Yeah except a CME is very unlikely to hurt small electronics or
even data centers beyond turning them dark.
That's
not the end of the bad news. The power grid in North America operates at near
capacity. It wouldn't be able to handle the increased electrical load from a
solar superstorm. Power lines could sag and even snap as a result. Massive
power outages could affect much of the continent. The magnetic fluctuations
would interfere with radio signals,
and communication and satellite systems
would collapse as well.
It
could take weeks or months to repair the damage. During that time, people
would have no way to find out what was going on. Emergency services would face
serious challenges. While the magnetic fields would probably not short out
individual electronics devices like cell
phones or computers, communications
systems could fail regionally. In other words, small devices would still work
but would lack the services they require to be useful.
