# Folks, it's only a matter of time before...... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 19, 2013, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-its-only-a-matter-of-time-before/658762 "2013-05-19T21:30:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2013, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-its-only-a-matter-of-time-before/658762/1 "2013-05-19T21:30:20Z")
…a reporter who’s chasing a tornado or reporting on a hurricane is killed live on the air. This almost happened to Anderson Cooper a couple years ago. I’ve wondered this for quite a while, and the Weather Channel’s storm chasers with Jim Cantore almost got hit by a tornado that formed as they broadcasted live, just outside Oklahoma City. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2013, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-its-only-a-matter-of-time-before/658762/2 "2013-05-19T21:47:51Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > …a reporter who’s chasing a tornado or reporting on a hurricane is killed live on the air. That’d be _soooo_ cool. I’d watch it! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2013, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-its-only-a-matter-of-time-before/658762/3 "2013-05-19T21:50:37Z")
If you live by the storm, you die by the storm. ---
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Alex](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atomic_alex/32/175_2.png) [@Atomic\_Alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Alex)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2013, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-its-only-a-matter-of-time-before/658762/4 "2013-05-19T22:07:00Z")
> [@sahirrnee](#): > > If you live by the storm, you die by the storm. True but you can just predict the shock, horror and outrage when it actually happens. Its like people who watch live police car-chases on TV then get upset when someone crashes and is killed. ---
**Author:** ![stoplight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@stoplight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stoplight)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2013, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-its-only-a-matter-of-time-before/658762/5 "2013-05-19T22:24:53Z")
suicide by tornado? Darwin’s handy work. I would watch ---
**Author:** ![Zyanthia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Zyanthia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyanthia)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2013, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-its-only-a-matter-of-time-before/658762/6 "2013-05-19T22:26:53Z")
I thought “Live” was still on a 10 or 15 second delay just to protect them from these things. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-its-only-a-matter-of-time-before/658762/7 "2013-05-20T01:03:43Z")
I vote roving reporter Kermit The Frog. With the flailing arms it should be quite comical. ---
**Author:** ![kurtisokc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kurtisokc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kurtisokc)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-its-only-a-matter-of-time-before/658762/8 "2013-05-20T03:21:32Z")
Funny thing, I was just thinking that same thing this afternoon while watching storm coverage on TV. I live in an area that is prone to sever weather and we had a major tornado outbreak today. All afternoon, it was nonstop reports from storm chasers on the ground and in helicopers in the air, and it seems like every TV station has multiple chasers. I think its just a matter of time before something like that happens. ---
**Author:** ![cougar58](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@cougar58](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cougar58)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-its-only-a-matter-of-time-before/658762/9 "2013-05-20T04:56:03Z")
> [@Zyanthia](#): > > I thought “Live” was still on a 10 or 15 second delay just to protect them from these things. I think that is only for police chases and hostage stand offs. I will never forget the one, they were chasing a guy at night, helicopter had night vision, cops were chasing him now on foot, and the guy blew his own brains out. It was an amazing sight to see his warm brain particles scatter across someone’s backyard, viewed as bright white matter on the FLIR camera. If it was daytime, you’d never know how far gray matter scatters when pumped point blank with a .44 hollow point ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-its-only-a-matter-of-time-before/658762/10 "2013-05-20T05:55:25Z")
It’s generally the news photographers, not the talent, that are sent into harm’s way to storm chase. You don’t see their faces so you don’t think about them. But they’re the ones (mostly) taking the risks and doing the majority of the tough work. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-its-only-a-matter-of-time-before/658762/11 "2013-05-20T13:39:13Z")
Well, it seems to be a trend in TV news in general that every story has to be reported live, on the scene, no matter how trivial. Weather reporting is just one (obviously more dangerous) aspect of this. I remember a few years ago one of the local stations had a reporter and cameraman out in severe weather, and they had to park their van on the side of the highway and run for cover in a ditch - with the camera rolling the whole time. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-its-only-a-matter-of-time-before/658762/12 "2013-05-20T13:43:22Z")
I hope it never happens, but if it does…I hope the reporter keeps reporting while being sucked into the air. Maybe give a first-hand account to the survivors, as it were. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-its-only-a-matter-of-time-before/658762/13 "2013-05-20T13:45:00Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > …a reporter who’s chasing a tornado or reporting on a hurricane is killed live on the air. > > This almost happened to Anderson Cooper a couple years ago. > > I’ve wondered this for quite a while, and the Weather Channel’s storm chasers with Jim Cantore almost got hit by a tornado that formed as they broadcasted live, just outside Oklahoma City. Will this happen sooner - or will the advent of cheap, ubiquitous filming (e.g., Google Glass in the near future) - what other random tragedies will we witness? We already have traffic stop clips showing police and/or civilians (mostly civilians) doing things they shouldn’t. So - will it be a reporter, or will it be a random storm person who happens to have their personal camera on. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-its-only-a-matter-of-time-before/658762/14 "2013-05-20T15:27:01Z")
And I’m sure when it happens they will be deemed a ‘hero’. Because they died reporting about dangerous weather in order to inform and protect the public:rolleyes:. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-its-only-a-matter-of-time-before/658762/15 "2013-05-20T16:14:38Z")
Moving from IMHO to MPSIMS. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-its-only-a-matter-of-time-before/658762/16 "2013-05-20T17:13:14Z")
While nobody predicted this at all, I think all that footage from the Chelyabinsk meteor that landed a few months ago is quite interesting. PBS did a show about it a few weeks later, and said that if the meteor had come in at a slightly steeper angle, it would have taken out the city; think Tunguska v.2.0 instead. :eek: When the footage was originally aired, I also wondered how many of those words really needed to be bleeped, and PBS addressed it. It was a hoot to hear bleeps in dialogue I didn’t understand. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-its-only-a-matter-of-time-before/658762/17 "2013-05-20T18:06:23Z")
My favorite is when a hurricane is about to make landfall, and they send out the reporters to film stories in 70+ mph winds. Standing on the seashore. With the waves washing over their feet. I’m waiting for the day when one of these morons gets washed out to sea, never to be seen again. Or, they can’t get out fast enough, and the entire news crew drowns when flood waters swamp the news van. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-its-only-a-matter-of-time-before/658762/18 "2013-05-20T18:39:58Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > I vote roving reporter Kermit The Frog. With the flailing arms it should be quite comical. He’s already been in a few [extreme](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCMuuXsTe5E) [weather](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TemExNuY2Q) [situations](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IRq972FtiQ). And it _was_ comical! ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-its-only-a-matter-of-time-before/658762/19 "2013-05-21T00:33:50Z")
I believe one of Dave Barry’s novels features a storm with 4 casualties, every one of them a TV reporter out to cover it up close and personal. Major news on the networks, but nobody else cares. ---
**Author:** ![liirogue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dbc845/32.png) [@liirogue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/liirogue)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-its-only-a-matter-of-time-before/658762/20 "2013-05-21T01:40:01Z")
I can’t speak for hurricanes, but the tornado chasers are often providing badly-needed info on where exactly the tornado is located and where it’s headed. You can’t always tell by radar alone if there is an actual tornado or if it’s on the ground. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folks-its-only-a-matter-of-time-before/658762.md?page=2)