NOTE: This article also appears on the menus  “Why a Safe Haven Home” and “The Day America Stood Still”.   We believe these are very important articles you should read based on the present dangers that exist this very day.  Although these are dramatized fictional accounts, they do realistically portray the conditions that you might expect if we experienced a take-down of the electric grid.  It is for this reason we desire to communicate with you what a Safe Haven Home can do in dire circumstances of this nature.

On Easter Sunday, April 20, 2025 the unimaginable happened.  America suffered an EMP attack!  We were told that its origins could not be ascertained, as by this time Russia, China, North Korea, India and Iran not only had land based intercontinental ballistic missiles but also intercontinental capable submarines. Sadly, our defense department could not determine which country shot off the nuclear missiles which were intended to cause a national EMP.  Not only that, although our surveillance technology was capable of detecting the launch in international waters, it was so close to our shore that it took less than 10 minutes for it to achieve it’s most damaging effect.  And the greatest damage was the takedown of America’s national electric grid, the intended goal of this attack.  It had been predicted that a nuclear EMP event over our country could cause greater overall damage than even a number of detonated nuclear bombs going off in key cities and strategic locations.  It was so hard to believe because as you looked over the landscape, it was as though everything was fine and nothing happened.  Even the birds were still happily tweeting away.  But when day turned to night you noticed something was seriously amiss.  All was dark except the shining of the stars and moon.  And a new type of darkness began to settle in our country that our nation never experienced before.

That day, all the consequences of what one would expect from a nuclear EMP attack transpired as predicted, plus some.  However, since we had significantly prepared for this possibility, we really felt confident that we could weather the storm so much better than the rest of those who had not.  The operative word and action in this regard is “PREPARATION”.

Let me explain what we had done to prepare.  In my investigations, it was highly recommended that a “refuge” location be found to avoid the extreme civil unrest that would likely come following an electric grid takedown or any other major catastrophe of this nature, especially in densely populated areas (i.e. cities).  This decision to PREPARE by and large would become the safest decision one could make to avoid the consequences of such a devastating event.  However, my wife and I had important positions that required us to live where we were.  Besides this, we also had family and close friends that we didn’t want to leave.  I’ve learned that nearly 80% – 90% of Americans are in this position.  Yes, many like us would like to check out “refuge” locations in safe regions of America and even foreign lands with a serious desire to move there, but in the final analysis we needed to first concentrate on establishing a “Safe Haven Home” in the area that we called home. 

Since I was a builder and knew how to build a “Safe Haven Home”, I sought a single building lot that would provide the most protection for the area we were living in.  Thankfully, we came upon a gated small subdivision that offered lots for sale.  One of the initial concerns that needs to be addressed is finding a secure and protected location as possible.  Usually, this means moving to as much of a rural area as possible, especially one removed from a densely populated area.  Finding a gated small subdivision is highly recommended as a gated community would provide the first line of defense in keeping unwanted intruders out.  However, these may be few and far between and if so, you need to then find as remote of a lot as possible, especially if gated communities are not readily available in your area.  But no matter whether you can find that “safe” rural lot location or not, we highly recommend that you install a gated entry to your property and if possible, build a protective perimeter around the front.  This can be done with secure fencing made of brick or a stucco block wall or by simply planting thick and fast growing vegetation around your property’s perimeter. These help to hinder and possibly even stop intruders from entering your “compound”. As you can imagine, this is not the time to be “showing off” your stuff.

Another feature that I look for in purchasing a lot is the ability to install a water well and septic system for private use.  The advantages are obvious.  With the grid going down, your city would not be able to supply you with city water.  And city sewer systems would be rendered inoperative because lift stations will not work, including the sewage treatment plants.  The consequences of this is that your toilets and showers will back up with sewage. Yuk!  (Note: even if you have to live in a city with no ability to install a private water supply or septic system, our “Practical Considerations for Building a Safe Home” will give you some solutions for this dilemma.). 

Most septic systems function on gravity, hence we don’t have to worry about electrical power to operate them.  However, this would not be true with a water well.  Most artesian water wells use submersible pump technology to provide superior service for water availability.  But they operate on electricity.  How then do we get water into our house?  The next paragraph gives the solution.

With the technology available today, an electrical solar generation system with lithium battery backup is capable of powering practically the entire home throughout the whole day and night.  Because we live in Florida where central air conditioning is a must, we elected not to upgrade to a massive 240 volt system that would be needed to air condition our whole house.  The reason is it would use far too much electricity which would expend a battery based reserve system (the only exception to this would be the use of a secondary battery system, which will be explained later). Instead, we chose to install a small wall A.C. unit located in the family room that was capable of being closed off.  This was sufficient for our entire family of six, as we would all sleep there when it was absolutely imperative to have air conditioning available.  In Florida, this was practically a requirement.  From mid – May to the end October nighttime temperatures would often hover between 75 and 80 degrees.  Some would question the need for A.C. at what appears to be  moderate temps.  The problem is not with the temperature, but the humidity levels.  Humidity levels between 80% – 90% are typical during the hurricane season marked between June 1 – Nov. 1.  Even night-time temperatures between 75 to 80 degrees with this level of humidity makes for extremely stifling conditions. During the day, the humidity would usually drop off but sadly was replaced with temperatures usually reaching 90 to 95 degrees. Combined with much greater sun intensity, heat indexes between 105 – 115 degrees in Florida are not uncommon during the extended summer/hurricane season.  As an interesting bit of information, population levels in Florida have skyrocketed to 23 million for the year 2025. I truly believe that if air conditioning did not exist, Florida’s population would most likely be well under 6 million (it was recorded at 5.8 million in 1965) due to it’s rather intense summer subtropical climate.

What is so beneficial with solar generated electric power systems is the availability of programs that help finance the costs of purchase and installation. In many instances out of pocket expenses are minimal if not zero. Combined with electric energy credits offered by the government and electric energy buy – back programs offered by the electric companies, solar generation systems are well worth the investment.  However their greatest benefit, by leaps and bounds, is the ability to generate your own electricity when the grid goes down.  One needs to recognize that with a national grid collapse, especially caused by an EMP, it could well take between one to two years for America to regain full functionality due to transformer shortage that still exists. Therefore, solar power systems will be one of your best solutions in preparing for a serious catastrophe (i.e. grid failure) while beforehand helping to save money and the environment.  I truly believe it is a win-win situation.

The next most dangerous element regarding an EMP event is the destruction of all electronic devices in your home.  An EMP produces extremely high magnetic flux conditions in the atmosphere, which descends to ground level and effects two groups of devices.  The first group affects all your devices connected to the household electrical system. The reason for this is that an EMP uses power lines as a highly conductive antennae to multiply its effects.  This causes a power surge so powerful, that it blows out any and all electric devices connected to it.  Hence refrigerators, microwaves, washers, dryers, A.C. units and practically all devices that use microchip technology will be destroyed by this extremely high burst of surge energy.  The only way to prevent this is to employ a whole house surge protector.  Numerous electric companies are now offering such protection at a monthly cost.  Or, you can purchase a surge protector for a one time cost (check out our Resources link by CLICKING HERE).

The next EMP danger to all your electronic devices are those not connected to the electrical system of your house.  These are affected by the direct EMP burst on the item itself.  There has been controversy lately as to whether this is a real danger or not.  The answer to this controversy rests on the distance the EMP source emanates from your house.  But the problem is who knows where this source will emanate from?  Moreover, what if the source is a super powerful solar flare(s) of the nature that took place with the Carrington Event?  If so, it doesn’t matter where you are as the whole earth will be affected by the extreme global ionization of the upper atmosphere.  Therefore, it becomes incumbent to make your whole house as EMP resistant as possible.  And as we have said before, this can be done at a very reasonable cost, making it one of the most value based protections you can employ.  Again check our our “Resources” link for availability.

Making a single family residence EMP resistant employs two primary methods.  The first is to protect against electric power line surge coming into your home.  This is done with a surge protector as mentioned earlier.  These are available from most electric power companies (check with your local electric utility) or are available at our website. The second method is to protect your home with an all encompassing protective EMP shield. In fact, there is even EMP resistant paint available that can be used on existing homes at a very reasonable cost.  Adding this to a new construction home in addition to a total house EMP shield only adds greater resistance against a very powerful EMP, possibly providing 100% protection.  We explain our methods and supply contacts for accomplishing this in the book, “Practical Considerations for Building a Safe Home”, again available from our website.

Other beneficial and protective methodology is also well covered in the book.  For example, the book covers the benefits of constructing a basement whenever possible, installing a water collection system, setting up a greenhouse in your garage and numerous other concepts and ideas to make your personal home as independent and secure as possible.  We also cover making a single family a nuclear resistant home, which becomes somewhat more expensive and demanding.  Nonetheless, many of our readers may well wish to be informed of what it takes to outfit your home to this degree.

We want to emphasize that building a “Safe Haven Home” is relatively affordable.  Using the financial options available to install a total solar generating system, your out of pocket expenses for becoming energy independent may be close to zero as mentioned earlier (especially true with Federal solar credits being offered).  I estimate making a home fully EMP resistant (meaning whole house coverage, not 100% resistant capable) should cost anywhere between 3%-5% of the total construction cost.  Considering the level of protection this can offer, we believe it is well worth the expense.  Implementing the cost of adding other construction enhancements to establish a very robust “Safe Haven Home”, we estimate costs should come in around 10% higher than with a standard build home (note: this figure does not include the costs for protecting a “Safe Haven Home” against nuclear blasts).  So, if your looking at a house that will cost approximately $500,000 to build on a standard basis, to make a robust “Safe Haven Home”, you would have to add around $50,000.  Again, we believe this is well worth the protection and energy independence you can achieve. Moreover, we believe these additions to the house will increase its net value  well over the cost of the improvements upon resale.     

Through the course of my research, I discovered that the anticipated civil anarchy that would take place following the takedown of the national grid (whether by an EMP event, cyberattack or nuclear holocaust) can become life threatening.  As such, even a “Safe Haven Home” located in a gated community within a fairly dense population (i.e. large cities over one million including adjacent metropolitan areas) may be in danger of being over-run by masses of people wanting to find safety, food and secure shelter.  For this reason we decided to build a second “Safe Haven Home” in a more remote location which I define as a true refuge area. A second resource is in the process of being published which details the safest locations that can be found not only in America, state by state, but includes a survey of the safest nations one would wish to consider fleeing to if desired.  Check out our website, www.Safe-Haven-Home.com for upcoming details on its release.  Also, if you are interested in wanting to become a part of a Safe Haven Community (for example, reserving a lot or getting the latest information on what is available in this realm), please “Contact Us” by CLICKING HERE.