FEMA Blog

Are you people smokin' or what? Don't you have something better to do with your time? The American Taxpayer is PAYING YOU to put this nonsense on the net.

is this zombie thing a joke. and also im a jr fire fighter with the beaver meadows vol fire dept in pa and how do i become a responder for fema

This is so cute! Hopefully it gets people's attention for *real* emergencies.

They spend all this time on this weak and pathetic zombie post but they can't reply to a firefighter asking to become a responder? GET IT TOGETHER FEMA DO YOU REALIZE WHAT AN EMBARRASSMENT YOU ARE TO THE ENTIRE COUNTRY??

For all the people grumbling about the "waste in tax money", I hope you realize that this type of, ahem, "viral marketing" is in fact genius. The CDC has be so successful in creating awareness and buzz about emergency preparedness through this simple blog that their servers are overloaded. This is probably one of the reasons why this is up here at FEMA (wise decision). In any case, the CDC blog is hardly any expense at all, I mean, what will you do when the zombie horde is scratching at your door? "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." -Ben Franklin

Very well done! There is always a potential for a zombie outbreak! They are right when they say: if you are prepared for a zombies, you are prepared for anything!

Hey Anonymous! Take it easy friend, a sense of humor just might get peoples attention, and help them survive a disaster. It got your attention.

This article got people that wouldn't normally read a disaster prep article to actually read one. Well done.

that is great.... but you forgot to mention you need weapons to survive.... its the basic law of survival of the fittest...... which makes me think the c.d.c has already came across a zombie ROFL

Anonymous said... Court Ellis

That's not funny at all!! You all had better be really on because in every zombie ther aint no C D freakin' C and I am a Health Sciences grad. Where is the CDC in the movies:
your there for giant monsters

Be ready... We are coming soon.

Being from Canada I'm shocked that you folks in the US don't have monthly Zombie preparedness meetings like we do here... I'm glad to know that you are getting up to speed in the Obama administration on the things that really matter!

I love it! Nothing like showing people how to make and plan for an emergency with a little sense of humor. Because you are right, regardless if the emergency is Zombies, Tornadoes, Floods, Fire, etc. it pays to be prepared.

I thought your post was creative and amusing! Good for you! We hear the same warnings at the beginning of every season and this was priceless. As for having something better to do with your time, as a tax payer, I'm quite pleased with your work. You gave relevant information for emergencies and disasters, albeit tongue-in-cheek! Great job!

Agreed, this is awesome marketing for preparedness and a good way to get through to those "not so serious tax payers" like myself. Not everyone is wound so tight... Please keep up the great ideas!

wow nothing on how to defend yourself if the walking undead come crashing through your door

If you got them to read it, maybe they will think about it. Even it they don't prepare a kit, they will know what to grab on the way out the house.

This is great! This is applied public health at its best! Communicating by culturally relevant means.

I love this! People might actually read it since it's funny and get some educational info at the same time. Excellent use of taxpayer $, I'd say :)

seriously...

Yeah, the taxpayers may be paying this person, but it actually wasn't sanctioned by the CDC to start with...

BUT, the actual purpose of this message from the CDC did work.

1 - it actually got people onto the CDC website, and had them research different topics. I believe the day this posted, they actually hit record numbers on their website. Sure, it may have been a joke to start with, but hopefully someone actually learned something about a real subject.

2 - Did you notice, that when it was telling to do research, it was also mentioning things along the lines as "You can also implement this plan if there is a flood, earthquake, or other emergency." Sure, Zombies may never actually attack.... But, some people may believe they will someday... and telling those "believers" to prepare, will actually make them better prepared for real emergencies.

Therefore... kudos to the author of this article.

I think that incorporating a zombie theme to catches the eye and maybe, because people will read this blog as it stands out, it will help families prepare for dangerous situations following a natural disaster. Brilliant marketing!

I thought it was funny and informative..Don't mind Anonymous one, he/she's obviously got no sense of humor. Thank you for posting this.

The CDC has just become my new favorite government agency (in truth, i never had a previous favorite government agency). This campaign was a wonderful idea - and ignore that "American Taxpayer" crap from May 20th. There's always some pompous stuffed-shirt who will complain ... on the bright side, zombies usually go for them first.

Since there are people out there who believe this stuff, it would be a really good idea to let people know that CDC does NOT believe in zombies, which was not totally clear from your article.

Anyway you don't say what we should do about the zombies - how do you kill them - what kind of guns and other weapons work best; will hurricane shudders keep them out; how do you prevent people from turning into zombies; you know basic stuff like that. Prevention is the best approach since they are allegedly hard to kill, being dead already.

Y'all realize that the whole "Zombie" thing was more of a joke, right?
Or were you so quick to jump to calling people idiots that you didn't bother to read anything they typed?

I'm glad to see that FEMA is trying to reach people to prepare, no matter what their fears are! In preparing for "this," people would be prepared for other emergencies as well. The point is, make an emergency plan! This is smart marketing, so give them some credit. Good job, FEMA.

Yes folks, this is a joke premise to convey some practical info. Very cute. And helpful.

i like it is awesome ive been tellin people forever that zombies are gonna be the end of us....will u be ready... because i will.

Is it a joke or is it ther way of telling us ther is something going on in a joking maner.

my friends and I play Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2 and just for fun we came up with a plan. If a Zombie outbreak ever happened, we'd go to the Home Depot in Waterford, CT, cause I live in Groton, and we'd barricade ourselves there...see the Home Depot in Waterford has the mall near it and a Super Walmart as well as several gas stations.

So one thing that this post doesn't describe is how to kill a zombie. Or what to do if a zombie boards a plane...should I go to the DHS or TSA site for this information?

this is demented now i wont be able to sleep at night

american IQ ?! hahahaha lol lol lol lol

I'm gald to see that the CDC and FEMA is trying to get you prepared for a major diesese, but I don't know about a zombie apocalypse.

hahaha nice article. gonna get me a zombie or two and maybe a emergency rediness kit.

Several years ago, my admittedly irrational fear of zombies inspired me to prepare my emergency kit and a plan to reunite with my family. Despite the lack of zombie attacks in the time since then, the emergency kit has been brought out several times because of the potential for tornadoes and severe storms in my area. It's great to see the CDC and FEMA realizing that pop culture can inspire people to think about and plan for the serious threats that we face.

Hahaha! Fantastic article y'all - got a lot of people talking and thinking. Thanks for the entertaining delivery of important information :)

Love how most people are complaining and not taking the important parts out of this article. Be prepared for anything numbskulls.

Barricading yourself into a Home Depot next to a mall and gas station is probably the worst thing you can possibly do.
That's naturally where hundreds, maybe thousands of people will flock to get supplies. In a crowd, you never know who is infected, and how fast that infection will spread. What seemed like a good idea will have you stranded in a sea of undead, and there's no possible way you'll barricade an entire Home Depot in time to prevent them from entering, much less the mall and gas station.

I am a young, female student who would NOT have came across this web-site if it wasn't for this post. After, briefly skimming the article I surfed the website and found an abundance of information which has motivated me to get prepared and stay in tune to this site (You've been bookmarked). I am one of the MANY followers of the new AMC series called, "The Walking Dead." Yes, the show is fictional but it triggers critical thinking and inspires many to take steps of action to prepare for all types of disaster; just like this blog. Ironically, I am a senior at UCF studying marketing and think this post is a brilliant way to reach a new audience. (myself as proof) Keep up the good work & good luck with handling the single-minded knuckleheads out there.

Read the book, "One Second After" this will give new meaning to the word zombie.

FEMA has apparently been watching "The Walking Dead" and taking it seriously.....

The sad thing is that even if they tell us on TV that zombies are going to attack people would take it as a joke.

EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE.

Wow what's next? You guys gonna lecture us how to survive an alien invasion?

LOL i love it!!!

No Brasil não tem este treinamento.
In Brazil don't have this training.

Good job Fema/CDC. Have an emergency kit already, but haven't checked up on it in a bit. Time to do so.

-not the other anonymous guy

I'm so scared of all the "could be" threats we might have to face. I'm even more scared of the people who are going to start freakin out and inadvertantly make something bad happen. If there was a god,he treats us like a ant farm that has been left behind on vacation.

absolutely brilliant.......I'm still hearing about the zombie posting on this site from people who could care less about disaster preparedness. Hopefully we all gleam enough from this site to be of some use to our fellow man if the worst case scenario comes to fruition.

When the time does come, I hope it doesn't make you run.

I love that people are concerned with why the cdc would waste their time writing this when....uh you read it. More imporantly......screw blankets and drivers license and find an automatic weapon!!!!! Hahaha

Y don't we focus on a real matter... U know like an ECONOMICAL COLLAPSE??!!!!

Having been to CDC and doing contract work for them, this type of blog post captures the attention of those who are least prepared--the young. Older people remember blizzards lasting a week, wars, and other types of emergencies, and are usually prepared. The young figure they will run to Wal-Mart. Guess what? Wal-Mart runs out of emergency supplies quickly, which we learned last year needing flooding supplies. The so-called "Zombie Apocalypse" was all over the news in Miami I guess, after an incident with a man tripping on LSD who thought he was a zombie and tried to eat another person's face. Be prepared for whatever type of emergency occurs in your area is the real message. Whether it's tornado, hurricane, flood, blizzard, or whatever, it is YOUR job to take care of yourself. That's really all that is being said.

They're using the popular zombie scenario as a front to prepare people for REAL disasters. It grabs people's attention where otherwise they would not have bothered to read and gather this info on being prepared for REAL disasters.

So many zombie survival guides and stuff. But if you come to think of it, how will we prevent something that we just learned facts from the movies? I mean nobody really has tested a zombie before, right? No one has seen one too. And there are non who know of any information asides from the info from movies about zombies. If the apocalypse really happened, don't you think that just a small mosquito bite would end everything you've worked hard for? I mean you can't shoot the mosquito. The only way to feel it is if it bites you.

Be prepared for anything. Thats the whole point.

Thanx (:

If this had been a normal post I would never have read it so I would like the people complaining about how stupid this is to stop talking. They are telling the truth about preparedness in a funny and interesting way. I read the words zombie and read this. Its funny and the truth

I remember seeing this article last year.and thought oh damn a zombie attack!! Hey if CDC did this to make us aware, let's just read and pay attention to what they put out there to read! Now this zombie in Miami made me and a lot of people on FB rethink what would we do! So I came back to read this article cause someone posted it on my FB and saved so I can have for emergencies! Didn't think this could happen, but now with what happened in Miami, I'm going to make myself more aware of emergencies! Thanks CDC!

Miami to me is proof of this....

FEMA is a joke, just look at how they failed during the Katrina aftermath at the superdome. The guy in Miami was on Bath Salts which you can buy in just about any city. A zombie apocolypse will never happen, santa doesn't exist, and neither does the boogie man.

Good gosh!!! I'm kinda freaked out by the whole zombie attack in Miami.. but this.article did have good info for actual emergencies:)

Zombies!

Maybe FEMA can tell us how to survive the Zombies at the White House!

The thing that scares me about the "zombie appocolypse" is yes we are not going to see the dead rise and start eating people but the thought of bath salt drug users that are sick in the brain and not in there right mined dumping the drug down the drain so they are not caught in possession and infecting millions of people through drinking water and causing flesh eatting humans in every city and town in the USA. Thats my thoughts and people need to wakeup a prepare and stand by your fellow men and women and Federal, State and local Law enforcemnt to keep on top of things like this. I'm sure the Miami Police officer that was called to the incident in Florida were the man was eating the homeless mans face did think once when he put on his uniform he would be placed into that situation. So think about it the homeless man and the people of Miami lived what you could call a drug induced zombie attack. I pray for all of us.

I seen this back in May 2011 and new it was a joke... but I live in Florida now and let me tell you people are thinking that they were preparing us for possibilities....

Thank you for your input and feel for you in Florida and pray for you all. It's going to take all of us to keep American safe. love all and god bless.

The way that we should all look at this is to be prepared for everything and anything that could happen. The most likely thing to have a kind of apocalypse would be someone poisoning our water or food supply with some form of chemical that makes people go insane. The movie 28 days later would be the kind of zombies that we would be dealing with. They arent dead just infected with something. But you also should take into effect the fact that we all have been mentally preparing for a economical colapse in the US and when that happens and there are no more paychecks, no more cash, wide spread panic will ensue and that is when you need a plan. Remember, when the shit hits the fan, the last people standing will be the natural survivalists, and the worst scum we have. Thanks for reading.

I say good on the CDC for having a sense of humor and possibly encouraging some otherwise in prepared people to go out and get some basic supplies in case a real natural or national disaster strikes. And shame on the douchebag that made the comment about tax payer dollars, heaven forbid they have a little fun while doing their job. So to that guy, reach way up in there and you might find a stick to remove, then beat yourself with it h til you find the sense of humor you apparently lost a very long time ago.

Thanks FEMA for using the popular zombie scenario for people to prepare any kinds of natural disasters. It really shows and grab our attention to prepared for REAL disasters. Being ready with all kinds of emergencies is essential nowadays. Especially for kids, they'll need to go to dentists in Bartlett to have a check-up and advising them not eating chocolates too much.

No guns and ammo? What's up with that? The most important items...and not a mention of it.

We all know there's no such thing as a zombie but that's not to say there wouldn't be a similar incident; especially with all of the people in this country looking for a handout these days. You had better not be thinking you can rely on LE should such an event occur. You better have more than one gun and you had better have plenty of ammo on-hand.

I can see the logic in this, there may be no such thing as zombies but the exercise in and of itself is valuable and we all know there are lots of real dangers out there which we need to be prepared for. Personally I'm cautiously optimistic about the future. Many scholars predict 2012 will be the year of Bottsrgeddon which will mark the end of the age of oppression and terror and signal the begining of the reign of freedom and peace.

You know- an asteroid strike in modern times is fictional.

Until it happens.

A madman detonating an atomic device in the upper atmosphere, causing a massive EMP, wiping out all conventional electronics is fictional.

Until it happens.

The caldera at Yellowstone erupting into a Super-Volcano and wiping out most of this hemisphere is fictional.

Until.

It.

Happens.

I think this is great zombies will come because this world can't keep advancing technologically with out a mess up somewhere. So before you make fun of this take a step back and look around at what we have become and what is possible for it to become a zombie attack is in our future!

FEMA is obviously thinking outside the box and trying to get people’s attention. Good for them….

I'm glad FEMA and the CDC have a sense of humor. If it gets people to read the information and learn something that might be useful in the event of am ACTUAL emergency.

The constant in movies and theory state that Zombies are slow.

The truth that I learned from DayZ... You can't trust your friends.

Portland Community College is offering a non-credit class called Zombie Apocalypse Survival training. The intent is the same. Get people's attention with a fun topic so they pay attention to a very serious topic. They're also offering Emergency Cooking 101, Emergency Food Storage 101, Emergency Kits 101, and Gardening for the Emergency Prepper. Check it out. It's in the Home and Garden section of the Community Education Department.

I don't care what anyone says, better safe then sorry. Im going to get a pocket knife ... Bass Pro Shops, HERE I COME!!!!!!