Gary Coffman wrote:

Note, though, that the possibility of damage to the power grid, and the
telecommunications networks, is very real. That's because they have
a huge amount of exposed wiring to act as antennas, so their capture
area for the NEMP energy is also huge. So they have to take extraordinary
measures to protect connected equipment against EMP. These measures
include wiring practices, use of single point grounds, gas discharge shunt
protectors, etc.

I even wonder if it's an issue with the power grid. It's designed
to recover from a direct lightning strike. Your point about the
capture area is well taken, but I'd like to see a simulation before
I'd assume that an NEMP would do permanent damage.