FEMA Region Preparations, Body Bags in Puerto Rico. Brace for Disaster?

So, as always another prediction for a major catastrophe is sweeping the news. This one is a little odd and I have been banging my head against the wall since hearing about. What could happen?

A simple Google search of the word ‘Puerto Rico Body Bags’ will yield you the story of how thousands of body bags and black coffins are being delivered to Puerto Rico.

The second is the heightened FEMA preparations in Region 3.

Let’s break down Puerto Rico first.

Now, immediately rumors swarm of an East Coast Tsunami, but let’s think about this. Why bring coffins and body bags to an island that pretty much is gonna be wiped out? So apparently the body bags are being brought there because bodies will wash ashore.

Second rumor is a virus. Which is good, by why only body bags and coffins? Surely if Puerto Rico is going to be hit with a plague, the antibiotics and so forth that FEMA is moving would go there.

Instead they are going to FEMA Region 3.

Wide speculation is something BIG is going to happen in FEMA Region 3. This is a possibility, but it is also possible that Region 3 is going to be a safe place or a place that is taking refugees.

Again, like with Puerto Rico, why bring body bags to a region that is going to be under water and the same applies to Region 3. Why bring loads of supplies to a region that is facing disaster. Unless the disaster isn’t destructive.

Surely, they’d not want to be caught in another Katrina, but the safest place to stockpile emergency supplies for a national emergency is where you are certain they will be safe. Easily accessed for deployment to affected areas.

If a nuclear bomb is coming, I’m not putting supplies in my attic or yard, they are going in the basement. That’s why believe nothing is happening in Region 3 or Puerto Rico, they are being sent supplies in case.

In case of what? I gave this some thought and for right now I came up with two theories.

The first doesn’t really go along with the body bags in Puerto Rico, but it does go along with Preparing region 3.

The long overdue Eruption of Yellowstone Caldera. If this would occur, 2/3 of the United States would be useless and an ashy, dark wasteland. The safest areas … east coast.

Here is the US with the FEMA 3 Region out line.

Here is the destruction map of a Yellowstone eruption.

And finally, what I think may occur if we are looking at a disaster. Is a 2 mile radius, sold rock meteor smacking down into the Gulf of Mexico. Granted I just finished writing a meteor book, so I have meteor on the brain, but using the Meteor Calculator (To see the damage to your home, click here) and other tools, this is the image I got. Look at the radius of destruction. Puerto Rico isn’t touched at all by the tsunami, but wouldn’t thousands of bodies wash up on their shores.

So when folks easily dismiss the FEMA prepping of Region 3 as a hoax, they are forgetting that the body bags are also in Puerto Rico. One has to look at the whole picture. You can dismiss one, but can you dismiss one without wondering about the other? Both are happening at the same time. I could be wrong, chances are I am. But I welcome other explanations for why BOTH of these are happening simultaneously.

Sneak Peak - Nodding

The Infection is to be released on August 9, 2013
Synopsis

In a small pocket of the world it has been in existence since the 1960’s.  A disease so feral, it strikes eighty percent of all children under the age of fifteen. For decades it has pushed the boundaries into three countries. Those infected become mere shells, often in a ‘zombie’ like state followed by violent tantrums. There is no hope, no treatment and there is no cure.

Little is known about the sickness known as Nodding Disease. Information regarding it is often buried deep. But what would happen if the resilient disease mutates and breaks into heavily populated areas? With a infection rate of eighty percent, our future could all but be eliminated along with our young.

Nodding takes an emotional and fictional look at this very real disease.

In Nodding, the disease has mutated. Following an outbreak in the UK,  a global pandemic ensues. The young victims are so violent, they are a danger to all those around them. The bacteria is resistant to any treatment and deadly to any adult exposed. Governments must make decision as time runs out for humanity, and worse, parents must face their most heart wrenching decisions.

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Chapter One

TEN YEARS EARLIER – August 24^th

Heathrow Airport – London: Patient Zero

Ren Turner was little enough to dart in and out of people standing at the gate to retrieve his ball. At six years old he was old enough to annoy people and his mother knew it. Shelly Turner was already at her wits’ end. She just wanted to get back to her home in Virginia. That, she knew, was a long way off.

Her husband had left with the other children, the older ones, three days earlier. Shelly stayed behind with Ren, who had a fever, sniffles, and a diagnosis of the common flu, which kept them in London longer. Ren felt better; he exhibited that as he raced around chasing his ball.

They called their flight number and the passengers boarded. Shelly called his name with a scold, “Ren, now.” He hurried to his mother’s side.

The man in front of her just smiled when Ren bumped into his legs.

“I am so sorry,” Shelly told him. “He is just wired.”

“That’s fine, I have two boy of my own,” he said. “All grown now. Although back in the day, a little dose of cold medicine did the trick on flights.”

Shelly winced. “I think that’s the problem. I gave him some. It did the opposite.”

The man smiled. “Ah, hyper first. He’ll crash on the plane.” He winked. “Bet me.”

“Let’s hope.” Shelly chuckled. “It’s a long flight.”

They boarded. Ren argued with his mother that he wanted to sit in the aisle seat. Shelly agreed reluctantly then realized it probably was the best thing. At least he would only bother the person by the window. Sitting three across would make for a long flight, but it was the first flight back to the States that they could get.

Ren remained restless until they allowed electronics to be used, and then he was consumed with his game.

Shelly made small talk with the woman next to her, telling her story of how the family had to return home at different times. It was the first time, Shelly informed the woman, that the entire family was able to go on a story with her husband. He was a journalist with a huge news organization. They hadn’t been home in months, but the children did get to see three continents and eight countries.

The conversation passed some time. It was when the woman next to her to said, “I think that cold medicine is finally kicking in,” that Shelly glanced at Ren.

His eyes fluttered and his head nodded.

She smiled. “You’re tired now, baby. Here …” She reached around him. “Let me put back your seat.”

Just as she reached to do so, Ren’s eyes popped open wide.

“Ren?” she questioned.

He hissed. Long and loudly. Ren hissed again, shot a glare to Shelly, and before she could register what was occurring, he jumped from his seat.

Fast, like a scurrying cat, he raced over the tops of the seats and the heads of the passengers and flung his body at the flight attendant who stood at the front of the aisle.

The weight of his small body with the raging momentum knocked the flight attendant off balance, and they both fell to the floor.

With an angry growl and rapid blurred movements, Ren’s hands whipped about. His hands clawed into the flight attendant repeatedly, shredding her skin, ripping her apart as if he were digging for a buried treasure all while his mouth bit, pulled, then spat her flesh.

She screamed in horror, blooding pouring from every wound.

Shelly had lunged forward when Ren first took off, but her attempts to grab him were futile, and lifting him from the flight attendant was impossible.

She cried out his name hysterically, pleading him to stop, calling for help.

It took four male passengers and an air marshal to seize Ren. However, the five of them couldn’t control him and they eventually had to restrain him.

Even restrained, Ren struggled and thrashed like a rabid animal and did so the entire return trip back to London.

He was out of control, didn’t respond to Shelly at all, nor to any attempts to calm him.

What had happened to her son? Shelly was at a loss and buried in a world of confusion and pain. There was nothing she could do but watch her child and sob from the bottom of her heart. 

A New Final Sneak Peak of 'Sealed In'

In just a few short days, what I believe is one of my most creative PA books to date, Sealed In, will be released. This book has been waiting fot it's day since my appearance on the History Channel. I wanted to release it when the show came out, but better late than never and I think this one is worth waiting for. Here is the synopsis and beginning of the book. The contents of the prologue (Not posted) was featured  on the show.

Synopsis

Following a distress call from the State Police, Dr. Edward Neil and a team from the Centers for Disease Control enter the small town of Hartworth, Montana. Immediately they encounter a man in a pickup truck holding a quarantine post. His body decimated by a disease like they have never seen. The entire town, population a little under a thousand … dead. Men, women and children. The unknown germ hit so fast, the town did not stand a chance of survival. But it didn’t hit so fast that they couldn’t shut down and protect others from what they had.

It is a race against the clock and not only must Edward Neil discover what wiped out the small town in just a couple days, he needs to determine if it crossed boundaries. The germ is strong, contagious, deadly and fast.. If it did escape Hartworth, humanity could very well face an extinction level event.

The germ frightens Edward more than anything he has ever encountered. More so because he learns quickly it is manmade. A biological weapon gone awry. As he fights and chases his answers, he must also ponder the question whether or not it is already too late.

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FLASH FORWARD

Ground Zero - 1

Hartworth, Montana

December 23

The wide eyes seemed to stare at Dr. Edward Neil, following him around the room like a painting. Eyes that were open, didn’t blink, the color of them lost in the blood flow that had poured into the white portion of the eyeball and turned black.

The victim had to be in his twenties and he, like everyone else Edward Neil guessed that he would encounter in Hartworth, Montana, was dead.

The quiet, small town, nestled in the north of the state close to North Dakota and Canada, was an entity all to itself.

The nearest neighboring town was forty-three miles west.

It had been days since a car moved down the road or a person walked the streets

That’s what Edward estimated.

They entered into the town alone in protective garb. A fresh blanket of snow lay upon the unmoved cars, covering the Christmas decorations that gave even more a depth of sadness to the situation.

The song, Silent Night, would forever hold new meaning. It eerily played on ‘auto’ through the streets of the town.

How fitting.

There were homes and ranches within the boundaries of Hartworth; those had to be checked, as well. But Edward felt it would be useless.

They would bring no one else into the town until he and his team had thoroughly gone through and confirmed what had occurred.

Edward hadn’t a clue what killed everyone, not yet. Skin appeared as if it boiled below the surface, black as if burned, but it wasn’t charred; it was blood. Skin peeled off in layers and adhered to the bedding. This more than likely occurred while the victim was still alive. It happened only after they literally vomited their insides, and blood seeped from every orifice.

He stopped about five victims into his search and made his way to the utilitarian metal lab trailer set center of the one-stoplight town.

After disinfecting, he removed his garb and poured a cup of coffee. They’d only just set up, had not been in town that long, and already Neil felt the wind knocked from him.

He sipped his coffee. It made him sick. He had been in the field and worked for the CDC for years; never had he seen anything as horrendous as Hartworth, and he’d barely scratched the surface. When the call came about Hartworth, he was back in Vermont actually joking around with Dr. Walker about a zombie apocalypse. The odd timing of the call coupled with the conversation sent a chill up his spine.

Receiving only minimal details and a directive to pack a small team and go, Edward knew he wouldn’t be home for Christmas.

It was strictly confidential. In fact, Edward had never encountered something as classified as this.

A small team would go into Hartworth; four CDC security squads would police the neighboring roads wearing gas company logos. The story was a gas leak.

Hartworth, like many small Montana towns, was an entity of its own, so it wasn’t uncommon for someone from a neighboring town to go days or even weeks without having contact with Hartworth.

Because of that, Edward hadn’t a clue when the outbreak occurred or how long they were dead. Those were part of the answers he had to discover.

The dead town, however, was luckily discovered by a keen state trooper, Steve Irwin, who had a cousin that worked as a secretary for the CDC in Atlanta.

The trooper was at a crossroads about six miles from town and thought it odd that at two in the afternoon, there were no car tracks in the snow, nor had any attempt been made to maintain or ash the roads out of Hartworth.

He needed only to make it to the edge of town, and he knew.

He discovered the first body in a pickup truck right at the beginning of town, decimated by illness. The young man held a shot gun and looked as if he were standing guard, or rather sitting guard.

Irwin took a picture of it with his phone, and before calling it in to the station, he called his cousin at the CDC. The trooper’s slip in protocol was actually a good thing. It worked in favor of keeping the situation tight-lipped and secret.

The picture went through the CDC faster than any disease.

Irwin was told not to go into town, to report it as a gas leak, and position troopers on the outskirts to keep people away.

He did. Irwin and the other troopers immediately went into quarantine in a special CDC trailer.

As far as the story of the gas leak told to the State Police, Edward was still fielding questions regarding that.

Something he could handle

What he couldn’t handle was the daunting task of solving the mystery before him. He would with the others, bit by bit, piece by piece, body by body.

He had to do so quickly, because with something as deadly as what wiped out Hartworth, Edward was certain he didn’t have much time.

But before he found the answers to what happened in Hartworth, he had one very important task to complete. First and foremost he had to find out if the bug crossed boundaries. If it did, the CDC had bigger problems to face than just one small dot on the map.