Thursday, March 20, 2008

Storm Surge

My goodness. I get upset about weather coverage in my corner of the world, and I in turn upset a whole bunch of other people. Okay. Well, I expressed my opinion. They have the right to express theirs.

A few bits of housekeeping: Regarding Ryan Vaughn. He has a blog, and you should read it. It's at http://ryansmorningblog.blogspot.com. It tells his side of the story. He is correct in most of it, but a little off in a few things. I have no intention of writing about this for an article in the paper. The blog is a separate thing entirely, one where I freely express my opinion. I'm sorry he thought I would write an article that would negatively portray him, his station, and his weather coverage. Believe it or not, I'm more of a professional than that.

Both of us were upset that night. He was overwhelmingly busy, I was overwhelmingly frustrated. Several things went into my frustration, including that this isn't the first time Mississippi County has gotten the short end of the stick when it comes to severe weather coverage. Ryan could see the storms were diminishing. We couldn't. Our sirens weren't working, and our officers were doing their best to warn our citizens. Our problem. Yes, I know. But we could have used a little help.

I could have expressed myself more rationally to him, stated the problem more clearly. If I had made it more clear that our sirens were down and that law enforcement were the ones spotting the funnel clouds, perhaps we would have had a better conversation.

I trust KAIT's weather coverage. Which is precisely why I wanted to continue watching it. They have saved lives, and will continue to. I just want to be included in that weather coverage, even though I live on the fringes.

4 comments:

MrsRobbieD said...

Exactly my point, Memphis wasn't tryin to scare us. My dad was listening to the scanner and they were talking about rotation and even the Chief was out on patrol as well. They were talking about the lack of sirens working. I heard them do a test on the south end of town today. I live in the county so I rely on the TV, radio or my weather band radio. Last time KHLS dropped the ball in weather coverage, I'm leary of them now also. I think I'll watch for the lights of Blytheville to disappear then head for cover.

Tena said...

Thanks for your support. Quite a few people over on KAIT seem to think I'm a raving lunatic. Perhaps, but it's because I support this community and want our citizens safe.

Anonymous said...

I lived in Blytheville for 18 years and my parents are still there. I'm sorry you feel let down but my family and I have been completely satisfied with the coverage at KAIT. Even IF there were issues on KAIT's side, no one can ever do their job perfectly, especially when it comes to the general public. Thanks for cutting this man some slack! Peace & love

MrsRobbieD said...

I just looked on Kait8 website and they have a video of a "rotating cloud" over Jonesboro and Craighead county from the other night. There are some other things I'd like to say but I've been taught not say something if it wasn't nice. If you know what I mean.