Spinoff from the cell phone thing: solar storms

The media is saying solar flares is a likely cause of the cell phone outage today. I don’t buy that story, but that’s beside the point. This story reminded me of the solar storm from 1859 known in history as the Carrington Event…

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The Carrington Event was the most intense geomagnetic storm in recorded history, peaking from 1 to 2 September 1859 during solar cycle 10. It created strong auroral displays that were reported globally[1] and caused sparking and even fires in multiple telegraph stations. The geomagnetic storm was most likely the result of a coronal mass ejection (CME) from the Sun colliding with Earth's magnetosphere.

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Because of the geomagnetically induced current from the electromagnetic field, telegraph systems all over Europe and North America failed, in some cases giving their operators electric shocks.[22] Telegraph pylons threw sparks.[23] Some operators were able to continue to send and receive messages despite having disconnected their power supplies.[24][25] The following conversation occurred between two operators of the American telegraph line between Boston, Massachusetts, and Portland, Maine, on the night of 2 September 1859 and reported in the Boston Evening Traveler:

Boston operator (to Portland operator): "Please cut off your battery [power source] entirely for fifteen minutes."

Portland operator: "Will do so. It is now disconnected."

Boston: "Mine is disconnected, and we are working with the auroral current. How do you receive my writing?"

Portland: "Better than with our batteries on. – Current comes and goes gradually."

Boston: "My current is very strong at times, and we can work better without the batteries, as the aurora seems to neutralize and augment our batteries alternately, making current too strong at times for our relay magnets. Suppose we work without batteries while we are affected by this trouble."

Portland: "Very well. Shall I go ahead with business?"

Boston: "Yes. Go ahead."
The conversation was carried on for around two hours using no battery power at all and working solely with the current induced by the aurora, the first time on record that more than a word or two was transmitted in such manner.

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LINK

Seeing that this coronal mass ejection energized wires to the point telegraphs could operate with no power and even caused multiple fires at telegraph stations, which at the time were still somewhat of a novelty, what would be the impact of such an event on today’s world where we rely on cellular technology and electrical grids, without which our civilization would be thrown into chaos?

Was the massive solar storm of 1859 a one-off event or something that happens on a reoccurring basis? If so, when could we expect such a storm again? Coronal Mass ejections happen on a weekly basis during a period of solar minimum. But during a period of solar maximum, they happen 2-3 times per day. And in case you’re wondering, 2024 is forecasted to be the peak of solar maximum.