November 19, 2022 - OTTAWA

Disaster response coordinators of Public Safety Canada have confirmed initial reports of cataclysmic events on the Southern border. For reasons yet unexplained, the territory of the United States of America, including Alaska, has vanished along the entire length of the border, to a depth of approximately 8.5 meters. Nothing is known to date of the fate of the several hundred milliion inhabitants.

It remains completely mysterious both why and how this huge amount of topsoil and bedrock could have disappeared, although the North Korean government has claimed and then denied responsibility several times so far.

Communities on the Canadian side of the border report hundreds of deaths and significant destruction from subsidence after landslides and undercutting on the coasts from sea water rushing inland. Water levels in the Great Lakes have dropped significantly. Similar reports are reaching us from Northern Mexico.

The state of the State of Hawai'i is unknown as yet. Some non-state territories like Puerto Rico and Guam remain in radio contact, though telephone services are interrupted.

NAV Canada confirms on request that multiple long-range aircraft with US destinations have diverted to airfields in Canada. Reports of distress calls from regional airliners with insufficient fuel to reach populated areas remain unconfirmed, although the RCAF has announced a press conference on the matter later this afternoon.

Meanwhile, Senator Ted Cruz of what used to be Texas has declared himself the highest-ranking survivor in the political line of succession, and has formed a temporary government-in-exile based in Cancún. US Overseas military bases have been observed to be on high alert.

An urgent plenary debate in the United Nations will be scheduled once the nations of the world have appointed a new batch of ambassadors and agreed on a venue.

THIS STORY WILL BE UPDATED AS EVENTS DEVELOP