Stop, Think, Type

Photo from wnyt

There were seven years to the day between the floods that simply destroyed the small town of Fort Plain up west of here. Last time the whole region was wrecked, because it was the river that rose. This time a creek, normally a little riffle where have trout fished now and then since before we were married, went crazy and took out the center of the town.

At least one person is missing.

Other people woke up to waist-deep water in their homes and had to scramble to save their families. However, they lost everything they owned. 

Read this story to get an idea of the horrors that faced some folks.


Photos of the devastation were posted far and wide yesterday, including some of debris washed up against the locks and dams in the river. Believe it or not people actually blamed local residents for the mess, accusing them of littering, since there were a few coolers and dog houses among the mostly sticks and boards that made up the mass of refuse.

Seriously? Littering? Did you miss the whole wall of water that tore through houses, yards, farms and streets?

And then there were the folks who complained about people rebuilding in "flood plains" and thus deserving to get wiped out by such walls of water.

Flood plains? Yesterday's flood took out the center of a town of over 2300 people that was incorporated in 1832. It was settled by Palatine Germans during the 1700's. Do the people leaving these comments actually expect the victims of the flood to move the whole town?Or do they just post without thinking about what they are saying or who might be hurt by such accusations?

Many of the buildings affected have stood right where they are for generations. To blame the residents of the area for the disaster that struck them is simply....wrong....

And it sure gets my goat.