NOR'EASTER NEWS?

It's spring! And all hell has broken loose with the weather.

Sunday late afternoon, and a creek two blocks away now resembles a river. It's at the highest point I've ever seen it, and we've been in the same house, on high ground, for 23 years. Our basement is taking on water, and the basement never does that.

The adjacent town appears to be flooded. It's not in a flood zone.

You know all that hot air about instant news? Twenty years ago, local radio and T.V. would have been all over this story. But on a New York all-news radio station just a few minutes ago, some ninny was prattling that "at least it isn't snow!" (Got news for you, radio-person: snow is a lot less worrisome than water in these conditions). As to actual news: Oh, it's raining; the Mets game is canceled; some flights are delayed. Now onto that special report on nutrition for your rose garden.

The CBS online news site at this moment is the perfect lethargic example: The storm is "`unusual for this time of April. Normally, we're finished with this sort of thing by the end of March,' severe storm expert Lonnie Quinn said. "`Not only is this a late-season Nor'easter, it'll be a very significant one at that.' (© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)."

Somehow, the Roman numerals in the copyright line seem very appropriate. JAYSVS!

Is anybody working this story? Do the media all take Sundays off these days?

All's I know is what I see from the house. That damn little creek is rising to where I've never seen it before. What's going on in actual flood zones? I mean, I've been in this business long enough not to overreact when it rains or snows. But this sucker? Hellooooo?

6:20 pm update: At least one local TV channel -- WNBC in New York -- is on the ball, with current, heads-up and grown-up reporting from the city and the Long Island and New Jersey coasts. This is one bad storm, and the flooding will be"coast-redefining," as they say. Not to mention snow in upstate New York! On April 15.

Meanwhile, the other New York channels all seem to be running basketball games or such, and the Weather Channel seems to be breathlessly consumed with speculation about Boston and the Boston Marathon.

So it goes, in tribute to Mr. Vonnegut.

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