striking earth directly will for starters, shut down our entire electronic grid, satellite and gound infrastructure for at least a few months. Possibly years.

We became so dependent on this network, any little disruption like a virus or malware may affect millions and cost millions. One direct solar flare is all it will take to sink it all globally, indefinitely.

Earth was struck by one in 1859, called the Carrington Event.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrington_Event

To say we're unprepared for another is an understatement of catastrophic epic proportions.