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How NBC Channel 5 and EBS failed viewers while deadly storms ripped through the area
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It's no mystery that Chicagoland is a bit shell-shocked this evening as deadly storms ripped through the entire area. As the storms flew into the Western suburbs riding atop 80 mile per hour winds and tornado warnings, my wife and I had just settled in for the evening to watch a little TV.
All of a sudden the cable blanked out and the Emergency Broadcast System took over to announce the eminent storms moving into the area. However, the signal was completely messed up and you couldn't read or hear anything that was being said. We then turned to Chicago NBC Channel 5 (WMAQ) to see what we could find out. A tornado warning box was on the screen and the affected areas were scrolling on the screen when all of a sudden the program went to break and the warning information disappeared from the screen to make way for a Coca-Cola commercial. Meanwhile, winds outside were starting to take tree limbs down on our street.
This should be a major concern for us all as we look toward how we receive information about severe weather. At least for the moment we needed potentially lifesaving information about the deadly weather brewing outside, these two sources failed us all. Needless to say, we didn't wait any longer and took the kids down into the basement.
Nonetheless, based upon my account of this experience, I am in hopes that both the EBS and Chicago NBC Channel 5 might revisit their procedure for severe weather. I don't imagine Coca-Cola would have enjoyed know that their commercial pre-empted potentially lifesaving information. Perhaps this posting might get to the right people.
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