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Storm Chasing and Media Coverage Ethics


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I had a bad feeling yesterday when I, thinking I was being quite cautious due to others more reluctant in the vehicle, suddenly realized we were in imminent danger and had to flee... and then saw that 90% of SN icons were to our north. I just hoped it wouldn't come to this, and that the injuries/vehicle damage were the extent of it. Terrible.

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i know this is going to sound like a corny and over-thought after-statement to all of this. but here's a financial/actuarial question.

 

if you're a life or auto insurance agent and you see one of your company's clients participate in storm chasing, particularly after this weekend, do you consider upping the risk category for that person's insurance policy a couple of notches thereby increasing their rates, just because they are a storm chaser? would you as an insurance company maybe consider instead of raising rates putting a specific rider in the policy saying that any costs due to injury, death, or damages caused while tornado chasing would be non-payable by the policy? what about even the policies saying if you're tornado chasing the policy could be considered null and void? and if it wasn't for Obamacare, could it be considered a "pre-existing condition" or worthy of being in a "high-risk pool"?

 

debate.

This is what I've been wondering myself... Would Sullivan's insurance agency cover the damage from yesterday?

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

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Oh god, Tim always seems to be one of the guys far back from the storm, too.This is terrible!

If it can happen to him it can happen to anyone but I wouldn't say that since he places probes etc.
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If it can happen to him it can happen to anyone but I wouldn't say that since he places probes etc.

 

Agreed. This is just so awful. The reality is that they had to take major risks akin to what the so-called "thrill-seekers" do. But Tim was never about the attention or building an ego. He got amazing video and enjoyed the raw chasing experience, while also collecting great data, a rare combination. Just ugh.

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Agreed. This is just so awful. The reality is that they had to take major risks akin to what the so-called "thrill-seekers" do. But Tim was never about the attention or building an ego. He got amazing video and enjoyed the raw chasing experience, while also collecting great data, a rare combination. Just ugh.

Exactly. He's a class act who is out for the science and love of the storm. Don't even want to use past tense. Had a really bad feeling yesterday.
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This reminds me of this video and how I thought it was only a matter of time, but this is by no means how I thought it would happen or who it would happen to. I thought it would be from someone who made a decision like the following...

 

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I remember watching the show where he placed the disk in front of that approaching tornado. It passed right over the disk in less than a minute of it being put down. Tim was always about safety first on the show and something had to have gone wrong for him to be caught in the tornado.

 

Terrible loss for the scientific community. What a tragedy for him and his family.

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Completely shocked and saddened by the news this morning. Tim was always my favorite on Storm Chasers as he wasn't in in for the glory but for the science. It's a shame this happened to him, even more that it had to happen at all. :(

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Sad that this outbreak that we have followed for weeks has hit so close to home within the storm chase community with the loss of Tim Samaras. His efforts to learn the ‘science’ behind this destructive force of nature will long be remembered.

 

 

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Dam that is horrible news to wake up to especially given the last sentence to my post last night prior to having any such knowledge. I never personally met Tim but he was an absolute legend and cream of the crop in the storm chasing world. A huge loss and condolences to his friends and most especially wife and family as to Carl's too. :(

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I think we can all agree that this was only a matter of time before what happen to the chasers and the Weather Channel Crew. 

I think the chasers for the most part do a great job but take too many chances. Just Wednesday night while teaching a

basic Skywarn class I commented to the class it is not a great idea too chase tornado's especially if you have no idea what

your doing, To all the chasers out there be careful and don't take chances that may kill you it is not worth it.  

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Posted on Tim's Facebook page this morning

Hello everyone,

I'm Jim Samaras - Tim Samaras's brother. Thank you to everyone for the condolences. It truly is sad that we lost my great brother Tim and his great son, Paul. Our hearts also go out to the Carl Young family as well as they are feeling the same feelings we are today. They all unfortunately passed away but doing what they LOVED. Chasing Tornado's. I look at it that he is in the 'big tornado in the sky...' We (the family) will keep folks aware of what the funeral estrangements are, but please in the meantime keep Tim and Paul in your thoughts and prayers.

Jim

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As had been said previously, was only a matter of time before something like this happened, and you had a combination of factors which came together today: Rain-wrapped tornadoes changing direction in a urban-suburban area with too many people too close to the storm. AFAIK all the chasers hit were northeast of the El Reno storm S of I-40 when the storm changed directions from East to NE prior to cycling. Maybe that's why Bettes thought he could drive on? The cell had just turned so the turn wasn't evident on radar yet and thought any motion observed from the vehicle was illusionary. From a technical point of view what happened is they were on I-40 initially drove south to intercept and got cut off leaving themselves in a bad location between the tornado and rain core of the supercell. From a practical POV was just not a safe chasing environment.

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