Lions, tigers and bearing up in storm

There were a few quirks amid the horrors of the Great Flood of 2013.

For the lions, tigers and bears at the 720-acre Wild Animal Sanctuary in the Weld County town of Keenesburg, the record rainfall was an “oh, my!” moment. Ponds at the sanctuary that usually are one-quarter full this time of year and have suffered from a couple drought-plagued summers were left filled to their brims, and the animals – including the generally water-averse lions – took advantage to frolic in them.

Stories of resourcefulness trickled in as well, such as that of Bellvue resident Mark Benjamin, who rigged up a zipline across floodwaters to get supplies to his stranded neighbors. When National Public Radio called to interview him, Benjamin said the fiber optic phone line running to his property was “hanging out there in space” because the road it was under had been washed away. That prompted Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep to comment, “So we’re talking through the water right now? You sound pretty good considering that.”

Viewers noted some unfortunate – and almost assuredly inadvertent – juxtaposition of news reports and advertising on two Denver television newscasts on the night of Sept. 16. On both KUSA Channel 9 and KCNC Channel 4, balanced stories about reports of oil and fluids used in hydraulic fracturing leaking into the floodwaters almost immediately were followed by commercials paid for by the pro-fracking EnergyFromShale.org. Oops.

For some, coping with the storm brought on some mistakes they’ll laugh about later. Take, for instance, the emergency alert from the National Weather Service that interrupted area radio and TV programming Sept. 15 with the observation that the continued heavy rain was likely to “exasperate” the already extreme flood threat. For the forecaster who wrote that advisory, the exasperation of the moment must have been exacerbated.

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