If you ever thought the zombie apocalypse was going to start anywhere, you probably didn’t figure it was up towards Canada. But on Monday in Great Falls, Montana, along with two stations in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, the Emergency Alert System (EAS) issued an alert stating that “the bodies of the dead are rising from their graves and attacking the living”. It then went on to warn that civilians should “not approach or attempt to apprehend these bodies as they are considered to be extremely dangerous”.

Unfortunately for those who have waiting with bated breath to show they could be a productive part of The Walking Dead, these alerts have turned out to be a hoax. In addition, none of the areas that were affected by this false alert have been quarantined which suggests that there isn’t even a government cover-up going on. What’s more disappointing is that we Americans have become so jaded by these sort of things that there wasn’t any sort of War of the Worlds like mass panic. What has the world come to?

According to tvnewscheck.com, there had been evidence of someone trying to bypass the firewalls at the stations for days before the hoax aired on television. It seems that the system was easily hacked via default passwords that hadn’t been changed since purchasing the equipment from the manufacturer. There is one positive to all of this though, and that this event has alerted the EAS system to security weaknesses, all of which will be examined, and addressed in the near future.

 

“I’ll be writing folks about adding a ZOM code to things like TOR and HUR and AMB for amber alerts to the EAS protocol,”  jokes Fred Baumgartner, one of the early innovators of the EAS system. “After all, protecting life and property is their motto.”

But zombie apocalypse news doesn’t stop there. It seems like the American scare has prompted Canada to debate the issue as well, though it is likely in response to the symposium held by Quebec’s public security department on the threat of zombies, which was stated to be training exercise to prepare for national disasters and nothing more. Nevertheless, as reported in The Globe and Mail, the Canadian parliament has discussed whether or not they have a nationwide emergency preparedness plan in case of a zombie apocalypse.

Pat Martin, a representative from Winnipeg posed this question to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, John Baird:

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to salute the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta and the province of Quebec for putting in place emergency measures to deal with the possibility of an invasion of zombies. I do not need to tell you, Mr. Speaker, that zombies do not recognize borders and that a zombie invasion in the United States could easily turn into a continent-wide pandemic if it is not contained.

On behalf of concerned Canadians everywhere, I want to ask the Minister of Foreign Affairs, is he working with his American counterparts to develop an international zombie strategy so that a zombie invasion does not turn into a zombie apocalypse?

Baird’s response was as follows:

Mr. Speaker, I want to assure the member and all Canadians that I am dedicated to ensuring that this never happens. I want to say categorically to this member and through him to all Canadians that under the leadership of this Prime Minister Canada will never become a safe haven for zombies, ever.

It’s good to know that governments around the world are getting something accomplished these days just in case the dead do rise from their graves in order to feast on the living.

Hilarious? We at ScienceFiction.com think so. Has the popularity of a Zombie Apocalypse spread this much? Share your thoughts in the comment section below!