Key Takeaways
- • The Pentagon is developing a requirement that each major base in the 48 contiguous states be able to operate independently for at least 90 days if a war cuts off the power grid and supply chains, according to internal Pentagon documents first reported by Fox News Digital.
- • The program, known as FORTRESS, would cover water, fuel, communications, and power, and comes amid 2024 U.S. warnings that Chinese state-backed hackers had infiltrated American energy, water, and communications networks.
- • The U.K. government's Be Ready campaign, launched Oct. 22, urges households to keep three days of water, shelf-stable food, and cash on hand in case essential services fail.
- • Wealthy households have been preparing for outages for years, with advisors and real estate agents reporting rising demand for backup power, stockpiles, secondary properties, and security.
- • Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's roughly 1,400-acre Kauai, Hawaii compound, reported by Wired in December 2023 at an estimated $270 million, includes an underground shelter over 5,000 square feet, which Zuckerberg describes as "like a basement."
Summary
The Pentagon is planning for a scenario in which the power grid fails and stays down. Under a requirement now in development, each major base in the 48 contiguous states would need to function independently for at least 90 days if a war cuts off the grid and supply chains. Fox News Digital first reported the plans after reviewing internal Pentagon documents. The Pentagon has not named an adversary, but in 2024 U.S. cybersecurity, intelligence, and law enforcement agencies warned that Chinese state-backed hackers had broken into American energy, water, and communications networks, possibly to disrupt them in a future conflict. The program, known as FORTRESS, would cover water, fuel, communications, and power.
British households are receiving a scaled-down version of the same message. The U.K. government's Be Ready campaign, launched Oct. 22, advises families to keep enough water, shelf-stable food, and cash to manage for three days if essential services fail.
According to advisors and real estate agents who work with wealthy clients, the ultrawealthy have been preparing for these conditions for years, using backup generators, escape homes, and stockpiles of supplies. Brian Daniel, founder of The Celebrity Personal Assistant Network, told Fortune that clients have become more focused on safety over the past five years, with some installing backup power systems, stocking months of supplies, spreading holdings across multiple properties away from major cities, and purchasing underground bunkers costing millions. Clients worth $100 million or more keep full-time security staff, he said. Philip Farina, chief advisor at Risky Business, said the latest government preparedness campaigns have brought more client inquiries, and that some clients who left COVID-restricted areas during the pandemic bought remote escape homes.
The pattern extends to high-profile figures. Wired reported in December 2023 that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg was developing a roughly 1,400-acre compound on Kauai, Hawaii, estimated at about $270 million, with plans showing an underground shelter larger than 5,000 square feet with its own energy and food supplies. Zuckerberg disputed the characterization, telling Bloomberg, "No, I think that's just like a little shelter... It's like a basement." OpenAI CEO Sam Altman listed his own preparations in a 2016 New Yorker profile, including guns, gold, potassium iodide, and a large patch of land in Big Sur. Reid Hoffman told the same magazine in 2017 that he believed more than half of Silicon Valley's billionaires had invested in "apocalypse insurance."
Demand is also shaping luxury markets. In Palm Beach, Fla., a stretch of South Ocean Boulevard near Mar-a-Lago was closed earlier this year over security concerns tied to the Iran war, and local agent Jessica Julian told Fortune that buyers treated the closure as a selling point. In Miami, Samuel Strauch of Metrik Real Estate said grid reliability and hurricane exposure are top buyer concerns, with impact glass, windproof construction, elevation, and generator capability now expected features in high-end properties.
British households are receiving a scaled-down version of the same message. The U.K. government's Be Ready campaign, launched Oct. 22, advises families to keep enough water, shelf-stable food, and cash to manage for three days if essential services fail.
According to advisors and real estate agents who work with wealthy clients, the ultrawealthy have been preparing for these conditions for years, using backup generators, escape homes, and stockpiles of supplies. Brian Daniel, founder of The Celebrity Personal Assistant Network, told Fortune that clients have become more focused on safety over the past five years, with some installing backup power systems, stocking months of supplies, spreading holdings across multiple properties away from major cities, and purchasing underground bunkers costing millions. Clients worth $100 million or more keep full-time security staff, he said. Philip Farina, chief advisor at Risky Business, said the latest government preparedness campaigns have brought more client inquiries, and that some clients who left COVID-restricted areas during the pandemic bought remote escape homes.
The pattern extends to high-profile figures. Wired reported in December 2023 that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg was developing a roughly 1,400-acre compound on Kauai, Hawaii, estimated at about $270 million, with plans showing an underground shelter larger than 5,000 square feet with its own energy and food supplies. Zuckerberg disputed the characterization, telling Bloomberg, "No, I think that's just like a little shelter... It's like a basement." OpenAI CEO Sam Altman listed his own preparations in a 2016 New Yorker profile, including guns, gold, potassium iodide, and a large patch of land in Big Sur. Reid Hoffman told the same magazine in 2017 that he believed more than half of Silicon Valley's billionaires had invested in "apocalypse insurance."
Demand is also shaping luxury markets. In Palm Beach, Fla., a stretch of South Ocean Boulevard near Mar-a-Lago was closed earlier this year over security concerns tied to the Iran war, and local agent Jessica Julian told Fortune that buyers treated the closure as a selling point. In Miami, Samuel Strauch of Metrik Real Estate said grid reliability and hurricane exposure are top buyer concerns, with impact glass, windproof construction, elevation, and generator capability now expected features in high-end properties.
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