Air Power: There's just no ace like Johnny Rowlands flying tornado air cover, er 'coverage.'
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Tornado warnings hit several Kansas counties on Saturday as severe weather moved through the area.Johnny Rowlands in Newschopper 9 captured live pictures of a tornado appearing to touch down north of Linwood. The Kansas City area remains in a severe thunderstorm watch until 10 p.m."It does look like it's beginning to lose some of its intensity," KMBC meteorologist Erin Little said.Earlier in the evening, sirens sounded at the Kansas Speedway, where the truck race was stopped. (Photos and above copy from 9's website)
Tornado Damage Near Bonner Springs"Team Coverage" isn't always just a slogan.
Like a well-oiled and practiced machine, Channel 9 is all over it, as the tornado is born, dropped out of the sky as only a suspicious churning cloud, then became the real monster as ground debris proves its more than a mean cloud. As an official tornado, 9's copter-cam now revealed in our living rooms. What must it cost KMBZ for that camera steadying system in the belly of their NewsChopper? We're fascinated as the nearly invisible twister meanders towards the Kansas Speedway filled with race fans. It luckily missed. But it was still headed toward Parkville and Kansas City north's teeming split-level neighborhoods.
This daily 'traffic copter ace' brought the first news coverage from the air of farm damage along I-70. Nine's excellent anchor Bryan Busby tossed to Rowlands frequently because-- as in past storms--
Rowlands manages to deftly jockey his helicopter as close as he dares, find the tornado, show it live and do play-by-play until it disappears into the clouds. He's done it before. He's an ACE! This warrior should have tiny tornadoes painted in a row on the side of his storm-bird to show his past conquests!Fox4 got its own aerial shots, to its credit, and made that fact the lead sentence of its own website too. "LEAVENWORTH COUNTY, KAN. - SKYFOX captured video of one of the tornadoes that hit the Kansas City metro area Saturday evening." Nine didn't get an exclusive for once!
As I watched both stations on my two TV's, this news junkie wondered if the pilots were safely keeping an eye on each others' copters as they watched, dodged, and live-shot this twister. Most certainly they were, for TV 'copter flying is always slightly risky. They want to SHOW the news, not BE the news-- as has happened tragically once or twice, elsewhere. Now you know what these traffic jockey 'top guns' do for a living, and so you'll respect them even more!
Sigh. Here's Four's links from tonight:
"Let's get in the ditch, let's get in the ditch!"
As Rowlands broadcast live video from the air, 9's reporter Marcus Moore and veteran news photographer John Woods were on the ground driving to intercept the tornado near the Speedway. Hoping to get video in their Beta-cam.
Moore & Woods found it all right. They taped awesome ground-perspective video of it, and had to race once to safety when it just got too close. After the panic part, they managed to interview (and even help) a shaken turnpike driver and daughter with toddler who stopped to take cover in a roadside ditch as the twister paralleled I-70.Incredible television - but radio was missing in action!
9's people were even willing to show their own frightened reactions as events unfolded later on 9's News at Ten. Yes, young Moore was willing to reveal he was a bit more rattled than Woods who was a calmer and more seasoned newsman. (It's an industry secret that seasoned, older photographers tend to be more calm during the shit, than younger but less-experienced reporters who get all the public recognition.)
The other stations waged weather war with their studio animation systems, excellent anchoring, outside calls as if they were doing radio, and after-the-fact storm chasing video reporting like any other spot-news story.
And local radio didn't suit up for the weather wars at all. Virtually no one broadcasts live on their automated weekends. Starved radio--now owned by dollar stockholders, is now just muzak with local weather people doing morning show phoners for extra money. So if you were in your car.. well better keep your eyes and turn off your radio so you can hear distant sirens. Radio won't be there to tell you about it.
No matter which TV stations, KC weather people are all very good at studio storm play-by-play, including 9's seasoned Brian Busby, 41's Gary Lezak and Joe Lauria, 4's Mike Thompson, and 5's Katie Horner. Each has learned how to call the shots even as they front on-camera, jockey the radar and animation systems with a hand-held controller, handle off camera people updating them in their ear-piece, and manage to make sense to the viewers the whole time!
No aerial video on KCTV5, which most surely didn't please 5's anchor, Katie in Bluejeans-- even though she does live coverage very well without helicopter air support. Other than automated weather service releases, KCTV's website had no video or mention of tonight's weather. I think Katie's simply too good not to have Meredith Corporation's Live & LateBreaking commitment to support her with staff and admittedly expensive, high tech toys. What's up with that? How can a TV station today not have a helicopter contract for nights like this?
While it's true that anchors are critical to ratings, do they really think Katie can win the Weather Wars just on her pleasing play-by-play? And yes, as an Arbitron people-meter holder, I'm quick to tell ya that we ARE in Spring ratings and all stations should be at their best!
I did note that other stations did a bit better than 9 at one critical point by telling the KCK/Northland people where the storm was tracking, as 9 was preoccupied with showing its exclusive damage video. That ten minutes around 7pm when the twister disappeared from cameras was the only mar of otherwise perfect coverage. That''s a hard call... show damage because its great video, or focus on the worries of viewers still in the path of the current weather cell.
In any case, 9's was just great TV and no one can touch KC television in weather coverage. And as someone whose house was in the path of the storm pattern, I was watching closely, happy with my Google maps and two teevees, and ready for us and our pet beagles to get to the safest place in our house! Glad it was daylight, loved watching it all on my high def monitor. I watched it like back when I PERSONALLY was in news... watching every station at once! I can surf with the best of em!
Brings back memories of when I got to chase those things 25 years ago around Wichita and yup, a close-up-and-personal tornado can nearly make the most crusty reporter lose bladder control! One only need watch the movie "Twister" to get what all veteran TV reporters already know. Why? Because many TV reporters storm-chase for that once-in-a lifetime video capture! Tonight, Marcus and John got it-- wonder if they got endorphin rushes?
There are some days when nothing's better than being in TV news and in the path of a great news story, right Marcus and John? Ya grind out a hundred ghetto crime-time-filler stories a year. And ya wait for a day like this one! To top it off, your station ends up owning the night. Exhale!
Bet you slept well this night. You kicked butt. You'll remember it-- and recount it to others -- for the rest of your lives!
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