Chapter 108
5:25 PM CST Day three of 1260 Kansas City, Missouri - Liberty Memorial, Anchor Desk
“John, here are your notes,” the page said as he sat down to the makeshift anchor desk at Liberty Memorial in Kansas City. He was looking at the clock realizing he only had about four minutes to go. The techs were all over him making sure things were right and when they finished, including straightening his tie, He looked over at his producer who gave him the high sign, which meant that he looked okay. John looked back at the clock. When it hit zero the camera came up. After the announcer’s greetings, he began his broadcast.
“Today, we are picking up where we left off yesterday with our special two hour event, including the day’s headlines. As I am sure all of you know, the rains in Northern Africa have been pouring down steadily now for the past two days. For an update, we have Chester, our Meteorologist, here to tell us exactly what is happening in the continent of Africa and South East Asia”
“Chester?”
“Thanks, John,” the camera zoomed into him and the monitor, which displayed the radar from Northern Africa.
“As most of you know, the rain started Tuesday morning around 4:00 a.m. EST time starting in the Middle East, then quickly spread across all of Northern Africa. Since then, some places have received as much as 14 inches of rain, others, no less than eight to ten inches. The rain itself has now slowed down to about a 1/4 inch per hour over the entire area, as was predicted.”
“Flooding has become rampant in several cities. There are concerns, especially in Egypt with the Nile and the Aswan Dam. At this rate, the Nile will flood and continue flooding until the rains stop. If our calculations are correct, a large portion of Northern Africa will be under water. The backside of this is also that the rivers will flood all the way to the ocean and could very well create havoc along the entire courses of the Nile, the Tigris, and other rivers in the area, closing ports that are vital to their economy.”
“The global temperature today has been eight degrees warmer than normal. Temperature readings are breaking records everywhere. With the best models we can come up with, at this rate twenty to thirty percent of both pole’s ice sheets could melt if this continues for at least thirty days, resulting in massive flooding in coastal cities worldwide.”
As another graphic came up, he continued his report, “Hurricane Alex is picking up speed, and according to our models could very well be exactly how the prediction was foretold. A direct hit on the Houston, Galveston area will happen and is now being forecast to make landfall early Monday. This is based on current computer models from the National Hurricane Center. Also, right behind it we have another tropical depression forming, which, within 24 hours we will most likely be able to say it is going to be a hurricane and start tracking it on to Mississippi, as per Jack’s predictions.”
“Chester, do you see any chance of a variance from the predictions?”
“No I don’t, but then I don’t have any way of knowing if this pattern will continue or not. It has never happened before; but the data we have and from the document Jack gave us, there is no variation at all.”
“Thanks, Chester.”
“Moving on, we have one of our correspondents in Cairo, the capital of Egypt, with a live report.” Turning to the monitor, John said, “Eric?”
“Yes, John. This is Eric Kuhl in Cairo. As you can see behind me, the rain is still coming down and has not stopped since yesterday morning. In the footage we took about three hours ago, you will see that the Nile is raging and has already filled with debris from upstream. One of the concerns is whether the Aswan Dam will continue to hold. If not, then the Nile will definitely be out of control and flooding will be even more rampant. Lake Nasser can hold quite a bit of the water, but if this keeps up for thirty days, there is a good chance the dam will not hold and the entire city of Cairo will be flooded.”
“Eric, are there any evacuation plans that have been announced for the area?”
“No John, not at this time.”
“Well Eric, please be safe and we will get back to you soon.”
“Thanks, John. This is Eric Kuhl reporting from Cairo, Egypt.”
“Now we will go to Baghdad, Iraq, where the Tigris River flows through the city and only a few miles away is the Euphrates River. Now, let’s turn to our chief correspondent Carlene Roach in Baghdad.”
“Carlene?”
“Hello John. This is Carlene Roach reporting from Baghdad. As you can see behind me, it is raining and it has been steadily raining for two days. You will notice by the bridge behind me that the river is rising, and at this rate, according to our sources, will start flooding areas within the next twelve to twenty hours. They are starting to move people and assets from the river areas further inland, but no mass evacuations have been ordered as of yet. Also, in Northern Iraq and Turkey, especially Mosul, the river is rising rapidly.”
“Carlene, the Euphrates is not far from there and the Jordan on the Israeli Jordan border. Any, word from anyone on conditions there?”
“Yes John. From Syria, down to Ar Ramdi, to the Persian Gulf, flood watches are in effect and as best we can tell, like the Tigris, eventually they will need to be evacuated. It is also flooding on both the borders of Israel and Jordan. On another note though John, we had spoken to some local Sunni leaders here in Baghdad and some of them are forming an idea that since Jack South is an American, he has put a curse on them of some sort and that it is our fault this is happening. How that reasoning may have occurred, I have no idea, but ‘blame it all on America’ is brewing in the area it seems.”
“Is the source the government, and if so are they projecting it to the people or is it just coming from the people themselves?”
“No, it’s a few of the Sunni Clerics who are putting this claim forth, it seems. They are trying to figure out how to blame us, because the people hear that it is Jack’s Hebrew God, which is doing it. Even though both the Hebrew God and Allah are to some extent, considered the same by some people, the prophets and salvation are believed to be different. Therefore, that leaves a division between the sects. We are not sure what the outcome or how the blame will be placed in the people’s minds.”
“Thanks Carlene. We appreciate your input.”
“Thanks John. This is Carlene Roach reporting from Baghdad, Iraq.”
“As you can see in the Middle East and Northern Africa, the rains are causing havoc.” John paused. “We will be going to Houston, Texas after the break.”
As he leaned back in his chair to stretch, he could feel his muscles tightening. In a very few days, he would be reporting about his own country going through the same ordeals as those happening in Africa. He could only hope that the damage would not be as drastic as it seemed it was going to be. Millions were going to die.