NATO Jets Shoot Down Explosive-Laden Drone Over Lithuania in First-Ever Baltic Intercept

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The Ready Brief #197

Practical preparedness for uncertain times

Lightning hit a transformer on my street last summer. The resulting power surge fried my neighbor's garage door opener, TV, microwave, and HVAC control board. Total replacement cost: about $3,200. My equipment survived because I'd installed a whole-house surge protector two years earlier. It cost $150 plus an electrician's hour. The math on this one speaks for itself.

Here's what I've got this morning:

Surge Protection: The $150 Shield for Your Entire Home

We covered EMP protection (Issue 54), battery management (Issue 93), and generator safety (Issue 151). This week addresses the most common electrical threat to your home: power surges from lightning, utility switching, and grid instability.

A whole-house surge protector installs at your electrical panel and absorbs voltage spikes before they reach your home's wiring and connected devices. It's the first line of defense against the surges that destroy electronics, appliances, and sensitive equipment.

The device itself costs $50 to $200 for residential models. Installation by a licensed electrician takes about an hour ($75 to $150 in labor). Total investment: $125 to $350. The average cost of surge damage to a home without protection: $1,000 to $5,000 per event.

Point-of-use surge protectors (power strips with surge protection) provide a second layer at individual devices. They're essential for computers, entertainment systems, and sensitive electronics. But they don't protect hardwired appliances (refrigerator, HVAC, well pump, washer/dryer). Only a whole-house protector covers everything on the panel.

Generator backfeed surges are a specific risk when using a generator without a proper transfer switch. When the generator starts and connects to the home's wiring, voltage spikes can damage connected equipment. A transfer switch (installed by an electrician) prevents this and also prevents backfeed onto utility lines, which endangers line workers.

UPS devices (Issue 195) protect against surges AND provide battery backup, making them ideal for computers, network equipment, and any device that needs both clean power and uninterrupted power. A UPS at the device level combined with a whole-house surge protector at the panel provides comprehensive protection.

Lightning rods and grounding systems address the source. A properly grounded home with a lightning rod system dissipates direct strikes safely. This is a more significant investment ($1,000 to $3,000 installed) but eliminates the most dramatic surge source.

Check whether your home has a whole-house surge protector installed.

Look at your electrical panel. A surge protector is typically a small box mounted next to or on the panel with a green indicator light. If you don't see one, call an electrician and ask for a quote. It's one of the highest-return investments in home protection.

Lightning Insurance Claims Jumped 59% Last Year, Average Payout Now Tops $26,000

U.S. insurers paid out $1.65 billion on lightning-related homeowner claims in 2025, up 59% from $1.04 billion in 2024, according to the Insurance Information Institute. The number of claims rose 11.6% to nearly 62,000, but the average cost per claim jumped 43% to $26,616, driven by rising reconstruction costs and the growing value of home electronics. Texas claims averaged $60,382, the highest of any state. Whole-house surge protection, this issue's topic, is a $150 to $300 hedge against exactly this trend.

Source: Insurance Business, Triple-I

Joshua Enyart (Gray Bearded Green Beret) covers electrical preparedness in his outdoor education programs, noting that modern households depend on electronics for communication, security, lighting, and medical equipment. In Surviving the Wild, he writes that protecting these systems from predictable threats (surges, spikes, outages) is as fundamental as protecting your food supply from spoilage.

Enyart's principle: infrastructure protection is preventive preparedness. You harden your entry points against intrusion. You harden your water supply against contamination. Harden your electrical system against surges. The cost of prevention is always a fraction of the cost of replacement.

Get Surviving the Wild by Joshua Enyart on Amazon (about $15.65 for the paperback)

NATO Jets Shoot Down Explosive-Laden Drone Over Lithuania in First-Ever Baltic Intercept

Two NATO Eurofighter jets shot down a drone carrying suspected explosives over Lithuania near Pratkūnai early on September 15, the first air defense shootdown in the country's history. The aircraft lingered in Lithuanian airspace for about 30 minutes before interception, and officials believe it entered from neighboring Belarus. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte called Russia "increasingly reckless," a day after warning that strikes near alliance territory would trigger stronger NATO support for Ukraine. The same day, a Russian frigate fired flares at a Danish military helicopter over the Baltic Sea.

It's the latest in a string of drone incursions into NATO airspace this year. None of it touches your home directly, but it's a reminder that instability abroad has a way of showing up in fuel prices, insurance markets, and supply chains here with very little warning.

Source: Bloomberg, Fox News

Eaton CHSPT2ULTRA Whole-House Surge Protector

This is the surge protector on my panel. It's rated for 108,000 amps of surge current and has an indicator light that confirms it's functioning. My electrician installed it in about 45 minutes, connecting it to two dedicated breaker slots.

Since installation, I've experienced three surge events (visible on the indicator via its event counter). Each time, all household electronics and appliances were unaffected. My neighbor, without protection, lost equipment during the same events. About $205 for the device plus $120 to $150 for installation.

Budget alternative: Point-of-use surge protectors ($15 to $30 each) on your most valuable electronics: computer, TV, router, and any medical equipment. They don't protect hardwired appliances, but they protect the devices you'd miss most.

Get the Eaton CHSPT2ULTRA on Amazon

Overrated: Cheap power strips marketed as "surge protectors." Many $5 power strips claim surge protection but provide minimal actual protection (low joule ratings, no indicator lights, no warranty). Check the joule rating: 1,000+ joules for electronics, 2,000+ for home entertainment systems.

Underrated: The electrician's recommendation. When you have any electrical work done, ask your electrician about whole-house surge protection. Many will install one during another service call for reduced labor cost. The incremental investment is minimal when they're already at your panel.

Reading global risk like a professional. How analysts and researchers assess emerging threats, and how you can apply their framework to your own preparedness.

PS: My neighbor's $3,200 in surge damage happened on a Tuesday afternoon. Clear sky. The lightning was from a storm 10 miles away. The surge traveled through the power lines. You don't have to be in the storm to get hit by the surge. That's why whole-house protection matters even if you don't see a cloud in the sky.