Patcnews Oct 2, 2016 Reports The Weather Channel And National Weather Center Hurricane Update
Florida Gov. Rick Scott had some emergency preparedness information for residents of his state: Watch The Weather Channel as hurricane Matthew barrels. potentially, toward the Florida coast as a category 4 storm with winds of 140 mph.
Admittedly Scott was being interviewed on The Weather Channel at the time, but he said that the most important thing Florida residents can do is follow the local news, and he called out the channel at least three times as a go-to source.
"Follow The Weather Channel. Listen to The Weather Channel. When you do, you will be informed," Scott said at one point when asked what residents should do.
Scott has also been coordinating with telecommunications companies and urging them to work together if the storm hits the Florida coast, or even further inland as the European model suggests.
Super Typhoon Chaba has left at least 4 dead and 3 missing in South Korea.
More than 210,000 residences were left without power.
More than 120 flights had to be grounded due to the storm.
At least four people have died and three remain missing after the powerful Typhoon Chaba battered South Korea"s southern parts withheavy rain and high winds.
The deaths occurred in the country"s cities of Busan and Ulsan.
In Busan, a worker was killed when a tower crane at a construction site collapsed on a nearby container, The Korea Times reports. In a different part of the city, a woman died after she was swept from the second floor of her house by strong winds. A third death occurred after a man was swept away by waves while examining secured vessels at a seawall.
In Ulsan, a person died after being swept away by flood waters at the entrance of an apartment building, The Korea Times also reports. A rescue worker went missing during rescue operations in the city, and another man presumed to be a sailor went missing on Jeju Island after falling into the sea from a moored vessel.
(MORE:Track Super Typhoon Chaba)
The storm disrupted work at Hyundai Motor"s two factories in Ulsan, forcing the company to suspend operations due to an "inflow of water," Reuters reports. Work was also suspended at some shipyards along the south coast.
Venues for the Busan International Film Festival were destroyed after the storm tore down walls of makeshift facilities, Yonhap News Agency reports.
More than 120 flights had to be grounded due to the storm and more than 210,000 households were left without power, according to The Korea Herald. The high-speed KTX trains were temporarily suspended during the power outage. More than 1,400 cars were reported as being either waterlogged or damaged by debris.
On Jeju Island, police received reports that eight vessels had sank, three were capsized and two were adrift, The Korea Times reports.
The storm hammered Japan"s Okinawa prefecture with gusting winds Monday, leaving thousands without power and downed trees.
According to the Okinawa Times, the "most intense typhoon to hit parts of Okinawa on record" prompted the evacuation of more than 800 people.
Chaba intensified into a super typhoon Mondayand hit KumeIsland, one of Okinawa"s smaller islands, with winds up to 134 mph.
Windows were shattered, trees were uprooted and utility poles were left damaged by the winds, NHK reports. There were no reports of casualties.
Prior to the storm hitting, the sky over Okinawa turned a deep pink. Residents took to social media to share photos and videos.
The storm also forced the closure of Okinawa"s main Naha airport, according to its website.
The typhoon prompted the country"s two largest airlines, All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines, tocancel a combined 125 domestic flights, according to the Straits Times.
MORE ON WEATHER.COM: Hurricane Matthew - October 2016
When it comes to exactly why the Weather Channel exists, know this: It doesnt for a benign sunny day in June or a crisp autumn evening. It isnt on your dial because of April showers or May flowers or for a few flurries Christmas night.
The Weather Channel exists for whatever that ominous blob is Im seeing on my phone right now. Said bloba huge noreasteris being described this way on my Weather Channel app via the following headline:
Winter Storm Juno: Blizzard Warnings for New York City, Boston, Parts of 7 States for Potentially Historic Northeast SnowstormYikes! Needless to say, my afternoon has consisted of filling the Honda generator with gas, cleaning out the cooler and bringing in ample wood for the fireplace in case we lose power here in Jersey. I also headed over to the local ShopRite to stock up on food, and lets just say fear is in the air (30-minute wait despite 15 registers open). In the old single days living in Hoboken, storms like this meant heading to the closest bar (with a generator), getting overserved and laughing off the storm. Married with wife and baby me, however, needs to prepare the fort instead. Good times!
Part of that preparation includes turning on The Weather Channel and watching for the next 72 hours straight regardless of repetition. Theres something about a huge stormparticularly those carrying the white stuffthat makes watching TWC must-see-TV in these situations. For whatever reason, the whole event, particularly the anticipation leading up to it, feels more important, a bigger deal.
So excuse me for a moment as I ask the following question to Weather Channel President David Clark and defacto President Jim Cantore: What the h**l are you guys doing over there? Because when I turned on the Weather Channel late this morning after seeing the aforementioned ominous headline aboveyou knowthe one about a Potentially Historic Northeast BlizzardI kinda expected to not see taped programming aboutplane crashes. And as of 5:00 PM, it still all about planes and not low pressure systems. Seriouslyis anyone outside of a tape operator working today? How can you not be live right now? I know the storm isnt coming until tomorrowbut you cant write the following on your website and not have like-live-programming to accompany it (bold is included in the original advisory):
Now is the time to prepare and make sure you have the supplies you need for this potentially historic winter storm. Do not proceed with any travel plans in the affected areas late Monday and Tuesday or you could put yourself in great danger.
UhOK. Can you maybeI dont knowcall a production crew and anchor in to expand on this on television a bit further? Because if I ran a network whose existence, its ratings, its entire mantra is based on preparing for storms like this, Id probably be on a phone right now. To that end, heres what Mr. Cantore said during a dispute with DirecTV last year:
I feel its just irresponsible for DIRECTV to drop The Weather Channel and deny their viewers access to critical and potentially life-saving information in times of severe weather. I think its a dangerous gamble to put lives at risk for a penny.
That dispute was settled (TWC got less than that penny) but Cantore and the network havent learned its lesson. Its ratings continue to drop because it thinks running taped programming leading up to historic weather events is somehow a good idea. MSNBC apparently thinks the same thing, as it is offering up Caught on Camera (tape), while Fox and CNN are providing regular updates on the storm.
A missed opportunity for ratings. A missed opportunity to grab some viewers to help save a sinking ship. The Weather Channel website is telling us to prepare for the next storm of the century.
The Weather Channel itself? Apparently saving its resources for a rainy day.
UPDATE 7:19pm: The Weather Channel is now broadcasting live with coverage of the blizzard starting at 7:00 PMafter being in tape for seven hours with Why Planes Crash.
