AJAs 2024 Finalists
Remembering the one-year anniversary of West Hants' tragic floods
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| Date Aired or Published | July 23, 2024; July 30, 2024 |
| Media outlet where first aired or published: | Valley Journal-Advertiser |
| Name of Program: | N/A |
| If co-produced, list partner: | N/A |
| Location: | West Hants |
| List awards, grants: | N/A |
| Running time (TV/Radio): | N/A |
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Short explanation of the story and how it developed: In July 2023, I spent about two weeks covering a tragic flash flood that claimed the lives of four people in West Hants. As the one-year anniversary approached, I wanted to write pieces that honoured the victims and examined what we learned from the unprecedented weather event to prevent future flooding issues. I conducted multiple interviews, including with people who had loved ones killed in the flooding, municipal and provincial officials, a grief expert, and others. It resulted in multiple stories, almost a dozen, with the majority coming out the same week as the anniversary. I’ve selected three for your consideration: She’s my baby girl; I really miss him; Permanent memorial sought to honour West Hants’ flood victims. |
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Resources of the newsroom (money and time) available to complete the story: One of the biggest challenges I faced wasn’t convincing the family members to speak with me, but it was dealing with an emergency appendectomy. I met with the parents of six-year-old Natalie Harnish, who had died in the flood, three days after I had surgery. I interviewed a distraught Tera Sisco, whose six-year-old son died alongside Natalie, just five days post-surgery. Adding to this challenge is the fact that I’m part of a three-person newsroom covering two community newspapers. It’s difficult to free up time to work on a special series to begin with, but adding in a medical emergency and a truncated timeline to get the stories pulled together was particularly challenging. |
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