Posted on 06/05/2013 3:45:55 AM PDT by Colonel Kangaroo
I can’t help but think this event is very much like the crocodile dude, Steve Irwin.
From the very first time I saw him handling animals and getting up close and personal, I thought “This guy is breaking every rule in the book!”
He seemed to be way too carefree and flippant dealing with critters, having more faith in his own knowledge and experience than belief that the animal could lash out way faster then he could respond.
He never should have been diving that close to the bottom in an area that was infested with the deadly rays.
He should have known better.
Dunno, but it seems like there are now so many storm chasers on these back roads that they have become a danger to themselves and locals because of the congestion and traffic jams they’re causing during tornados.
Whether it’s tornadoes or dangerous animals, it’s just human nature for long familiarity to dull a sense of fear and self-preservation.
A guy measures risks, and at some point...begins to trim risks by his own thought process. He will eventually get to a point where a sure-fire 99-percent risk....is only one-percent. It’s our mortal sense of acceptance. It’s how mankind walked over the ice-bridge to Alaska. It’s how Columbus gambled on some land at the end of the trip. It’s how man landed on the moon....acceptance of risks.
On an earlier thread about this subject, I called them stupid.
I was wrong, they were experienced chasers. Doing actual science.
And I hear over and over they lost their lives “Doing what they loved...”, I don’t buy that one, because they had families and friends, and their responsibilities to those people seems to me should have outweighed whatever responsibility they thought they had to track the storm.
My main concern here has been my main concern for a few years now.
That too many uninformed, unprepared people would try to do this as if it was the new “surfing”, especially when it’s somewhat made even more tempting by Go-Pro, and all the other mobile digital things.
News Flash: Alligator wrestling can be deadly too!
He seemed to be way too carefree and flippant dealing with critters, having more faith in his own knowledge and experience than belief that the animal could lash out way faster then he could respond.I agree, and can only add "...having more faith in his own knowledge and experience than belief [in God]..."
Try this: His time was up.
How did Dale Earnhart get killed in his car number 3?
How did Roy get bitten by his Tiger?
You mess with the Bull often enough and the Bull gives you the horn.
I visited the OKC news show webpage with it’s storm tracker radar, and was amazed at the number of storm trackers. Little car icons all over the place, many with live video feeds etc, sponsored by various companies. It’s not just science, it’s business, ad money, web clicks, ratings. No matter how “experienced” or cautious, if you are out chasing tornadoes, the odds are that sooner or later, one will catch you.
Old article, storm strength was upgraded to EF-5 yesterday. That explains a lot, along with the unanticipated left turn by the storm that caught them out of position without an exit plan/safe route. Crap happens and it’s sad when it happens to talented people with honest intentions to learn more about storms, hoping to increase public safety.
I used to think being a policeman was the most dangerous profession, until studies showed it was crab fishermen in the Bering Sea that statistically had the most dangerous jobs. Cops were way down there far from the top.
No man escapes death. Better to die with your boots on then writhering in a hospice bed some where...
Because it is dangerous work as is what “Crocodile Hunter” did.
They know the risks and choose to do it anyway. Not a hero, not some sort of altruistic supermen. Just average people doing a dangerous job like millions of people throughout the country that get no recognition whatsoever.
I was living in Fort Wayne,IN back in the early 80's when the big flood hit. The one that President Reagan showed up to work the sandbag line with the high school kids. All during that flood, something deep inside of me, kind of wanted to see the flood waters get higher...just to see what would happen? I was in my 20's at the time and didn't have a good grasp of the human suffering that goes along with a destructive event like that.
Most likely, he zigged, when he should have zagged.
The number of people for whom storm chasing is a "job" could be counted on both your hands. For the rest it's a hobby.
Well the media is holding them up as noble social guardians risking their life for us all.
BS. There just risk takers supplying sensational video to a voyeuristic society for a buck.
Prolly cuz the tornado zagged then zigged.
Too bad some think croc hunters and storm chasers should not be allowed or even, gasp, outlawed. I see it as the ultimate free ‘speech’ type of “hey y’all watch this!”
- we only really lose control when trying to control others...
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