After arriving at the office and parking in his usual space, Beau picked up his mail and greeted his staff. He had barely sat in his desk chair when an alarm sounded throughout the building. The control board and his desktop computer showed a breach in the low sill structure. The piercing noise started his heart to racing. He yelled over the loud alarm for his staff to figure out the problem and fast. His exhortations were, of course, superfluous, as that’s precisely what they were already doing.
“All nonessential workers evacuate immediately,” Beau yelled into the intercom system. Essential and nonessential personnel were already defined as part of their emergency procedures protocol.
Workers grabbed their personal belongings and began to file out the building. Some were panicking. Others were helping disabled people and hurrying those panicking toward the exits.
“OK, folks. Let’s see what the problem is.”
Just as Beau said that, the alarm quieted. The breach indication on his screen was gone. Beau told an engineer to check it manually. He called everyone back into the office.
“It must have been a false alarm,” he told his staff.
He didn’t believe his own words. For the first time in a long time, that morning he felt something was wrong. Shaking off his worry, he went about his daily tasks and periodically checked in with staff who continued to report everything was functioning normally.
—–
An alarm sounded. Beau jumped from his seat and raced to his desk. He checked his computer. It showed several gates on the Low Sill and Auxiliary structures that are usually closed were now open for no reason. He ran out the building to see what happened. Jack and his crew followed Beau. With the gates opened, the Coast Guard might be needed for flood rescue. While they were dealing with the open gates and possible flooding, the captain was secured safe from the flooding and away from the action.
“What’s going on?” Beau asked his manager.
“We don’t know. It appears to be another computer glitch. It opened the gates as if it were spring with snowmelt. We are trying to close the gates and troubleshoot the computer system, and aren’t having much luck with either, I’m afraid,” his manager said.
Several acre-feet of water were released and headed into the Atchafalaya River. Water in the outflow channel swelled up the banks. Beau and Jack were concerned. This was going to cause a minor disaster in the area, or it could get much worse if the out of control computer program isn’t stopped. Jack talked with his staff to be ready for rescues and massive flooding. USCGC Greenbrier and the helicopter were going to be needed for more than just rescuing the crew of the Carl E.
