Chapter 1104 Recruitmen (1/2)
The earthquake ended as abruptly as it started. The earth stopped shaking after a little
over ten minutes.
Victoria and the children were huddling together with Ah Meow and the rest. It was the
first time Ah Meng felt afraid. Ah Meng had hidden itself in Ivana's arms, looking fearful.
Li Du glanced at his mobile phone. Noting that there was still a signal, he heaved a sigh
of relief. This was a sign that the impact of the earthquake was not too huge.
Brother Wolf guided everyone to move towards the open, flat field. He said, ”If the earth
shakes again, get down immediately and hold onto the hand of the person beside
you…”
Then he instructed Big Quinn and Godzilla to gather the pails. He said, ”Go see if the
water supply has been disrupted. Fill the pails and bathtubs will water. If there are
ground tremors, the water supply might be cut off.”
Li Du called up the government public service hotline. However, the line was busy and
the call would not go through.
Not far away, they could hear the sirens of ambulances and fire engines. There was a
town to the west, and and it had probably suffered in the earthquake.
As the construction of their villa was of top-notch quality, the wallpaper had not even
peeled off the walls. There were just a couple of new creases on the wallpaper. A few of
the shelves had swung and some of the things had fallen down.
Hans was trying to connect to the internet, shaking his head as he did so. ”There
connection is disrupted. I cannot access the 4G network, the reception is very bad.”
After some consideration, Li Du called up the JP Morgan Chase premium service
helpline. ”Hi, I would like to ask about the situation in Phoenix. Was there an earthquake
just now?”
The service representative responded quickly, ”That's right, Mr. Li. According to the
information we just received, the desert area in the south of Arizona experienced an
earthquake of 6.0 magnitude. The details of the situation are still unclear because the
epicenter of the earthquake was about forty kilometers from Phoenix, at an unpopulated
area of a desert.”
The VIP service of JP Morgan Chase bank was impeccable. The service staff related all
the information about the situation in a succinct and clear manner.
The damage from the earthquake would not be too bad. That was because the
epicenter was in the desert. The area they were in only experienced some disruptions.
After relating everything they knew about the earthquake that just happened, the client
service representative continued to provide Li Du with some knowledge of earthquakes.
The additional information included details on the geological makeup of Arizona, the
cause of the earthquake, the damage that it has caused, ways to evaluate earthquake
damage and other information on what to do during such events.
After that, the bank representative even transferred the call to a local expert in
earthquakes. The bank had managed to connect with the expert at very short notice.
The earthquake expert answered some questions and doubts Li Du had and reassured
him.
First, the expert asked about the situation in their house and the vicinity. After learning
the location of their villa, the earthquake expert told him that there was no problem with
their house.
Li Di had not noticed this, previously but the house was not made from masonry.
Instead, it was based on a wooden structure, enhancing its ability to withstand
earthquakes.
The expert told Li Du everything he had heard about the event and reassured him. He
advised Li Du to stay outside the house and refrain from driving the car to get out of the
area. He also told Li Du to wait for the government's instructions. If he had any new
information, he would reach out to Li Du.
That expert had been so helpful not because he was kind. It was because he was
aware that Li Du was a very powerful man and wanted to take the opportunity to build a
relationship with him.
Just like Brother Wolf told them to do, the expert advised Li Du to store extra water just
in case.
To residents, the most crucial problem after an earthquake was the shortage of drinking
water. Water has long been scare in Central Arizona. Groundwater, the California water
storage, and the Colorado River have been the sources of water for the area.
After an earthquake, regardless of how much damage had been made to the water
pipes, the water plant would shut down the water supply for maintenance to minimize
any risks.
Hence, they had to take extra steps to conserve and store water for keeping.