Chapter 95: Chapter 95

He saw it immediately. Helicopter views of a mountain range with tufts of dark smoke rising at various points in the distance. A telescopic zoom. Smoke and dirt and rocks rushing down the sides of a steep incline toward a town at the base. Adelaide turned up the volume.

“…And as you can see, the eruptions have destabilized mountain sides in many locations. It’s impossible to calculate how many flows will reach populated areas, but it’s safe to say that the damage will be catastrophic. The ash alone is grounding flights and clogging machinery, posing a risk to vehicles in the vicinity of any one of these events. Towns are being evacuated, but officials expect loss of life to be severe as communications have been cut off to many municipalities all along the east coast.”