Is the island moving or isn't it?

Interestingly enough, the outrageous amount of rain that has fallen in the last two days has tied perfectly into yesterday's lecture about media coverage of disasters. Today when I reported to my post at the Leader-Telegram I could have sworn it was the apocalyspe. Rain drenched me on my way in as ambulances screamed down Farwell St. When I got inside, there was shouting over the police scanner and the newsroom was buzzing. For the first time in my four years here I was hearing familiar terms like "100-year flood" being tossed around, and the reporter across from we was asking someone on the phone what the chances were of the Chippewa River rising to record flood levels. And the day kept getting more interesting. A land slide caused the closure of one lane on Highway 53 and apparently someone had reported that an island near the North Crossing was slowly floating down river towards the bridge. The floating island debate went on for at least an hour as our reporter scrambled for confirmation from the police and the Department of Transportation, who later said the island was not moving at all.

First off, this is an incredible event for Eau Claire. Rain, of course, is not out of the norm in the area. But without warning the incredible amounts  have already caused Governer Doyle to declare a state of emergency in Trempealeau Co., and it has caused dangerous situations throughout our own city. The Leader-Telegram's coverage of the storm has thus far hit three of the angles discussed in class yesterday - a story published in today's paper about the possibility of flooding (to warn people) and a story online today about what flooding has recently occured (to inform people). The two stories are posted below:

http://www.leadertelegram.com/news/daily_updates/article_3f004c8e-c710-11df-bb8d-001cc4c002e0.html

http://www.leadertelegram.com/news/front_page/article_b5fac92e-c6cd-11df-8dbf-001cc4c002e0.html