When that story came about how the CDC was prepared for the zombie apocalypse, I rested much easier that night.

You see, I hate zombies. They freak me out. I refuse to watch anything on television that has the flesh-eating dead in it – Michael Jackson’s Thriller video, AMC’s The Walking Dead, you name it.

So one might question why I would read something that had zombie in the title. Well the answer is simple, CDC stands for Centers for Disease Control, and what causes zombies? Yes, disease.

You would have read it, too, on the off chance it was for real. Thankfully, it wasn’t.

Instead, it was a phenomenon that went viral and crashed the CDC website with the number of hits it generated. I am guilty of helping with that. As soon as I read it, I immediately posted it to my Facebook site, knowing it would get read.

Turns out, it was a very clever marketing ploy to get people prepared for an actual disaster. You know – those floods, tornados, hurricanes and the like.

Here’s a snippet:

“So what do you need to do before zombies…or hurricanes or pandemics for example, actually happen? First of all, you should have an emergency kit in your house. This includes things like water, food, and other supplies to get you through the first couple of days before you can locate a zombie-free refugee camp (or in the event of a natural disaster, it will buy you some time until you are able to make your way to an evacuation shelter or utility lines are restored). Below are a few items you should include in your kit, for a full list visit the CDC Emergency page.

• Water (1 gallon per person per day);

• Food (stock up on non-perishable items that you eat regularly);

• Medications (this includes prescription and non-prescription meds);

• Tools and supplies (utility knife, duct tape, battery powered radio, etc.);

• Sanitation and Hygiene

• Clothing and bedding (a change of clothes for each family member and blankets)

• Important documents ; and

• First aid supplies (although you’re a goner if a zombie bites you, you can use these supplies to treat basic cuts and lacerations that you might get during a tornado or hurricane).

And don’t forget – Plan your evacuation route. when zombies are hungry they won’t stop until they get food (i.e., brains), which means you need to get out of town fast.

For those of you who haven’t yet realized it, that’s a nearly verbatim Red Cross emergency list we gave you last week in the hopes you would begin to prepare for the June 1 start of hurricane season.

Minus the zombies, of course.

Goodness, could you imagine? Zombies and a hurricane? We’d all be goners.

So, get prepared.