Water, Water Everywhere

It’s Election Day in the US, and the story leads papers across the country.

There are early reports of voting machine foul-ups in at least three states. But as Slate’s Jack Shafer points out, the real news won’t pour in until suppertime tonight. So we’ll leave that discussion for later.

For today, the big story in BC is rain. As in, there’s too much of it. Personally, my feet have been wet since Thursday. But with the ‘MSM’ once again ignoring that scoop, we go instead to Chilliwack, the jewel of the Fraser Valley, where floodwaters began to recede early Tuesday morning.

The Chilliwack River was at its highest point in 25 years yesterday, after rains shattered provincial records. About 200 people were ordered evacuated as the river jumped its banks, putting some homes in danger. By Tuesday, the water was slipping back. But Environment Canada forecasts are calling for more rain as the week goes on.

Last summer, a reader funded investigative series in The Tyee exposed the flood danger faced by hundreds of thousands of Lower Mainland residents living behind dikes along the Fraser River.

Without improved flood protection, wrote Chris Wood, 25,000 people could be forced to flee their homes and infrastructure in the lower mainland would be devastated.