“There’s a snake in the car!” he gasped. “Help me!” he called out.

“Mister, this is Washington, D.C. There ain’t no snake in my limousine!”

The chairman opened the limousine door and fell out on the sidewalk. Several men ran over to help, then jumped back in shock when they saw, sitting on the backseat, a coiled and fully flared cobra.

“Great Gawd Almighty!” screamed the driver. “Call a doctor! There’s a snake in my limousine! Hurry! This guy’s dying!”

Keeping a wary eye on the strange passenger in the backseat, he opened the front door, turned on the key, and lifted his cellular phone outside. He dialed 911, but they did not believe him. Finally, after more than ten minutes, he was able to summon an emergency ambulance. The chairman of the Federal Reserve died on the way to the hospital. Shiva had claimed his third victim.

Chapter Nineteen

CHAPTER NINETEEN

AT ANY OTHER TIME, the entire nation would be in deep mourning over the loss of two presidents in less than a week. But people’s personal worries far outweighed the deaths in Washington, D.C. They were reeling from the loss of millions of lives on the West Coast, a shattering economic crisis, broken communications, and ongoing flooding.

Although the worst of the disaster caused by the meteor was over, the displacement of the oceans was still making its presence felt around the world. By Monday parts of London were underwater. The famed dikes in Holland had burst, and seawater was pouring into the low countries. There was serious flooding occurring in the French seaport cities along the English Channel and in the Mediterranean. The major ports of Italy, Malta, and Sardinia, along with Tunis, Algiers, and all the ports of North Africa experienced abnormal tides, as did Athens, Istanbul, Tel Aviv, and Haifa.

The effect on the East Coast of the United States, while less severe, still caused considerable problems. Boston’s Logan Airport was closed due to flooding, as were New York’s Kennedy and LaGuardia airports. The public, however, would soon have to deal with closures of all U.S. airports as a result of volcanic ash. Floodwaters swept lower Manhattan, closing Wall Street and shorting out underground telephone and electric lines. Low-lying parts of Phila delphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore were covered with water.

Further south, the business district of Norfolk, Virginia, was under several feet of water. Ships in port at the Norfolk Naval Base were rising to a dangerous point above the man-made structures. Charleston, Myrtle Beach, Jacksonville, Daytona, Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and Miami all had four to five feet of seawater flowing in the streets. Life was difficult and becoming extremely dangerous as structures began to collapse. Hot electric wires were falling into the rising waters, and power plants were being shut down for fear of major accidents.