Johan's Ark

The following is based on an account as told in Breaking Israel News...

     1992, Noord-Holland, Netherlands.
     The newscaster told of the bus-sized asteroid hitting the glaciers of the Arctic.  The impact had such force, according to the anchor, that it affected 90% of the arctic circle.  Scientists, using the latest satellite imagery, concluded 40% of the ice was vaporized on impact.  However, most of the ice had melted, which caused ocean levels to rise dramatically.  Worldwide flooding was devastating coastal cities, leaving millions dead.
     Noord-Holland was not an exception and the newscaster proffered everyone take shelter in the mountains.  The images of the television featured the island of Manhattan's tall skyscrapers half hidden by the Atlantic Ocean, the streets and monuments under 90 feet of water.  Satellite images showed most of the eastern seaboard of the United States underwater.  Great Britain and most of Ireland were reduced to a chain of islands.  The Mediterranean, Black, Caspian, and Red Seas had merged to create a new, huge ocean.  And the waters were at the threshold of Noord-Holland.  It didn't take long for the flood waters to engulf and devastate the region.
     Johan Huibers woke with a start, sweat had soaked his pillow and blankets, which left his hair a drenched mess.
     "Are you okay?" Johan's wife asked sleepily.
     He slowed his breathing and got out of bed.
     "Just a bad dream," he answered.  "Go back asleep."
     He put on his slippers and headed downstairs to the kitchen.  The rooms he walked had been underwater in his dream.  He had lost everything and the sense of loss, although just a dream, stuck with him, even after that night.  He poured himself a glass of ice water and sat at the table.  It felt so real, he thought.
     A few days later, Johan sat with his children.  He enjoyed reading to them, and it appeared they enjoyed it, as well.  At least, he hoped they did.  As he read from "Bible Stories in Illustration", Johan came to the story of Noah and the Great Flood.  The pictures showed Noah and his family beside planks of gopher wood, a frame of a ship in mid-construction; the completion of the ark; the animals ascending the ramp into the ship; and the Ark riding the waves in a major storm.
     I need to build the ark, Johan thought.
     For the next thirteen years, Johan worked as hard as he could, accumulating wealth for his ark project.  Finally, he had the means and the time to build his own ark, which would cost $4 million to complete.  As a contractor, he made certain the dimensions were the same as described in the Bible, except slightly smaller.  Standing at about five stories high, Johan's Ark measured at 95 feet wide, 410 feet long, and 75 feet high.  Although Noah utilized gopher wood, Johan constructed his ship with American cedar and pine.  Like Noah's, his ark had no motor, propeller, nor sails, and sat on an enormous, steel barge.
     Johan planned on tug-boating his Ark to Brazil in time for the Summer Olympics.