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Crain's writer Bill Shea posts a Facebook shot of his Hazel Park floating waste site.
It's a soggy, smelly, risky mess in many Metro Detroit basements as a result of Monday night's record-level deluge.
As some victims share social media images of indoor "ponds," a few media outlets see opportunities for free, dramatic content.
One person's setbacks can be another's attention-grabber, after all.
Images of Detroit blight (aka ruin porn) are yesterday's media cliché. "Flood porn" may be a new thing, judging by tweets from a WXYZ reporter Monday night and a news site this morning:
Anyone with a flooded basement send me your pics. We'll use them on air. #backchannel pic.twitter.com/b1Hxdb0hn5
— Simon Shaykhet (@simonshaykhet) August 12, 2014
Have a terrible flooded basement photo thanks to last night's storm? Tweet it to us. (and we're sorry about that)
— Curbed Detroit (@CurbedDetroit) August 12, 2014
Another Detroit journalist, Crain's writer Bill Shea, wonders on Facebook whether "anyone is selling 'I Survived the Detroit Flood 2014' shirts yet?" A friend, Dan Houston of Clarkston, predicts: "Guaranteed there will be vendors with that or similar this week at the Dream Cruise."
Aaron Foley, a freelance writer and Jalopnik Detroit blogger, arches his eyebrows over solicitations such as those from Curbed and WXYZ:
Please take a moment from sorting through your prized possessions in your filthy basements to tweet a pic of it to local media. Thanks!
— Aaron Foley (@aaronkfoley) August 12, 2014
In a more constructive vein, some local media extend helping hands rather than asking for handouts.
Edward Cardenas of WWJ posts a few online resources for flood victims, Zlati Meyer compiles 10 steps to take if your home was flooded and Tom Greenwood of The Detroit News tells what to do if your basement floods.
The metro media smorgasbord has servings for varied tastes.
