Texas Governor John Caldwell spoke earlier and issued this statement, “Katrina's winds reached 145 mph when it made landfall, a storm this big has never hit Galveston. Three weeks later Rita hit the Gulf Coast coming in at Port Arthur as a category 3 with a wind speed peak reported by FCMP tower in Port Arthur of 115.7 mph. After the killer in New Orleans I just cannot fathom anyone staying. The last report I saw, forecasters predicted it would come ashore Saturday somewhere between Northern Mexico and Western Louisiana, most likely in Texas if it doesn’t turn.”
Key West, Florida. At 11 a.m. EDT, Ofelia was centered about 260 miles west of Key West, Fla., and 775 miles southeast of Corpus Christi, moving west at near 13 mph with wind gusts reaching 205.3 mph.,
Key West, Florida. At 3 p.m. EDT, Ofelia was centered about 200 miles Southeast of Houma Louisiana moving Northwest at 21 mph with sustained winds of 215 m.p.h. and wind gusts reaching 260 m.p.h. Hurricane Ofelia took a turn more to the Northeast as a high pressure ridge over the Western Unites States continues to build and moved slowly eastward. Forecasters now predict landfall to be the Baton Rouge area.
Key West, Florida. At 7 p.m. EDT, The National Weather Service now predicts a path that will take the storm on a Northeast track. This storm is the largest on record and tropical force winds will be felt as far north as Chicago as the storm moves inland and if the storm stays on the current track. The eye of the storm is 13 miles wide and hurricane force winds extend out from the center 175 miles, tropical force winds extend out another 125 miles. Hurricane warnings have been posted from Galveston Texas to Ft. Walton Beach Florida.
Key West, Florida, at 2 a.m. EDT Ofelia made landfall at Morgan City, Louisiana. Maximum sustained winds when the eye made landfall was 253 m.p.h.
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NASA had taken delivery of the first modified Raptors and Colonel Hatch, Major Dent and the flight crews had put them through their paces. The new modifications included a slightly larger wingspan and a longer fuselage so cockpit capacity could be enlarged. The new design placed two additional crewmembers behind the copilot; they would include an electronics warfare officer and a communications officer. As the technology of the U.S. increased so did that of rouge nations. Gone was the proliferation of nuclear weapons, now it was the threat of EMP and the worldwide access to newer technologies. Since the development of High Altitude Electromagnetic Pulse or Hemp, and High Altitude Radiation Detection or HARD, the proliferation of nuclear material was all but gone because of new detection technologies. The U.S. no longer needed a nuclear deterrent, for the HEMP bubble that covered the North American Continent destroyed anything coming in. HARD was used to detect any unauthorized movement of nuclear material on the ground. After detection it was destroyed according to United Nations resolution 112 by lasers from high altitude platforms. Now instead of using a low-yield nuclear explosion to spread EMP a series of small explosions could be used to crack the network. Of even more interest to the terrorists and rogue nations was a device that would produce HPM. A non-nuclear radio frequency energy field produced by a powerful chemical detonation, of even greater interest was the fact that HPM could be a reusable weapon by using a powerful battery. HPM radiation comprised of shorter wave forms at higher frequencies made it more difficult to harden against. For the terrorist it was the perfect weapon because a simple suitcase device using a chemical explosive and special focusing antenna could produce a one time instantaneous HPM shockwave that could disrupt many computers within one mile. This made it imperative that the defense departments design team place a weapons and communications officer aboard the fighter to take control of the EMP, HPM, and SGLS weapons systems. This also allowed the pilot to concentrate more on the mission and its objective. With the HEMP shielding and HPM detection, the capability of near light speed, and the ability to hover gave the fighter both offensive and defensive capabilities that made it one of the most formidable weapons systems in the U.S. arsenal. It was in one of these new Raptors that Reggie, Julie, and Paul set down some 60 miles to the north of where the family’s home had been for the last 300 years.
The three exited the craft from the bottom hatch and walked to the waters edge, the remnants of civilization was scattered across the landscape, trees and debris were stacked like cord wood along what was now the shoreline of the Gulf of Mexico. The sixty foot storm surge had wiped out everything south of interstate 10, Lake Charles, Lafayette, and Baton Rouge were now coastal communities, or at least what was left of them. The Big Easy was gone, in its place the now calm waters of the Gulf. Gone forever were the homes and communities of the many, and gone was the large log home that Paul had called home. Gone was the church and the grounds where so many had been laid to rest, and gone now forever the remains of the lady he had loved. The storm had produced a path of unimaginable destruction from the coast all the way to the Great Lakes. The cost was beyond anything man could imagine. Reports had the damage in the trillion of dollars. The death toll was in the millions, and conservative estimates said it would be well into the next century if ever before all the repairs could be made. They had no home to come back to, Challenger and whatever distant planet they set foot on would forever be their home now. Taking one last look around them they boarded the ship and slowly moved out over the Gulf until GPS triangulated on the spot they once called home, below them they spotted some Bottle Nose dolphins feeding. Reggie pulled the craft up and set it to hover allowing Julie and Paul one last look at where home used to be, then pointing it towards the clouds they headed for their new home, a star just above the horizon.
