Alrighty, everybody saddle up.
"Belleville, Ont. remained in a state of emergency Monday as officials predicted the impending overflow of a nearby river."Now, I know you want to grab people's attention right off the hop... but this is complete and utter hogwash. Declaring a "state of emergency" might allow Belleville to stick Dalton McSlippery... and by extension Ontario taxpayers... with the cost of having the volunteer Fire Department fill sandbags for the next couple of days... but that's really it for this screamin' CTV Defcon I.
The swollen Moira River is only affecting a small group of homeowners between the hamlets of Foxboro and Cannifton... a group, I might add... who rather unwisely choose to reside on the floodplain of the Moira River. They call it a "floodplain" because, well... it floods. The fact is, even in a non-flood situation, some of these folks have sump pumps that run 24 hours a day... a couple of facts that will likely not be overlooked by their friendly insurance adjusters.
More than 150 buildings have already fallen victim to the Moira River."Fallen victim" also seems a little over the top here. Some folk's basements are undeniably awash in water... but so far, that's it.
No one, I repeat, no one... has died.
Many homeowners near the river have lost their driveways to flooding in recent days.Again... a little hysterical. There are driveways that are, yes... covered with water. None... that I know of anyway... are lost.
Although he says residents should have received hand-delivered notices of the imminent flood threat, some residents told CTV News they received little warning.Sorry, Gomer... if the 15 inches of water in the basement wasn't enough of a clue... you are truly too stupid to live. What's next... you won't leave your burning home until you get a call from the Mayor?
The Moira River, which stretches from Stoco Lake south of Tweed to Highway 401 in Belleville, is carrying twice its normal volume for this time of year.Unless there has been a major shift in a geological fault line somewhere... the Moira River, which I drove past today... still empties into lake Ontario.
Now apart from all that... the article was fine.
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UPDATE: Ask a local newspaper
Officials blocked parts of River and Harmony roads plus Ashley Street because of unwelcome spectators.**********
"It's like a Hollywood show here with all the cars coming," said Dan Russell, glancing toward River Road.
Foxboro resident Stephen Edwards wasn't surprised by onlookers' presence. On Friday, as he helped lay sandbags at neighbour Colleen MacLeod's home, he recalled the last major flood in the early 1980s.
Back then, he said, crews removed the handrails from a bridge on Harmony Road so that ice could pass over the road, and motorists watched as residents worked to save their homes.
"Someone went to the Foxboro sign and spray-painted, 'Tourists go the hell home' on it,'" Edwards said. "They'd sit there all day and watch you work, and never get out of their cars to help."
RELATED: I'm from the television news...
I'm here to save you...
Cruickshank says "a public broadcaster endorses a form of speech hatred, by showing it". Again, that's like saying actors who play murderers on TV endorse murder, or reporters who report on earthquakes are pro-earthquake.*
Cruickshank obviously doesn't believe that -- I don't think anybody could -- but it's a way of marginalizing those who want to see controversial news that doesn't fit into the CBC's "Little Mosque on the Prairie" view of Islam.