He coasted away from his home, passing over bicycles and cars, their antennae scraping the bottom of his canoe. every vehicle, old and new, was gone, unsalvageable. the numbers filled his head: there were a hundred thousand cars lost in the flood. maybe more. what would happen to them? who would take them once the waters receded? in what hole could they all be buried? zeitoun is pondering the fate of flooded cars. the number of flood victims. the need for religious burials. the location of his lost belongings.