Gotta Watch: Hurricane-ravaged reporters
Hurricane Irene churns toward the east coast and is sure to create some memorable reporting moments.
August 26th, 2011
11:48 AM ET

Gotta Watch: Hurricane-ravaged reporters

Hurricane coverage generally means plenty of reporters in the rain.  They tell you to steer clear of the storm and seek shelter when they're planning to do the exact opposite. It seems odd, right? All this hurricane talk reminded us of other memorable weather moments. You've gotta watch these correspondents tackle fierce winds, heavy rain and flying debris. And don't worry, it's OK to laugh. We won't judge you.

Get back! It's coming apart! – It's like the quintessential scene of a TV reporter covering a hurricane until a large hotel sign comes flying toward CNN's Anderson Cooper and John Zarrella. Things go from not-so quaint to downright scary. Even Zarrella admitted he'd never seen anything like it before, and you could hear the tension in his voice.
[cnn-video url="http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/weather/2011/08/26/vault.cooper.sign.falls.cnn"%5D

Weather woes – If there's one thing you learn from how news networks cover hurricanes it should be this: In the battle of storm versus reporter, the storm ALWAYS wins. Bonus: Sometimes we drag everyday people into the madness and they get soaked, too.
[cnn-video url="http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/weather/2011/08/26/vault.moos.weather.reporters.cnn"%5D

I stand alone – For almost a minute, Gary Tuchman battled Hurricane Dolly's furious winds while trying to report. At times he almost seemed parallel to the ground as he struggled to keep his footing. All the while the storm just kept pushing him back.
[cnn-video url="http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/weather/2011/08/26/vault.tuchman.hurricane.dolly.cnn"%5D

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Filed under: Environment • Flooding • Gotta Watch • Hurricanes • Media • Natural Disasters • Nature • Tropical weather • TV • Weather
soundoff (42 Responses)
  1. Bob

    I have never understood the thinking of a reporter standing in the wind and rain of a hurricane. We all know what mother naturre can throw at us in the form of wind and rain. Growing up along the Gulf Coast, I witnessed a nail going straight through a mans hand. This could easlier be a peice of wood or glass. Please shoot the wind wipping the trees from a safe indoor area. We understand that 100 plus wind can be dangerous and can kill.

    August 26, 2011 at 3:27 pm | Report abuse |
    • Californian

      Yeah, imagine what it was like to be that poor guy holding onto Al Roker's leg. My guess is it was the intern.

      August 26, 2011 at 4:09 pm | Report abuse |
  2. RodRoderick

    This article blows...

    August 26, 2011 at 3:32 pm | Report abuse |
  3. Draxta

    who was the idiot reporter on cnn this morning that was talking to a family on some boardwalk in NC? The arrogant fool had the nerve to tell the family to pack up and leave while he stood around. Just plain stupid.

    August 26, 2011 at 3:37 pm | Report abuse |
  4. Californian

    That Zarella and Cooper report could so easily be a Saturday Night Live piece. I was in Nebraska once when a tornado came through. The huge, metal sign for the hotel I was staying in blew down. I was inside, safe and warm. End of report.

    August 26, 2011 at 4:02 pm | Report abuse |
  5. baily

    this is cool

    August 26, 2011 at 4:26 pm | Report abuse |
  6. Curtis

    I'm more amazed that Cooper's hair doesn't move a centimeter the entire storm

    August 26, 2011 at 4:40 pm | Report abuse |
    • morons

      Now that is good hair gel!

      August 26, 2011 at 5:27 pm | Report abuse |
  7. TJ

    The Weather Channel is nothing more than a Saturday Night Movie.

    August 26, 2011 at 5:06 pm | Report abuse |
  8. morons

    I'll never understand why the reporters think their report will be more believable if they stand out in it vs. just reporting on what is happening. At 5:30pm ET on the Outer Banks – absolutely NOTHING is happening yet contrary to what the news and the Weather Channel want you to be scared of. Just stupidity at it's best.

    August 26, 2011 at 5:27 pm | Report abuse |
    • Lin

      You said it. Every time I see these guys standing out in a hurricane reminds me of Dan Rather back in the late 90s, when he was bound and determined to be one of the cool guys who broadcast from the middle of a hurricane. Problem was, the storm kept shifting where it would make landfall, and he spent two or three days chasing it from place to place until he finally managed to get a little wet and have mussed hair. By then, the storm had mostly fizzled out.

      August 26, 2011 at 6:08 pm | Report abuse |
  9. gung hoe

    I have always just loved to watch the weather channel They are perfect examples of what this article is about Every bad storm they have multiple reporters staitioned around One of them is bound to be in the wrong place at the right time

    August 26, 2011 at 5:41 pm | Report abuse |
  10. mary

    Is there anything more ridiculous than these news people standing in the storms reporting on how dangerous they are?
    If the point is , that people should evacuate cause they are so dangerous, then how does a news reporter standing in the middle of one make that point?
    No wonder people don't leave..AS many do go.. Then news people come in, and then stand in them, and report live on how bad they are...
    Does anyone else see the connection here? Does anyone else see how the news people telling them to leave might be part of causing many to do just the opposite?

    August 26, 2011 at 6:46 pm | Report abuse |
  11. NicNic

    I believe Reporters believe they are out there to risk life and limb to get the story up close and person for the rest of us public. The people walking on the Boardwalk should not have been out there. But I believe also that Reporters should "pull back the forward area" about every so often to stay safe, unless he thinks he's on Survivor show or something??? Then we wouldn't be writing about dumb reporters in the hurricane!

    August 26, 2011 at 6:57 pm | Report abuse |
  12. Arran Webb

    I want journalists to use themselves in drug testing trials. Tell us about the side effects and things like that.

    August 26, 2011 at 7:14 pm | Report abuse |
  13. AzHitman

    We need that geraldo rivera guy faking that he's in the epicenter of a hurricane again

    August 26, 2011 at 7:55 pm | Report abuse |
  14. Teri Wadding

    Hey, it gets them out of the office.
    And usually storms are not life threating.
    who wouldn't be willing?

    August 26, 2011 at 8:37 pm | Report abuse |
  15. Leonid Brezhnev

    They are all a** clowns.

    August 26, 2011 at 9:10 pm | Report abuse |
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