"... new satellites are now watching solar activity and would provide a warning of a major storm."
Okay, there's a major solar flare and scientists estimate we've got half a day to do something... So, what might that 'something' be? (Besides taking off the tinfoil hat)
And, what happens if it happens on a Sunday at 10 a.m.?
Sue
Reading the posts from adam, and the rest suggest that a lot of the actions are already in place around the nation in response to a variety of events:
a) hurricane season
b) earthquake preps
c) blizzard power outages
d) other large scale disruptions to services.
The tricky part is teaching the public:
1) how to respond to the specific effects of a solar flare,
2) getting them to respond appropriately / take it seriously.
If you tell folks on the gulf and east coasts "hurricane's a-coming", we (a percentage of us) know what actions to take.
The rest don't care and there's nothing that is going to reach those knuckle-heads ... (I've given up trying).