Media Malpractice: Lack of Colorado Flood Coverage

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CNN's home page this morning:

The Colorado flooding isn't mentioned. It is simply amazing how little coverage this major event is receiving.

Take a look at this map:
This is the large area of Boulder where an evacuation was attempted during the night. This includes the downtown. But, where were people to go? There was flooding everywhere and Boulder was cut-off from the outside world. The one shelter that has been set up was overflowing. This is a major news story.

Here is the regional rainfall for both the last 23 hours and the last five days:

Interstate 70 is closed west of Denver. It is still open to the east.  The forecast 5-inch plus rainfall fell just south of the highway.

Here is a closeup of the rain in Colorado Springs, yes that is more than a foot in the last 24 hours.


Here is the Denver-Boulder closeup for the last five days.

Highway 34 in the Big Thompson Canyon has collapsed. The river is forecast to crest higher than in the epic flood of 1976 by two feet!

Numerous other roads have been washed out. The last I heard, all roads into Boulder are flooded.

People in both the Colorado Springs and Denver-Boulder areas are going to need outside help. Please do not attempt to travel through these areas at the present time -- you'll like not get through and you'll just add to the problem.

ADDITION:
There is a measure of irony in the Boulder flood with the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) closed yesterday and today. My friends are safe but they, in turn, have friends who have suffered major losses. KUSA TV has live streaming of their continuous coverage here.

Comments

  1. DavidSeptember 13, 2013 at 11:34 AM

    Actually, if you look to the Web page's upper right, it IS mentioned. But it's not a very prominent play.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mike SmithSeptember 13, 2013 at 12:38 PM

    David,

    You and others have pointed out the media is mentioning it. That is true to an extent.

    But, compare this to the coverage of the Moore tornado. I predict that the Colorado flooding will be more costly and cause more disruption. The 20 sec. (timed it) report I saw before leaving for the airport didn't mention fatalities nor did it mention that few of the homes and businesses have flood insurance. In Moore, all homeowners insurance covers tornadoes.

    So, yes, there is some coverage (sorry I didn't make that point clear) but it is very superficial and not conveying the story properly, thus "malpractice" rather than "omission."

    Thanks for the comment!

    Mike

    ReplyDelete

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