Fort Worth/Arlington Tornadoes - 10 years later

[texas_prwriter]

Local media is giving a fair amount of attention to the tornadoes in Fort Worth and Arlington ten years ago today. I was in grad school in Fort Worth at the time, and remember being evacuated during the tornado (looking at timelines now, I realize how late the evacuation was, but I digress). I've seen the video of David Finfrock announcing the tornado on KXAS as it was on their towercam in Fort Worth. And I remember the eerie "Downtown Fort Worth Closed" highway signs in the days afterward.

So, since I was wrapped up in graduate school studies (and fortunately, my home in Arlington spared from the tornado that hit there), I'm curious if any of you were on the air or had any special memories of the event. I know a lot of people in Tarrant County quit "Trusting Troy" because he apparently blew the coverage in the initial minutes of the storm. (I didn't watch it, so I am relying on second-hand info on that one). I'm curious if any of you remember how WBAP or KRLD handled it during the end of rush hour (initially and in the days after), how local TV handled it and how the non-news(/talk) stations handled it.

Memory lane is open - I'd love to hear your thoughts and memories.

 

[milton77]

I remember a thread here (or was it another radio board? but anyway) titled "What is wrong with WBAP?", was highly critical of the fact that they were airing a Stars game and didn't pre-empt it for wall-to-wall weather coverage when it was confirmed on the ground.

As I recall, WRR simulcast KXAS's coverage when the storm was moving through D/FW.

 

[jodydean]

I was in full baseball attire coaching my youngest son's team when my beeper (!) went off just as the sirens in North Richland Hills did. Twenty minutes later after leaving him at his moms house I was driving west on Belknap as the tornado west east up 7th - on the phone live with Brad Barton back at KRLD. How you get a good cell in an F3 tornado but can't get one on a sunny day, I don't know. Everything was fine till I saw what was left of Calvary Cathedral, at which point I almost wet myself on the air.

I spent most of the rest of the evening talking to KRLD and CBS-11 from a balcony at Trinity Terrace Retirement Center hoping no one got that moment on tape. They did.

Weirdest thing was running up the stairs at Trinity in cleats as residents were running down. I'm sure they thought a baseball player had been sent to get them out. My mom lived on the fourth floor, and was on the phone when I got to her room. Wasn't even aware a tornado had just passed within yards of her, or that the phone was dead. She simply thought the person she was talking to didn't have much to say.

Worst part? It's one thing when it happens to someone else's town. It's worse when it happens to yours.

 

[RADIO TRUTH]

There are many more things that blow in Dallas radio than the tornadoes.

 

[jd]

There are many more things that blow in Dallas radio than the tornadoes.

You weren't there, you don't live here and your comment is not only unrelated to the topic, it could be termed callous. My brother's home was narrowly missed by the tornado in Arlington but a number of his neighbors weren't as fortunate. The lives of many people were affected by this tragedy and you prefer to make a joke from it.

 

[dfaulkner]

David Finfrock & the news anchors, reporters at Channel 5, as well as Jody Dean, Brad Barton at KRLD, Jody Dean & others Channel 11 had outstanding coverage. Not sure about other TV/Radio. Channel 5's 6pm newscast ended at 1am. They were on non-stop for 7 hours.

 

[salemjedi54]

There are many more things that blow in Dallas radio than the tornadoes.

Just sad. Fortunately thru the efforts of all the media on that day, only 2 people lost there lives. Alot of people lost everything they owned, but many are alive because of D/FW Radio and television.

I was stuck in a Taco Bueno cooler when the tornado hit south of I-20.

 

[RADIO TRUTH]

I don't wish anybody any harm from catastrophic weather events. Having said that, just like the people who live on the North Carolina coast or any place else with a weather risk or risk of an earth quake, if you live in a part of the country with a weather risk, you accept the risk. If you cannot accept the risk, move to an area with less or no risk. My statement about Dallas radio
still stands.

 

[salemjedi54]

I don't wish anybody any harm from catastrophic weather events. Having said that, just like the people who live on the North Carolina coast or any place else with a weather risk or risk of an earth quake, if you live in a part of the country with a weather risk, you accept the risk. If you cannot accept the risk, move to an area with less or no risk. My statement about Dallas radio
still stands.

Damn shame.

 

[dfaulkner]

I was puzzled reading that two people were killed by the tornado. But everything I found online said two were killed by the tornado. Five people died as a result of that storm. Two from the tornado, one as a result of being hit on the head by a soft ball size hailstone, & two drowned. Still a remarkably low death toll for such weather.

I didn't intend for my earlier comments to imply anything negative about the rest of DFW media. Channel 5,
KRLD & channel 11 are the only ones whose coverage I have knowledge of.

 

[SirFreebie1975]

I don't wish anybody any harm from catastrophic weather events. Having said that, just like the people who live on the North Carolina coast or any place else with a weather risk or risk of an earth quake, if you live in a part of the country with a weather risk, you accept the risk. If you cannot accept the risk, move to an area with less or no risk. My statement about Dallas radio
still stands.

you should have stopped at that first sentence.

 

[LanceHall]

Here in Lake Worth we got baseball size hail just before the tornado formed from the storms. That takes some serious updraft to keep that size hail in the air before dropping.