Flooding Hitting Lake Muskoka Getting Media Attention

Ongoing high water in Bracebridge all week. Fred Schulz photo

THE FLOOD WATERS HITTING THE DOMAIN OF COTTAGES NOW

     I HATE GETTING CYNICAL ABOUT SUCH THINGS, BUT IN THIS CASE I'LL MAKE AN EXCEPTION. I'VE BEEN WRITING ABOUT WHAT I CONSIDER, POOR AND MINIMAL MEDIA COVERAGE, OF THE FLOODS, THAT HAVE BEEN RAVAGING AREAS OF THE DISTRICT OF MUSKOKA…..OR "COTTAGE COUNTRY," AS THE NATIONAL AND PROVINCIAL MEDIA LIKE TO REFER TO US HERE IN GOD'S COUNTRY. I HAVE BEEN APPALLED, AT THE WAY COVERAGE OF THE FLOODING HAS CHANGED SINCE EARLY IN THE WEEK, WHEN HUNTSVILLE WAS LIFTED FROM ITS PREVIOUSLY DECLARED STATE OF EMERGENCY, AND BRACEBRIDGE WAS ALL BUT FORGOTTEN IN TELEVISED COVERAGE. EVEN THOUGH BRACEBRIDGE WAS STILL IN A STATE OF EMERGENCY, THE ELECTRONIC MEDIA FIGURED THE WORSE WAS OVER. IF THE FLOODING HAS BEEN LESSENED IN HUNTSVILLE, IT MUST MEAN EVERYTHING ELSE IS FINE TOO…..RIGHT? I SAID TO MY WIFE, AND I MAY HAVE EVEN WRITTEN IT INTO ONE OF MY BLOGS THIS WEEK, THAT THE ONLY WAY THE MEDIA WILL RE-CONNECT WITH THIS DISASTER, IS WHEN MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR COTTAGES ON OUR LAKES GET HIT WITH THE LAPPING WATERS AT THEIR DOORSTEPS. THIS HAPPENED TODAY, BUT WE'RE JUST HAPPY IT HAS RE-ENGAGED THE ELECTRONIC MEDIA, THAT THE FLOODING IS STILL A MAJOR ISSUE.

    I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY PEOPLE, LISTENING TO THE NEWS, EARLIER THIS WEEK, HEARD ABOUT SOME PROBLEMS WITH THE DAM IN PORT SYDNEY, IN THE PHYSICAL SENSE, CAUSING FEAR OF UNSPECIFIED STRUCTURAL PROBLEMS…….IF THEY DIDN'T LET MORE OF THE WATER OUT. I'M NOT SURE IF THEY TOLD THE FOLKS DOWNSTREAM THIS WAS GOING TO BE HAPPENING, AND WHY, BUT NATURALLY, WHEN MORE WATER WAS LET OUT IN THIS LOCALE, THE FLOODING IN HUNTSVILLE STARTED TO SHOW A MARKED REDUCTION IN LEVELS. I HAVE NOT READ OR HEARD OF ANOTHER REFERENCE TO THIS SITUATION, WHICH…..AND CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, INCREASED BRACEBRIDGE'S PROBLEMS FOR THE REST OF THIS PAST WEEK. THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE LEAD STORY…..THE BIG ONE…..ABOUT WHY THERE WAS A PROBLEM IN PORT SYDNEY IN THE FIRST PLACE, AND WHAT DANGER DID IT THRUST UPON THE RESIDENTS DOWN STREAM, AT AN ALREADY  CRITICAL TIME OF FLOODING.

    THIS HAPPENED TONIGHT ON CTV NEWS IN BITS AND PIECES. (MINDEN FLOODING WAS LUMPED IN TO THE CLIP, BECAUSE THEY'RE ALSO REFERRED TO AS COTTAGE COUNTRY) NOW THERE IS CLEAR DANGER BEING THRUST UPON MUSKOKA LAKES' COTTAGE PROPERTIES, AND BOATERS (RECREATIONALISTS) ARE BEING ASKED TO STAY OFF THE LAKES, DUE TO A GREAT DEAL OF FLOATING REFUSE, RANGING FROM DOCKS TO PORTIONS OF BOAT HOUSES, AND JUST ABOUT ANYTHING ELSE THAT FLOATS.

    AS FOR BRACEBRIDGE, WELL, IT'S STILL IN ROUGH SHAPE, WITH MANY CITIZENS BEING UNABLE TO ACCESS THEIR HOMES, OR BEING TRAPPED IN THEM BY HIGH WATER. SO THERE IS A RESUMPTION OF MEDIA ATTENTION THAT CAN BE ATTRIBUTED TO THE FACT, COTTAGERS ARE NOW BEING IMPACTED, BY WHAT HAMMERED HUNTSVILLE  AND BRACEBRIDGE FOR MORE THAN A WEEK. BUT IF IT DRAWS ATTENTION TO THE REALITY WE STILL HAVE A DIRE SITUATION HERE, WE'LL TAKE IT…..BECAUSE THERE IS A GREAT NEED FOR AWARENESS, ABOUT HOW MANY RESIDENTS NEED A WIDE RANGE OF PERSONAL ASSISTANCE. I WILL CREDIT CTV FOR ANNOUNCING THAT THE LOCAL SALVATION ARMY IN BRACEBRIDGE, AND HUNTSVILLE, I BELIEVE, ARE HELPING WITH THE RELIEF EFFORT, WHICH IS PROVING BIGGER THAN MOST OF US BELIEVED. THEY ACTUALLY PROVIDED SOME AERIAL FILMING, SO WE COULD GET AN IDEA OF JUST HOW EXTENSIVE AND DANGEROUS IT IS, EVEN AFTER A FULL WEEK OF RAGING WATER.

     SOUTH MUSKOKA, GRAVENHURST, PARTICULARLY THE SEVERN BRIDGE AREA, HAS ALSO BEEN HARD HIT, WITH MANY RESIDENTS HAVING HAD THEIR PROPERTIES COMPROMISED, AND THEIR POSSESSIONS DESTROYED, BUT UNFORTUNATELY HAVE RECEIVED VERY LITTLE ATTENTION IN THE MEDIA…..ALMOST NIL. FRED SCHULZ, MY ROVING PHOTOGRAPHER FRIEND, KINDLY SUPPLIED SOME IMPORTANT PHOTOGRAPHS OF THIS NEGLECTED REGION OF OUR COMMUNITY. I CAN ONLY HOPE THERE IS A SIMILAR RELIEF PROGRAM ORGANIZED IN OUR COMMUNITY, AS IT HAS BEEN SET UP IN BOTH BRACEBRIDGE AND HUNTSVILLE. YOU KNOW, WE DEPEND ON THE MEDIA TO KEEP US INFORMED. THE PRINT MEDIA'S COVERAGE HAS BEEN SOFT FROM THE BEGINNING, AND HONESTLY, AS A FORMER EDITOR, I'M TRULY DISAPPOINTED IN THEIR LETHARGY, TO GET US THE SCOOP ABOUT WHAT IS REALLY GOING ON IN PLACES WE CAN'T SEE. ISN'T THAT THE FOUNDATION OF A NEWSPAPER? ISN'T THAT THE REASON IT'S A "NEWS" PAPER. OR IS EVERYTHING OUT THERE NOW "FEATURE PUBLICATIONS," WHERE HARD NEWS IS EITHER NEGLECTED OR SOFTENED INTO SOMETHING MORE PALATABLE? WE NEED A SHARPER MEDIA OUT THERE, THAT TAKES A PROFOUND INTEREST IN THE COMMUNITY IT CLAIMS TO REPRESENT……AND IS WILLING TO INVEST IN REPORTERS, TO UNDERTAKE INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM. OR IS THIS THE WAY IT'S GOING TO BE FROM NOW ON? 

     WITH MORE RAIN IN THE FORECAST, AND BALA BEING IN THE UNENVIABLE POSITION OF THE "ONLY WAY OUT," FOR THE RUN-OFF OF A HUGE REGION, STRETCHING INTO ALGONQUIN PARK, I'M AFRAID A LOT MORE COTTAGE PROPERTIES OUT THERE, ARE GOING BE DAMAGED AS WELL. I'M CONCERNED ABOUT THEM TOO. BUT RIGHT NOW, WHEN WE HAVE DISPLACED RESIDENTS IN OUR SOUTH MUSKOKA TOWNS, WHO HAVE LOST MANY OF THEIR WORLDLY POSSESSIONS, AND THEIR HOME SANCTUARY, THIS SHOULD BE OUR BIGGEST, IMMEDIATE CONCERN, IN MOUNTING A RELIEF STRATEGY, AND OFFERING DONATIONS IN TRUST OF THE SALVATION ARMY.

     IF YOU CAN HELP OUT IN ANY WAY, PLEASE GIVE THE SALVATION ARMY A CALL. THANKS FOR JOINING ME TODAY, FOR WHAT IS BECOMING A MUSKOKA AS WALDEN "SOAP BOX."