Vince_Condella's Blog

The tropical storm season is in full swing.  As I write this Monday evening (July 21), tropical storm Dolly is out over the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico and is expected to become a minimal hurricane before reaching extreme southern Texas.

This hurricane will bring a lot of rainfall for southern Texas as well as high winds, but maximum sustained gusts will probably not exceed 80mph, keeping Dolly as a Category 1 hurricane.  It will weaken rapidly once it arrives over land.

So the residents of the Gulf coast of Texas are preparing for Dolly while many in the television weather business are preparing to get hammered by stinging raindrops and wicked wind.  Yes, you know the annual ritual.  The Weather Channel and all of the local Texas channels will have their people out in the wind and rain, screaming into the microphone so they can be heard over the roar of the wind.

CNN's Anderson Cooper getting a new hairdo courtesy of live coverage in a hurricane.

One of these days it is bound to happen: a piece of debris, perhaps as large as a chunk of sheet metal, will come flying through the air and hit one of these on-air people during a live report.  They will become seriously injured or maybe killed.  It will be replayed on You Tube and everywhere else, and the media will claim that they won't risk it any longer.

Let's hope this never happens.  But it just might.  How stupid, I think, when I see the TV folks getting blown around.  Sure it makes for great television.  But it truly is an accident waiting to happen.