We had no inkling or warning whatsoever about what was about to happen: we just went about our busy lives as usual, paying no mind to the news reports on the television or radio.

Apparently, unbeknown to us, a massive solar storm was occurring on the sun, sending powerful CMEs, or coronal mass ejections, hurtling far into the atmosphere, towards earth.  These were some of the strongest flares ever recorded; once they hit earth within 48 - 72 hours, they could disrupt communication devices, disable radio (and Internet) services, and send the northern lights spilling as far south as southern Mexico and Australia.

There were other dangers too, including increasing danger of radiation to exposed skin, the risk of developing skin cancer if exposed to the sun for more than fifteen minutes (or risking a very bad sunburn), and other problems.

President Huckabee was advising the citizens of the nation to stay indoors as much as possible or if they had to get out for whatever reason, they would have to don protective clothing and put on sunscreen, even if outdoors for a brief time or if the conditions were cloudy.  He was also warning of possible failure of electronic systems: there could be widespread brownouts or worse, power failures which would cripple entire cities, putting them at an absolute standstill.  He also advised us to look to God and pray for America.

It sounded serious, but for now, things were as calm as could be.  I tried to put it out of my head, but deep down, I was worried about what could happen and what we would do if it did.  I could not imagine life grinding to an absolute standstill and how the danger of radioactive gases would effect my family.  Still, I knew I had to protect them somehow, but as to how to go about it, I had absolutely no clue.  What could possibly go wrong?

Unfortunately, I and my family (and millions of others across this nation) would soon find out.

~To be continued!~