Disrespecting the River: Finding Humor in Tragedy

MY OTHER BLOG ENTRIES FROM THE FLOOD: Respect the River, Respect the River Day 2

I'm going to walk a fine line today and try to inject some humor into the tragic flooding situation that took place last week in the Northeast. It's nothing to joke about, of course; people have perished and property has been lost. But I have always believed that humor can make a bad situation better, and sometimes you just have to look back at the situation and laugh. (Click on the pictures for the original from whence they came) There are more funny photos on my Facebook Page in an album.

Arguably the funniest moment was when this plastic kid's Barbie Car started floating on the street behind me ("Race" street nonetheless) in downtown Harrisburg, photobombing my portrait with the flood. I had no idea it was there until a few minutes later, but it turned out I had snapped it in the background already, floating in from screen left, before it turned towards us. From that distance, I thought at first it was a boat!

Across City Island on the west side of the shore of the Susquehanna River, businesses were flooded. I'm not sure if this is a Boat Fail or Win, but they decided to keep their boat on the roof (presumably to keep it dry or avoid damage - or so they could access it from a second-story window, which would have been necessary if the river had reached another 4 feet up as predicted.

And of course there were the signs - ironic as they often are during a weather disaster. I knew I had the money shot when I saw signs for "City Island" and "Riverside Drive" almost completely submerged:

Canal Street in Hershey was another gem. Plus: You can now tour the world's cities by boat.

Then there were signs that offered good advice about the riverfront sidewalk at Harrisburg:

And those that stated the obvious on City Island (well yeah, full of water):

The J-CAM was mobile this whole time and snapped amusing pictures of me in the car. Included is me downing a Mountain Dew Whiteout while jamming to Kenny Loggins on my way to Harrisburg Friday morning (highway... to... the... danger zone...). Other shots include covering the news remotely (at my girlfriend's house in York), uploading photos to the WeatherMatrix Facebook Page from the drivers seat, and hanging out at a friend's house in Harrisburg.

And then there were the bizarre objects. I didn't notice this creepy Mona Lisa peering out over the flood waters in Shipoke until I looked closely at the pictures on my computer:

Even the founder of Harrisburg was swimming over in his grave. Clearly when he was put to rest, they hadn't seen floods this high.

And last but not least, although I got that classic picture of a vehicle under water, a closer inspection reveals there might have been a reason for leaving it there.

There was just too much humor to include here. See the rest of the funny photos on my Facebook Page in an album.

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