As Gustav roared through the Gulf Coast, the networks trotted out their best and brightest correspondents to bring dispatches from the soggy states.
As the Washington Post points out this is frequently an exercise in cliches.
Is it really a hurricane, or even just a “tropical depression,” unless a TV reporter in a hooded windbreaker is flopping around in the wind and rain like a landed flounder?
The piece refers to to Miami Herald columns by Carl Hiaasen, Handbook for Roving Hurricane Correspondents.
“‘The most-sought-after video’, he wrote, is ‘in order of ratings: 1. Big tree on strip mall. 2. Big tree on house. 3. Big tree on car. 4. Small tree on car. 5. Assorted shrubbery on car.'”
To the hall of fame of weather reporting, I’d like to nominate the following sequence from NBC’s Kerry Sanders, reporting on the damage in Houma, Louisiana:
Sanders: Oh, my god, is that a dog? [His voice is really excited here.] Someone has let their dog out. Let’s pause for a second to see if he needs help. Well, he’s looking at us curiously, but it’s kind of a surprise. Animals know generally what to do when there is a weather problem. And … let’s see where he goes. We lost him. He’s heading off. I hope his home is nearby.”
As the WaPo rightly points out, hurricane season ain’t over yet. “Keep your windbreakers handy.”
Katia Bachko is on staff at The New Yorker.