Layers of lead-gray storm clouds trudged along the coastline. Storms and flooding had long since cut power to much of the city's infrastructure. Beneath the night sky, moonlight was hidden by the clouds, and only scattered lights remained throughout the city. It was as black as the starry sky visible when one looked up in an industrially polluted city. Apart from the occasional passing kayak engine, the most common sound in the city was muffled sobbing, choked deep in people's throats. No one smiled. The earthy stench of floodwater lingering beneath their noses made it hard to breathe.
It was like Hurricane Katrina, which had made landfall in Florida in 2005. That unanticipated flood, earthquake, and hurricane had devastated many cities across Florida. But last time, the meteorological department had issued an early warning. This disaster had caught everyone off guard. Even air force bases and airports throughout the state had suffered severe damage. Several military aircraft had been struck by the hurricane, and several passenger planes had crashed. Yet the rescue teams dispatched so far were utterly incapable of cleaning up the mess. All kinds of diseases followed in the wake of the flooding. The number of patients admitted by hospitals far exceeded what medical staff could handle. Combined with the locals who had previously taken shelter in the hospitals, nearly every public facility had been forced to accommodate more people than it could bear within a short period.
Although the meteorological department claimed that the hurricane had dissipated inland and that Florida would soon see sunlight again, several days had passed and the State Government's state of emergency had not been lifted. The chaos of lawlessness was beginning to spread as well. Gunfights broke out every day. Those who remained rational fished corpses from the murky floodwater that