Another Black Eye For Chasers?

[David Mikulec]

Thanks for the reminder Mike. It's quite obvious that chaser safety and behavior on the road has been an issue for some time and even predates the "Twister" phenomena. Certainly can't blame the movie in this case. Or amateur radio antennas. And though I don't know the details in the case you've mentioned here, it must have been an urgent matter for TX authorities to make an issue of it.

 

[Stan Rose]

Jesse is absolutely correct, the real headache will be zero tolerance enforcement. And, something we ought to consider is the fact that warnings and weather information are only going to get more advanced and specific with each coming year. I can already go online and see where 1000 spotters are in real time. I can forsee a time when law enforcement will have enough lead time to simply close off an entire road, before the storm hits. That would put a real damper on this hobby!

 

[Zack Borst]

I think there is tension building between the hobbyists, the media/photo/filmers, and the growing public safety chasers (not necessarily skywarn). I believe local, state, and federal agencies are going to have their own "professional" chasers. I quote that because I don't mean chasers don't act professional but they will be employed by a government agency. It is a logical step with the increase in the need and awareness for such a move. Katrina and other natural disasters are putting a lot more pressure to develop such programs. Who knows, it could go by the wayside once everything quiets down again.

 

[rdale]

How is Katrina making a push for government sponsored chasers? I don't think I understand the connection - did Katrina cause massive chaser convergence? I don't believe you can say a hurricane requires spotters...

 

[Zack Borst]

No, I am just using one of the larger weather events, that was probably the worst example I could have picked. I am not saying government is going to be sponsoring anyone. I am saying FEMA, state, and local agencies are beginning to see how having their own trained people will cut the middle man out of the mix. Right now it goes, spotter, NOAA, then the agency has to find out how to get that information although emergency management usually has at least limited access it is still not efficient. It makes a lot of sense logically. If you can get direct information from someone who is on the agency you don't have to worry about the reliability of the information and ensures someone is out there. Every major event weather its a hurricane, tornado outbreak, or snowstorm it make a lot of sense to have trained agency personnel to be able to be available. We have had multiple situations on the fire department I am on where we had a HAZMAT spill and it was completely clear out but a trained and equipped spotter would have been worth their weight in gold so we could have access to local realtime weather info. We basically relied on someone staying at the computer and checking the noaa website. The data is collected from a location 25 miles away! Anyways, I think i kind of hijacked the thread so I am not going to get more into this, maybe I will start a new thread.

 

[Wayne Hlinicky]

Here in Oklahoma our lawmakers tried a couple of years ago to outlaw storm chasing. It failed in the House big time. Then they (lawmakers) tried to make everyone who chased storms become certified according to our lawmakers way of thinking. RUMOR has it Jason Murphey may make an attempt to get some sort of legislation on this issue. Like every bill he has introduced in the House they all failed.

Like one of the other people on here wrote, "Everything I like to do, someone has to get legislation against it", or words to that effect. He is right, everytime some hard working person comes up with a new idea, or a way of enjoying themselves here comes the government with their hand out TAKING a chunk of your pie. I can go on and on but I am going to run for the Oklahoma State House of Representatives next year. I will do everything I can to stop any form of legislation against stormchasers here in Oklahoma Now that is in writing.
One way to stop all this legislation and other under the table dealings from our elected officials is to vote them out of office next elections. Let them know if they are not interested in what is right for the people then your out next election. It works. I did it here where I live. I told the person that if he did not do what we the people wanted he was out and I waged a campaign against him with proof and he is out. But you do have the power to change the government Damit just vote them out.

 

[Darin Brunin]

Here is an interesting article that I came across. I am not sure if other states have laws like this, but I could see it happening to storm chasers who leave their video cameras running if they ever get pulled over while chasing. I'll also add that it's pretty ridiculous that this guy was arrested for filming the police officer in a public place while being pulled over.

http://www.informationliberation.com/index.php?id=22471

I just saw that Skip started a thread for it already right after I posted.....
http://stormtrack.org/forum/showthread.php?t=12890

 

[Shane Adams]

I just replied to this in the Bar & Grill section, but it can't be said enough: LAME.

Try and prove in a court of law I didn't just have it going before you pulled me over. I've come to realize there are two kinds of cops: Those that like chasers and those that don't, and the latter group have their heads made up before they ever encounter a chaser. All we can do is hope when you have a run-in, it's a friendly one. I've had one encounter with a not-so-friendly one and it was all I could do to bite my tongue....I fear my mouth and my severe allergic reaction to bullsh#t will one day get me in trouble with an abusive cop. Oh well.

 

[Joey Ketcham]

Well shortly after that story came out in the Hays Daily News, I wrote a letter to the guy who wrote the article basically saying that we're not a bad group of people and that we do alot of good. I guess they posted it as a Letter to the Editor and today I got this email regarding it:

name: Jim Keith
email: censored
Comment: ATN; JOEY KETCHAM
REFERENCE YOUR LETTER TO THE HAYS DAILY NEWS 060402. I\'VE BEEN A DISPATCHER FOR 30 YEARS AT THE GRAHAM CO SHERIFF\'S OFFICE IN HILL CITY,KS. AFTER READING YOUR LETTER I HAVE NEVER READ SUCH A BUNCH OF S--T. ALL YOU THRILL SEEKERS DO IS HINDER THE WORK OF OUR TRAINED SPOTTERS, TIE UP OUR 911 LINES WITH YOUR CALLS FOR HELP AND FALSE REPORTS. TAKE THE NIGHT OF 052207 WE HAD OVER 100 STORM CHASERS BETWEEN WAKEENEY AND HILL CITY ON US 283 BLOCKING ROADS AND MAKING IT DIFFICULT TO GET BY THEM, WE HAD TROOPERS, AND SHERIFF OFFICERS TRYING TO DIRECT TRAFFIC TO AVOID ACCIDENTS INSTEAD OF STORM SPOTTING. AFTER THE STORM WENT BY US THERE WERE 5 CHASERS STUCK ON COUNTY ROADS CALLING 911 FOR HELP TO GET OUT. THE WRECKERS WERE CHARGING $100 CASH TO PULL THESE THRILL SEEKES OUT.
STAY HOME AND WATCH WHERE ITS SAFE AND YOUR NOT
A PROBLEM. WE DON\'T NEED YOUIRV HELP!
Submit: Submit

 

[Joey Ketcham]

The only thing in Jim's email that I do agree with is his concerns about storm chasers who get stuck and as a result they tie up 911 trying to get help.

 

[Shane Adams]

The more ignorance I see like that letter, the more I wonder just how many out there share that sentiment. It's actually shocking to read that, to see all of us being lumped into a huge group. God I'd kill for the opportunity to be at a spotter class when someone like this guy pipes up. It would be an enlightening evening.

I would tear into him about chasers screwing up trained spotters but it's not fair. Spotters are only guilty of inexperience, which we all were once. It wouldn't be worth risking offending spotters to argue with this guy about how wrong that statement is.

FWIW, I didn't see a single cop or wrecker anywhere on backroads on May 22....and I have no idea what the huge emergency was we were all hampering. Just a perty lil tornado in the middle of nowhere, well-covered. I gotta start letting this stuff go....there's just some people in the world you can't fix.

 

[fplowman]

Jesse is absolutely correct, the real headache will be zero tolerance enforcement. And, something we ought to consider is the fact that warnings and weather information are only going to get more advanced and specific with each coming year. I can already go online and see where 1000 spotters are in real time. I can forsee a time when law enforcement will have enough lead time to simply close off an entire road, before the storm hits. That would put a real damper on this hobby!

This is already happening.. They were closing roads as the storm was moving through to keep us out.. I seen this north of Great Bend on May 5th.

 

[John Wetter]

WE HAD OVER 100 STORM CHASERS BETWEEN WAKEENEY AND HILL CITY ON US 283 BLOCKING ROADS AND MAKING IT DIFFICULT TO GET BY THEM, WE HAD TROOPERS, AND SHERIFF OFFICERS TRYING TO DIRECT TRAFFIC TO AVOID ACCIDENTS INSTEAD OF STORM SPOTTING. AFTER THE STORM WENT BY US THERE WERE 5 CHASERS STUCK ON COUNTY ROADS CALLING 911 FOR HELP TO GET OUT. THE WRECKERS WERE CHARGING $100 CASH TO PULL THESE THRILL SEEKES OUT.

Well, I also agree that if people are stuck, it's their problem. If you're stuck, why call 911? Call AAA, or 411 for a local towing co. And if they want $100 cash to do it, well, that's your fault for driving a non-4X4 on a wet clay road or driving poorly.

As far as 283 goes... I thought people were quite well behaved. I was sitting BS'ing with one of this dispatchers cops and he was having a good old time with everyone. He was joking that he wished he could have set up a quick toll road and make some extra money. We were chatting about what the storm was doing and he was real interested in what I had to say. It started hailing and he went on his way...

I also know that there is one county up here where the Skywarn people are all uptight about chasers and one person's opinion has spread some. I really think it's just that they don't 'get it' and there really is nothing we can do for that.

-John

-John

 

[Joey Ketcham]

The more ignorance I see like that letter, the more I wonder just how many out there share that sentiment. It's actually shocking to read that, to see all of us being lumped into a huge group. God I'd kill for the opportunity to be at a spotter class when someone like this guy pipes up. It would be an enlightening evening.

My guess is there is probably more people that shares the same feeling as him than we realize. I cannot imagine how anyone could actually say that we don't contribute or help in any way, shape, or form when in just the last 3 weeks my chase partner and I have had a direct impact on the warning decision process at our local NWS.

I have nothing against storm spotters, there are a lot of good spotters out there... but for the most part these spotters are made up of police, fire, and ems and have very very minimal knowledge about what they're looking at.. and I don't know about where you guys live, but it's scary when I hear some of the crap being reported in my neck of the woods. And I'm sorry... where were these highly trained storm spotters at a few weeks ago at 4:30 in the morning when severe storms passed through my neck of the woods? That's funny, storm spotters are so much better than us but yet there were none to be heard that night... yet me, the non-contributing storm chaser, was out waiting for the storms to pass.

Tim Samaras... do I need to say more? A storm chaser who made history by deploying a probe into a tornado, sometime scienstists have tried for years to do and couldn't.

 

[David Drummond]

Does anyone else besides me think there may be some "turf defending" going on there with that county?

Nice tornado comes through, something some of those spotter probably waited years to see, and all of a sudden everyone and their dog shows up and "ruins" their big chance to use all that training they got on a real tornado.

This would not be the first time I have seen some sort of "turf defense" going on with a spotter group when it came to storm chasers.