This is going to be a short TL detailing an EMP attack on the US by detonating two nuclear missiles in the upper atmosphere by an unknown terrorist group. Based on the idea of a worst case scenario. (I got the idea from a book as well as the hijacking of a Russian freighter that year, it contained either uranium or a nuclear weapon that is still unknown).
CIA briefing based on the 3/7 attacks:
This briefing is based upon surviving testimony of military personnel, satellite information and subsequent observations from the ground.
On March 7th at 4:36 am Eastern Time the Continental US was sent into partial blackness. NORAD detected two targets approaching entering US airspace from a position in the Gulf of Mexico. There was a crucial three minute window as the reports were confirmed. At 4:39 the targets were confirmed and the Secretary of Defense was telephoned notifying him of the situation. At 4:41 the President was roused and told countermeasures were being deployed. Theater missile defense systems were launched but were unable to intercept the missiles due to a miscalculation by defense planners. The missiles were not targeting Washington or Chicago as NORAD had warned but were instead heading into the upper stratosphere. When this became clear it was ordered at 4:47 that a missile be launched against the launch site of these missiles. Before the order could be carried out at 4:48 the missiles were detonated. Whether this was programed into the warheads or a remote detonation is still unknown.
At 4:49 all interstate communication was lost at civilian level. Contact with the White House and Pentagon was lost via normal channels. All radio, television, cellular, computer, and land line communication was lost within the Midwestern and Eastern Unites States was immediately lost. There was sporadic failure of similar equipment as far west as eastern Idaho and Utah. Only the Pacific States had are known to have escaped complete electronic failure.
Satellite imagery received before the black out confirmed the launch site was a cargo ship on an erratic course in the Gulf. The ship appears to have exploded shortly after missile launch. Whether this was the failure of another missile launch, or a pre-planned self destruct is unknown.
The United States was immediately plunged into a severe emergency of the likes that it had never faced in its history.