“Absolutely. How are you doing?” Kip asked.
“Drowsy. Jamie hung that medicine. I couldn’t get excited, even laying against this guy.” Chantal laughed, then Kyle started to climb from the bed. “Ky, I am teasing. You make me feel safe. Harp?”
“I feel good. And taking a page from the TMI book, I farted. It means I can eat more than chicken broth.”
The four laughed.
Seth wheeled in a recliner. “Harper, rest.”
Kip’s earpiece buzzed. “Update, they’re seeing occasional overtopping of the levees along Lake Ponchetrain. It’s pushing the water to where the levees aren’t enhanced. Sporadic power outages and fires from downed lines.
Jamie knocked and came in. “Hate to end this party. Ladies, you both need sleep.”
* * *
Wednesday,August 29th
Hurricane Greta T-0 days
It was rainingsideways and began to come down at two inches per hour. The wind speed was increasing even though the storm had not made landfall yet. Kip headed to the command center, which was staffed by IT, technical analysis, security operations and transportation personnel. The main panel faced six different monitors where Kip could tap into cameras around their assets.
Tag, Wes, Rich and Bruce were already there. A camera around one of their warehouses was showing ominous signs. “The drainage is poor from the rain we had the last week. The roadway looks like a pond.” Rich’s lips formed a tight slash.
“How’s the hospital?” Kip asked. “Call O’Mara.”
“Sit-rep,” Kip asked the minute Tobey answered.
“ER is seeing a steady influx, kinda weird, almost a party atmosphere. OB is hopping. We are over capacity. Casey arranged for ambulatory surgery to take their overflow. The doc said it’s the drop in atmospheric pressure. There were five births since 2200. Psych patients are restless, so I added extra security to the floor. I had them switch to scrubs and no weapons.” Tobey’s voice was tight.
“Good job,” Kip said. All the seasoned operators were sharing the same uneasy feeling.
“Look at her, she’s mammoth. And she’s slowing down,” Rich said. “I spoke with Mia. We shut down everything not related to the storm. I don’t want any of our other traffic picked up until we run every operating system. We’re not sure if Fabiana screwed with anything else. When we’re through this, I want to search for any adverse drug reactions on a large scale anywhere in the world. I also want to look at any wealthy Louisiana families.”
“Worth a try.” Kip frowned.
“I spoke with Harper. She repeated what she told you with a few more details. Serafina said there was no such thing as Ovax. And she said Adelaide had the name of another drug in a notebook. And one tidbit she added: Serafina held the gun in her left hand. Smart and observant lady.” Bruce smiled.
The four senior executives settled in. The police, fire, and Coast Guard radios played in the background. Suddenly the continuous banter turned loud. “Power is out in the Eighth Ward,” a police officer called. The message was followed with reports from all over the area.
The lights in the center blinked. “We are on generator power,” Tag said.
The sat phone pinged. “Hospital is on generator power. Thorn and I are going floor to floor. I put out the red outlet announcement.” The red-colored wall outlets in the hospital were designed to work on generator power.
“Warehouse Alpha, we are on generator power,” the report came from their second warehouse.
The Coast Guard radio chirped, “We’ve got four barges floating free.”
“Winds are at 150 miles per hour; suspending emergency operations,” the fire department put out the message.
“We have multiple levees overtopping, but they’re holding,” the police reported.
Bruce turned up the volume on the news that continued to play; if the citizens had any reception, they could hear.Do not leave your location. Shelter in place.
“Get ready to start the body count.” Bruce frowned.
“We have landfall in Plaquemines Parish, coming head-on to us. Sustained winds are 162 miles per hour,” Rich said, typing into his system. “God, look at the flooding. That has to be six to eight feet.” A camera at Warehouse 1 in the 8th Ward near the hospital revealed the rising water.
“O’Mara, report,” Kip called.
