FORT WORTH — You’ve seen movies where the world is ending. There’s usually a moment where the power goes out, and everyone freaks out.

Now, imagine all of the power in the country being controlled by three power grids. That’s the case, and Texas has its very own grid controlling almost the entire state. It does not include El Paso, Amarillo, and Lubbock.

With all of the rumored hacking going on by other countries like Russia, China, and Iran, it’s time Texas figures out how to protect the power grid.

“If the grid goes down, you’re looking at businesses, hospitals, emergency services, police, fire, all of that will be down we all rely on the grid more now than we have in history,” said Senior Fellow for the National Center for Policy Analysis David Grantham. “I mean, imagine if the electricity is out and you can’t get gas, the supermarket is empty, you can’t transport food in and out, you can see where chaos would ensue pretty quickly.”

It would take anywhere from a month to an entire year to get power back up if something were to happen to the grid. That includes if any natural disaster were to hit. The problem? If the grid needs a part replaced, nothing would be working to make a part. It would take a long process to finally get that part working.

So what can be done to protect the grid? “Contact your legislators and let them know that this matters to you and you want the grid to be protected because that’s where the government can step in and work with utilities and decide how to secure the grid,” said Grantham.

Let’s hope the grid can hold up against not only any natural disasters but man-made disasters as well.