davidbrin, 
So far no big news of "EMP-level" damage from solar storm. See the massive flare that hurled the vast ion storm our way! (As described in SUNDIVER, BTW.) At minimum this will threaten low-orbit satellites eg Starlink & test lots of circuit breakers.
https://www.ndtv.com/science/nasa-shares-photos-of-massive-explosions-on-sun-that-unleashed-solar-flares-5643851
