Friday, June 1, 2007

Hurricane Stuntmen

Today is the first day of the Atlantic Hurricane Season, which extends into mid November. These will be cherished months for travelling weathermen and exposure-concious reporters as they fan out across the Southeastern and Gulf Coasts, ready to provide eye-witness accounts of these powerful storms. Their patron saint is none other than Dan Rather, who, in the 1960s, launched his career by reporting on a Texas hurricane while lashed to a tree.

Though equipped with high-tech, long-range cameras, these intrepid reporters prefer to stand in the wind and rain, all the while admonishing the locals to evacuate the area. The lucky ones, cloaked in their ponchos and goggles, will bring the full-force of the storm into our homes. Those who choose the wrong location must be content with shots of waving flags and roadside puddles.

Unfortunately, it will probably take a serious, on-air accident or death to bring an end to this folly.