Doomsday Dream Prompts Dutch Man to Build Huge Noah's Ark

Ship is 100 yards long, and seaworthy

A doomsday dream of massive flooding prompted a Dutch man to build a modern day Noah's Ark that is 100 yards long and four stories tall.

Johan Huibers, head of a construction company in Dordrecht, Holland, said he started work on the mega-ship three years ago. Now nearly complete, the ark has gone from an Armageddon escape vehicle to a major tourist attraction.

"I dreamed that a part of Holland was flooded," Huibers explained in a "Today" show segment. "The next day, I get the idea to build an ark."

The ark, which Huibers insists is seaworthy, sits in a shipyard. It is identical in size to the one the Bible says Noah built, 300 cubits in length, 30 cubits high, and 50 cubits wide.

Huibers has outfitted the ship with life-size replicas of animals, including one elephant that cost $11,000 alone. He hopes the ark will become a museum of sorts, inspiring people to read the Bible. He also plans to float it down the River Thames in advance of the 2012 Olympics.

Some may note that in the film "An Inconvenient Truth," Al Gore predicted the Netherlands would be flooded if the ice on Greenland melted. Ad while such a dream inspired the project, Huibers doesn't believe his ship would really provide much sanctuary in such a cataclysmic event.

"No I don't think so," he told NBC News.

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