Hellstorm: Det. Lt. Nick Storie Mysteries, #5

By C. D. Moulton

Hurricane Andrew is crossing southern Florida. A shelter. A bunch of rich obnoxious people. One of them is murdered. The bunch seem insane. What is going on?

• Language: English
• Publisher: C. D. Moulton
• Release date: Jun 19, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201484002

Book preview

Prologue

"Hurricane Andrew is just coming onshore slightly below Miami and will pass through the area of Homestead. Winds in excess of one hundred fifty miles per hour and devastating flooding rains will make roads impassable.

"Full evacuation procedures are now in effect in that area. Already high surf and storm surge riptides are devastating coastal areas and are causing erosion damage as far south as the Keys and as far north as Ft. Lauderdale. Gale force winds are evident from as far north as Cape Canaveral. This is an enormous and deadly storm and disaster teams are being readied to administer aid in the aftermath.

"I have just been handed a report that several coastal zones are losing all electrical power. Winds are increasing steadily and rain is, while moving in bands, torrential.

I can't stay outside in this wind any longer, John. Future broadcasts will have to be from inside. Back to you.

The scene shifted away from a blurry figure with whipping palm fronds behind to the Doppler radar board. A voice from off screen continued, "Doppler radar shows the eye of the storm to just now be beginning to come onshore about here (The end of a pointer appeared at the obvious center) and is expected at this time to move rapidly across the everglades toward Ft. Myers to Sarasota with the eye's projected path to curve slightly more to the northward as it approaches the gulf coast. Our predictions all now indicate the eye will pass across Englewood, in Charlotte County.

"Emergency evacuation of immediate coastal areas is proceeding at a much slower pace than most emergency planners like. People don't seem to be accepting the dangers of such a storm as a real threat. Voluntary evacuation is in full force. The screen will show where all shelters in our viewing area are located (The screen became a large map with blinking yellow squares in many places).

"People living in low-lying areas or in mobile homes are urged to immediately go to the storm shelters. RV or any other vehicles with large sail areas will not be allowed to move when the storm is close – sail area is like the large flat area or the sides of buses and trucks – so if you're planning on outrunning the storm northward your window of time to leave is getting awfully short. The interstate is the most direct route out and traffic is still manageable, but you can expect some delays. That will become more critical as time passes so people are advised to go as quickly as possible.

"The tidal effects on marinas and the Intercoastal Waterway are already devastating on the eastern seaboard as far north as Daytona Beach. As reported earlier, gale force winds are being encountered ... I have been handed a bulletin that says there are gusts of forty plus miles per hour as far north as the Carolinas. This is a large storm. The devastation expected is unbelievable!

"Take any lawn furniture or other things that may blow about inside or tie it down securely.

The effects of this violent a storm could devastate a wide area of Florida's coast in this area (Damnit! If I hear the word devastate" one more time I'll kick that damned set off the table and throw a brick through it!).

"I sank my own boat so it won't be battered to pieces against the dock. If you have a way to remove boats from the water it should already be done. If not and if there's any room for winds to kick up high waves in your docking area it's much cheaper and easier to sink the boats than to tie them. That will hold it to where the damage will be minimal, but be sure your tie is solid enough and strong enough that strong eddy currents won't rip the craft free.

"Use the intelligence to remove all outboard motors and anything that may float or be pulled out by a strong current. Don’t sink inboards, of course. Have the sense to remove canopies and canvas covers.

"We just got a call that many plastic garbage cans are blowing along the streets in some areas. Winds are now gusting here more than a hundred fifty miles from the eye, at forty five miles per hour!

"People are urged to use some common sense! A plastic garbage can is soft and light and seems a trivial thing, but would you want one to hit you at eighty or over a hundred miles an hour?

"Use a little common sense, here, people! Pull together and don't pretend this is some kind of game! This storm is already a killer!

"Doppler radar shows the eye of the storm in just the past few minutes is now moving ashore. We have lost part of our feed from the immediate area of the eye. The storm is now intense enough that we can't generate power enough to continue ... yes. I hear you.

"We return you to our man in the field – or I should say in the storm shelter – in Homestead, Florida, where the eye is soon to strike.

Jim?

There were bits of interference in the picture of the reporter from before standing by a green and white concrete block wall. There were background noises of many people moving about and talking.

"John, it's getting pretty bad down here. I wish I were back there with you. I didn't think it would be this bad or nearly so frightening. The lowering of pressure tends to make most people become nervous and irritable and the grey darkness and noise combine to become extremely depressing.

"There are approximately four hundred people in this shelter in the high school gym. Winds outside were measured at ninety four miles an hour and things are blowing around. Heavy things.

"There are a lot of coconut palms over there, as there are here. That man with the bandages had his arm broken by one – more than two hundred feet from the tree the coconut was blown from!

"Great...! Did you hear that? (A loud crashing sound and some high squeals and screams.) Something just blew into the more windward side of the school. Something big! This is scary, John! I don't think I'll volunteer for the next one!

"It's much too dark for our studio cameras to pick up anything outside but electrical arcs from downed lines. We tried to get pictures of a building a warehouse and plumbing supply store that is a few hundred feet west of us, but couldn't. The roof is gone and the walls will soon go. The manager is here and says he fully expects the inventory of more than half a million dollars will be gone within the hour. The losses to business will be phenomenal!

"The devastation seen from any window here is totally beyond belief! I never really believed it would get nearly this bad! I don't mind telling you this is as scary a situation as I've ever been in – and I was on the front lines in 'Nam! The devastation along the coast is already to critical emergency limits and above by an enormous amount. Billions! The storm isn't really even here yet and (another loud crash. The images flickered and jumped) ... get to a safer place! We can't get out of here now and a big piece of the roof just .... hole with water pouring in! The wind, even inside along the hall just ... admit I'm scared! I didn't ever believe such a sto... isn't some television sh ... to you, John!"

"We seem to have lost our picture. The eye of the storm is still at least twenty minutes from them! (The big radar picture was back.)

We'll now shift to our national network offices for new updates from the eastern seaboard.

Art Reilly shook his head, sighed and went into the kitchen area to check the electrical appliances to see that the hundred cup urn was hot and ready. They could lose power at anytime and he didn't want to put that much wattage on the generator. If it was full and hot it would stay hot for a couple of hours. He had a fiberglass blanket to wrap it in to conserve the heat.

People were starting to trickle in and there would soon be a flood if the storm didn't change course.

He said it would hit Englewood. That was far enough north to where they wouldn't get too much. Maybe a little excessive tide and a few branches blown around, but not anything deadly. It was scary how close the storm would pass to their north. Dan Rather kept saying it was heading straight for Ft. Myers. Even that was far enough to keep the south part of Naples out of the really bad parts. Ten or twelve miles made one hell of a difference, though. If the eye stayed farther south than their predictions it could possibly hit around North Naples, which would give them a very dangerous blow.

He could pray the intensity would decrease. It was a huge and violent storm, but being over land would, hopefully, shrink it considerably. It should also reduce in wind speed, since it was water that gave energy to a hurricane.

Don't forget that a lot of the energy's already up there and can sustain for a lot longer than a trip across Florida. Prepare for the worst, hope for the best. Trite or not, that was what had to be. Truth generally is trite.

Why did this have to happen at night? Wasn't it scary enough in the daytime?

On the other hand, you could hear the wind and noise at night. You didn't have to watch it.

A group of people came in arguing loudly. It seemed that the men wanted to ride it out at home and the women had demanded they come to the shelter. Tempers were going to be short. People would tend to get that way when they were frightened of the storm they had no control over and even more scared someone would know they were scared.

Stupid!

Art went to greet them and to say there was hot coffee – and things would go a lot easier for everyone if the guys would try to remember women were naturally protective of their families and men had to temper their actions to take that into consideration for all history and they always would, so just relax and wait it out. It was projected to miss them anyhow, so they could go home in the morning and laugh about it.

That was chauvinistic as all hell, but the women saw what he was doing and didn't say anything. One grinned and winked at him, so it was going to work okay. He'd let the men off the hook for fearing the storm and made it sound like the kind of thing men historically had to live with.

The group went to claim a good location near the coffee table.

Oh, for Christ's sake! Those Marlingtons and Weavers had to come to his shelter? Everyone in the area hated their guts! By the sounds, they hated each other's guts as well!

Those forts they lived in weren't in any danger, or why didn't they spend a few bucks and stay at a fancy hotel if they had to get out?

Art sighed and went to greet them with a phony smile. He had a knack for smoothing things over and had them calmed down before too long. It was going to be one hell of a long night, though.

Here came a group of about twenty people at once. There had to be something new he didn't know about. This many would never evacuate willingly if the storm was going to hit that far to the north!

He sneaked back into his office to watch the TV. The radar picture was on the screen. "... can see, the storm has not yet begun to move northward significantly, as projected. It is in fact following a flat path across the glades at this point. The expected northward deviation has not begun and the Hurricane Center is ... yes, Leslie. I hear ... the Center has transferred its major prediction and tracking location to several branch offices as Miami now is experiencing power difficulties and the equipment is delicate. We will receive our information from both the Tampa and Orlando ... yes, Leslie ... and Jacksonville.

"The now-projected impact area is near the mouth of the Peace River. It is expected to strike near North Ft. Myers to Port Charlotte. We are fortunate in that the perimeters of the storm have drawn inward, but the force of the winds is intense near the center, still in excess of one hundred thirty miles per hour with gusts over one fifty. There is extensive and ... yes. I gather that ... where was I ... yes. Intensive rain.

"It is much too early yet to predict the path of major devastation accurately at this point, but reports coming in would suggest that Homestead, where we have temporarily lost contact, is being systematically destroyed! A new report from our parent network link suggests, and I quote, `What I was able to see looked exactly like the place was directly hit by an A-bomb! There's simply nothing left standing! Not a house and not a tree!'

"That is almost undoubtably a shocked overstatement, but we do know it's far worse than anything projected. Andrew is already being classed as a major catastrophe. Confirmed damage is already in the billions.

We now shift you back to the network base and the Hurricane Watch Information Center.

That was a little too close. If it hit as far south as Bonita Springs there was going to be a hell of a lot of damage down in South Naples and Everglades City!

Art went back out to open the second section and to check it out. Mrs. Burton was now handling the incoming crowd very well, so he'd let her. He'd have to keep cool for when he got a lot of overcrowding added to short tempers and fear.

Section two was ready. He could put a hundred there and two hundred in one. If that damned storm didn't start veering back to the northward pretty soon he was going to get a lot more than that.

There was a sudden spate of loud Spanish from outside. Mrs. Burton didn't know the language, so he hurried out to reassure the people he had room for all of them.

He hoped.

Those damned rich snobs were making asses out of themselves. Art went over and very quietly informed them they were statistical units here and they'd better remember it or he'd arrange some other shelter for them. Jail! This was an emergency situation and he wasn't about to let their sordid arrogance disrupt things!

They took the warning speech badly. Lloyd Weaver and Elizabeth Marlington, two people in their early twenties who were engaged or something were the worst, demanding a place where they could have a little privacy from All the riffraff out there.

"This is an emergency shelter. There isn't any privacy. You get no special treatment here! Art snapped back. If you wanted privacy why didn't you go to a hotel? Don't your families own a couple?"

Not around here!