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| The Lumber Mill Above the Falls - Photos by Fred Schulz |
CONFLICTING REPORTS ABOUT HIGH WATER MARK - BUT RAIN WILL AFFECT LEVELS
THE CONDITIONS REMAINING THE SAME - MANY "BUT IFS" TO COME
FROM MY OWN LENGTHY EXPERIENCE WITH THE MUSKOKA MEDIA, I CAN TELL YOU HONESTLY, WE TOOK A LOT OF CARE TO DEAL WITH THE RIGHT AUTHORITIES, FOR THE RIGHT OCCASIONS, AVOIDING PUNDITS AND COUNTRY PHILOSOPHERS, AS OUR NEWS SOURCES. WE WENT TO THE MOST KNOWLEDGABLE AND RELIABLE SOURCES OF INFORMATION, AS A FIRST STEP IN NEWS COVERAGE. NEVER IN HINDSIGHT. AS LOCAL REPORTERS, WE WERE WELL VERSED ON LOCAL HAPPENINGS, AND WHO THE AUTHORITIES WERE, IN RESPECTIVE AREAS IN THE MUNICIPALITY, IN ADVANCE OF ANYTHING SERIOUS HAPPENING. THE SUDDEN FOCUS ON A PLACE AND EVENT THAT HAD SOMEHOW, BY ACCIDENT OR NATURAL CIRCUMSTANCE, BECOME A NIGHTLY NEWS EVENTS, WOULD THRUST US, AS NEWS GATHERERS, INTO RAPID RESPONSE MEDIA LINKS, NOT OF OUR CHOOSING. DURING THE MANITOBA STREET FIRE THAT TOOK OUT THE FORMER THOMAS COMPANY, AND FOUR OTHER BUSINESSES, I COULDN'T GET OFF THE PHONE TO COVER MY ZONE OF THE FIRE….AND THAT'S THE WAY IT TURNED OUT FOR THE PAPER THAT COMING ISSUE. I WAS OFFICE BOUND. THE PUBLISHER TOLD ME THIS WAS OUR ROLE IN A CRISIS. I WASN'T SO SURE ABOUT THAT, BUT IT DID HELP THAT I WAS ABLE TO CORRECT A LOT OF MISINFORMATION, BEFORE IT HIT THE PUBLIC DOMAIN. THIS PAST WEEK, I'VE HEARD ALL KINDS OF RUMORS AND MISLEADING INFORMATION, THAT HAS BEEN GATHERED BY THE NATIONAL MEDIA, FROM SOURCES THAT MOST LIKELY HAD THEIR INFORMATION WRONG. THIS DOESN'T HELP TRANSMIT ACCURATE, UP TO THE MINUTE INFORMATION. IT DOESN'T HELP ALLAY FEARS OF THOSE TRAPPED IN THE FLOOD, LISTENING TO THE NATIONAL MEDIA BROADCASTING INFORMATION THAT LIKE HORSESHOES, COUNTS EVEN IF ITS CLOSE….TO HELL WITH GETTING A RINGER.
WHAT WOULD USUALLY HAPPEN, FOR US NEWS STAFFERS, AT THE HERALD-GAZETTE, IN BRACEBRIDGE, BACK IN MY VINTAGE OF THE 1980'S, IS THAT THE NATIONAL MEDIA WOULD START CALLING SHORTLY INTO A MAJOR SITUATION, SUCH AS A MAIN STREET FIRE, AND ASK US TO DO "VOICERS" FOR THEIR VIEWERS OR LISTENERS. I ALWAYS TRIED TO FOB THESE REQUESTS OFF, ON JUNIOR REPORTERS, WHO LIKED THE EXPOSURE THE NATIONAL MEDIA OFFERED. I GOT BURNED A HALF DOZEN TIMES, WITH THE NATIONAL PRESS, NOT PAYING ME FOR STORIES I'D CONTRIBUTED FREELANCE….BUT AT THEIR REQUEST. WE HAD ENOUGH WORK COVERING THE LOCAL ANGLES, AND PERSONAL STORIES, TO WORRY TOO MUCH ABOUT THE MEANDERINGS OF THESE FOLKS. WE'D WATCH OR LISTEN TO THEIR COVERAGE, AND REALIZE, WE PROBABLY SHOULD HAVE HELPED THEM, SO THEY WOUD HAVE GOT THE STORIES CORRECT. I'VE HEARD AND READ A LOT OF ERRONEOUS ACCOUNTS OF WHAT'S GOING ON IN MUSKOKA, WITH THE CURRENT FLOODING SITUATION, ALONG THE BRANCHES OF THE MUSKOKA RIVER. IT'S A MEDIA FIELD DAY, BUT THEY'RE ALL SO EAGER TO PRONOUNCE THAT IT'S GETTING WORSE, OR BETTER, THAT THEY'VE INADVERTENTLY MINIMIZED THE PROBLEMS OF IT REMAINING A STEADY TORRENT. NO MORE, NO LESS WATER.
EVEN IF IT DOESN'T GET WORSE, THE DAMAGE IS STILL IN THE MULIT-MILLIONS, AND THE EROSION TO THE SHORELINES OF THE WATERWAYS, WILL BE A PROBLEM THAT STRETCHES OVER THE COMING YEARS. OUR NEWSPAPER COVERED SHORELINE COLLAPSES, ON THE MUSKOKA RIVER, LONG AFTER THE HIGH WATER HAD RECEDED. THERE COULD WELL BE A WEAKENING OF THE SHORELINE TOPOGRAPHY, THAT MAY NOT CAUSE AN IMMEDIATE COLLAPSE, BUT COULD BE A DISASTER IN THE MAKING. ROADS DISAPPEARING INTO SINK HOLES…..INITIATED BY THIS MAJOR WATER EVENT.
WHEN I LISTENED YESTERDAY, TO TWENTY OR MORE REPORTS ABOUT THE STATUS OF THE FLOODING, FROM DIFFERENT NEWS SOURCES, I HAD NO IDEA WHEN THE PEAK OF HIGH WATER WAS EXPECTED TO HAPPEN. EACH OUTLET HAD DIFFERENT PREDICTIONS BUT NONE OF THEM SEEMED RIGHT, BASED ON MY OWN KNOWLEDGE OF THE RIVER DRAINAGE. WE COVERED LOTS OF FLOODS AS REPORTERS, AND SAW SOME PRETTY WILD THINGS FLOATING DOWN THE RIVER…..FROM BOATHOUSES TO PORTIONS OF COTTAGES TORN OFF THEIR FOUNDATIONS. LOTS AND LOTS OF DOCKS AND BOATS, THAT HAD DRIFTED FROM ONSHORE STORAGE.
I JUST HAD TO FIGURE IT OUT, AS THE OLD MUSKOKAN I AM, THAT IF THE WORSE OF THE FLOODING HADN'T YET HIT HUNTSVILLE, AS OF YESTERDAY AFTERNOON, THEN THERE WAS NO WAY IT WAS GOING TO PEAK IN BRACEBRIDGE BY LAST EVENING, AS SEVERAL NEWS SOURCES WERE PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE. THERE WERE STORIES ABOUT MANDATORY EVACUATIONS THAT STILL HAVEN'T BEEN CONFIRMED, AS HAVING HAPPENED, AND MAY NOT HAPPEN AT ALL. IT SHOULD BE KEPT IN MIND, THAT THOSE AFFECTED BY THE FLOODING, AND ARE STILL IN THEIR HOMES, ARE VERY DEPENDENT ON ACCURATE REPORTING, AND THEY MAY NOT BE IN A POSITION TO HAVE THE WEEKLY NEWSPAPER DELIVERED TO THEIR DOORSTEP. WHILE WE'RE ALWAYS PLEASED TO HAVE NATIONAL EXPOSURE IN MUSKOKA, IT WOULD BE GREAT IF THEY WOULD TAKE THE TIME TO CHAT WITH HISTORIANS, FOR EXAMPLE… LIKE RIVER AUTHORITY, GARY LONG, THE AUTHOR OF "THIS RIVER, THE MUSKOKA," AN ESSENTIAL BOOK TO UNDERSTAND THE HISTORY OF THE WATERSHED….AND JUST HOW MUCH WATER IS DRAINED THROUGH THE SYSTEM; AND FINALLY, THUNDERING OVER THE BALA DAM FROM THE OVERFLOW OF LAKE MUSKOKA. IT DOES TAKE SOME TIME TO KNOW THIS STUFF, BUT HONESTLY, IN THE NAME OF ACCURATE REPORTING, IT WOULD BE SWELL IF THEY USED SOURCES THAT WERE BETTER INFORMED ABOUT THE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUES. MAYBE I MISSED THE PART, WHERE THEY ACTUALLY TALKED TO A REGIONAL HISTORIAN, ABOUT PRECEDENTS OF THE PAST, AS FAR AS FLOODING. TALKING WITH BYSTANDERS ISN'T GOING TO OFFER MORE THAN VERY CASUAL OVERVIEWS OF WHAT IS AN IMPORTANT NEWS EVENT. BASICALLY, IT'S ALWAYS THE SAME SITUATION OUT THERE IN THE FIELD; WE NEED SPEEDY ACTION, AND IMMEDIATE RESPONSES……BECAUSE OF THE BUDGET OF TIME……VERSUS ACTUALLY DEDICATING ENOUGH TIME, TO TALK TO THE RESIDENT EXPERTS, WHO CAN SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT….BASED ON EXPERIENCE ACHIEVED BY IMMERSION IN SUCH NATURAL OCCURRENCES IN THE PAST. MUSKOKA HAS QUITE A FEW VETERANS IN THIS REGARD, AND ALTHOUGH IT MIGHT HAVE TAKEN A FEW EXTRA HOURS TO LOCATE THEM, AND PUT A MICROPHONE UP TO THEIR LIPS, THE INFORMATION WOULD HAVE AT LEAST BEEN INSIGHTFUL, AND MUCH CLOSER TO BEING ACCURATE AND RESPONSIBLE TO THE PREVAILING SITUATION. IS THE WORSE YET TO COME? THE MEDIA SHOULD ANSWER THE QUESTION THEY ARE POSING FOR LISTENERS, ALL DAY AND NIGHT. IT'S ONE OF THOSE NATURAL QUANTITIES AND QUALITIES THAT CAN BE MEASURED, AND THE MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES NEEDS TO MAKE IT CLEAR TO ALL MEDIA OUTLETS, NOW, WHAT THEY SHOULD BE REPORTING OF THIS PEAK POTENTIAL……AND SCHEDULED ARRIVAL IN BRACEBRIDGE, OF COURSE, MINUS THE COMING RAINFALL, BECAUSE IT IS STILL AN UNKNOWN.
I HEARD ANOTHER REPORT TODAY, THAT THE RAINFALL COMING OUR WAY, ON TUESDAY EVENING THROUGH WEDNESDAY, WON'T HAVE MUCH AFFECT ON THE CURRENT WATER LEVELS…..SUCH AS MAKING THEM MARGINALLY WORSE. I'M NOT AN EXPERT, BUT I REFUTE THIS CLAIM. JUST AS THE TORRENTIAL RAIN OF LAST WEEK, INCREASED THE BURDEN OF RUN-OFF, AND HASTENED THE MELT FURTHER NORTH, IN ALGONQUIN PARK, THIS RAIN WILL ALSO PROVIDE A CLEAN-UP OF REMAINING SNOW, AND WILL MOST DEFINITELY ADD TO THE VOLUME BEING FLUSHED THROUGH THE SYSTEM.
I HOPE FOR THE BEST, BUT THAT IS JUST WHAT FOLKS SAY AT TIMES LIKE THIS, TO MITIGATE SOME OF THE SHARP NEGATIVES WE JUST CAN'T GET AWAY FROM. I DO BELIEVE IT WILL GET WORSE, FROM MY OWN EXPERIENCE GROWING UP BESIDE THIS RIVER, FOR MANY YEARS OF MY LIFE; AND SEEING WHAT THE FLOW REPRESENTS TODAY, WITHOUT HAVING REACHED A PEAK……, IT'S JUST HARD TO IMAGINE ANY SERIOUS RELIEF FOR MUCH OF THE NEXT WEEK…..THAT WILL KEEP WATERS IN A FLOOD SITUATION REGARDLESS. IT WOULD BE WONDERFUL TO HAVE IT LESSEN QUICKLY, AND RETURN TO NORMAL LEVELS, WITHOUT INFLICTING ANY MORE DAMAGE, BUT BY EXPERIENCE, IT'S JUST BETTER TO PREPARE FOR MORE ADVERSITY, AND RETREAT TO A SAFE PLACE……AND CROSS REFERENCE THE NEWS REPORTS TO GATHER YOUR OWN CONSENSUS, OF WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON…..BEYOND THOSE WHO OVER CLEVER BUT FLIMSY OVERVIEWS, OF WHAT HAS NOW BECOME AN HISTORIC WEATHER EVENT IN MUSKOKA.
IT IS HARD TO IMAGINE THE PAIN AND SUFFERING, AND THE GROWING FEAR OF ALL THOSE WHO ARE IN THE AFFECTED AREAS OF THIS RIVER FLOODING. PLEASE BE CAREFUL OUT THERE. DON'T TAKE CHANCES. THIS RAGING RIVER CAN INFLICT A LOT MORE SUFFERING AND GREATER TRAGEDY, IF YOU INSIST ON GETTING IN ITS WAY. I'VE SEEN THESE CHALLENGES TURN DEADLY BEFORE, AND IT'S JUST NOT WORTH RISKING YOUR LIFE BY ISOLATING YOURSELF IN A FLOOD ZONE. YOU MAY NOT BE FORCED OUT OF YOUR HOMES AND COTTAGES…..BUT YOU SHOULD MAKE A RETREAT NONE THE LESS, BEFORE THERE IS NO ESCAPE.
THANK FOR JOINING TODAY'S BLOG. DUE TO MY TRAVELS AROUND MUSKOKA TODAY, TO CHECK OUT THIS BREAKING STORY, I NEGLECTED TO PREPARE THE PROMISED BLOG, ON OUT LATEST "COOKBOOK PROJECT," WHICH WILL NOW BE PUBLISHED TOMORROW INSTEAD. AS AN OLD NEWS HOUND, THE PRESENT FLOODING IS ONE OF THE BIGGEST STORIES I'VE WORKED ON SINCE MY CUB REPORTER DAYS WITH THE MUSKOKA LAKES-GEORGIAN BAY BEACON. SO I FEEL COMPELLED TO DEVOTE SPACE TO COVERING IT, THE BEST I CAN, NOT HAVING A HELICOPTER AT MY BECK AND CALL.
ONCE AGAIN, I HAVE HAD THE PARTNERSHIP OF MY FRIEND AND MEDIA COLLEAGUE, FRED SCHULZ, WHO HAS PROVIDED SOME EXCEPTIONAL PHOTOGRAPHS TO ACCOMPANY TODAY'S BLOG. YOU CAN ALSO SEE ADDITIONAL PHOTOGRAPHS BY CLICKING ONTO MY "MUSKOKA AS WALDEN" SITE, AT http://muskokaaswaldenpond.blogspot.ca/
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