Grumpy Editor

Tropical storms again grab attention of news editors

Extreme tropical winds, especially with the hurricane season running through Nov. 30, grab the attention of both print and broadcast news editors even when the disturbances are far from U.S. shores, notes Grumpy Editor.

Print editors, for example, are inclined to yank a story about Boy Scouts performing good deeds in favor of an article on swirling winds, complete with photos of swaying palm trees, heading westward across the Atlantic Ocean or moving northward along the eastern Pacific. 

Editors this week are focusing on three windy tropical storms. 

Biggest one, Hurricane Dora, a lengthy 1,400 miles southeast of San Diego, is churning eastern Pacific seas offshore from the central coast of Mexico.  It’s moving northwest at about 13 m.p.h. but (sadly for some in newsrooms) is expected to weaken today. 

In the Atlantic, tropical storm Cindy, in the news for several days, poses no threat to land as it moves eastward in the north Atlantic, southeast of Newfoundland. 

Tropical storm Bret grows weaker as it heads northeast, away from the Bahamas.

Many print and broadcast news editors remain disappointed from last year.

Despite National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predictions that eight to 14 named Atlantic storms would reach hurricane force in 2010, not one made in to the U.S.

 

As U.S. water goes south, Mexico cancels power to Texas

While Mexico siphons 17 percent of water annually from shrinking Colorado River-fed Lake Mead on the Nevada-Arizona border, when it came to Mexico coming to the aid of power-short Texas last week, that country’s Federal Electricity Commission canceled a plan to transmit temporarily 280 megawatts to the Lone Star State, observes Grumpy Editor.

Print and broadcast media, focusing on pre-Super Bowl events and the crisis in Egypt, overlooked comparing years of U.S. water delivered south of the border vs. the announced --- and soon canceled --- Mexico-supplied electricity.

For 67 years, the U.S. has provided Mexico with 1.5 million acre-feet of water per year.  That’s five times more than drought-stricken Nevada’s 300,000 acre-feet share. 

(An acre-foot covers one acre to a depth of one foot.)

Mexico’s Federal Electricity Commission last Wednesday agreed to transmit to Texas 280 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 280,000 homes.

Then, in an abrupt change a day later, the Mexican agency said forget about the temporary power boost to the Lone Star State which faced rolling blackouts in some areas. 

In canceling the plan, the commission cited below-freezing temperatures in its own country causing power outages in several parts of Chihuahua state, plus it needed to ensure enough electricity to meet domestic demand.

 

Federal agency seeks $1.3 million for cloud seeding

In these belt-tightening times, the Bureau of Reclamation is seeking $1.3 million for cloud seeding in efforts to produce more water from winter storms for Walker Lake, north of Hawthorne, Nev., notes Grumpy Editor.

The lake, on Highway 95 between Reno and Las Vegas, is 12 miles long, 5.2 miles wide and up to 78 feet deep.

Even with that depth there is concern --- for fish in the lake.

The recreational area is a haven for boating, water skiing, fishing, camping, hiking and bird watching.   And it’s a stopover for migrating waterfowl.

The cloud-seeding process attempts to modify the weather by dispersing substances into the air in hopes of yielding more precipitation from clouds.

It’s always a challenge in an arid area where clouds are few during most of the year.

Walker Lake’s water level has dropped about 145 feet.

But that’s in span of about 140 years.

The lake is fed by 50-mile long Walker River that also flows into Topaz Lake near the California border.  Along with normal evaporation, agriculture takes much of the water diversions. 

The Bureau of Reclamation would channel cloud-seeding funds to the Desert Research Institute, the nonprofit research campus of the Nevada System of Higher Education, which would handle the task.

CNN goes ‘live’ with Oklahoma City flash flood dramas

While other news channels yesterday were focusing on President Barack Obama’s fourth visit to the Gulf area in connection with the major oil spill plus activities associated with the World Cup, CNN was airing live shots of flash flooding beamed from a trio of Oklahoma City TV stations, observed Grumpy Editor.

Live action is what excels with TV news.

CNN picked up feeds from stations KFOR, an NBC affiliate; KOCO, an ABC affiliate, and KWTV, a CBS affiliate.

Cloudbursts dumped up to nearly 10 inches of rain in six hours in the area, triggering rescues and evacuation of homes.

Storms also swept through Wichita and Kansas City areas.

Ground level and helicopter shots showed dramatic rescues in Oklahoma City along Harrison Creek, including live action of a trapped motorist pulled from a flood-stalled car during a heavy downpour and a young woman clinging to a tree after being swept by the torrent.

Both were rescued by boats launched by the Oklahoma City Fire Department.

Aiding authorities in the search for the stranded woman was a KWTV helicopter which acted as a spotter for rescuers.

There were about 30 dramatic rescues from raging waters in the area.

At one point, flood-trapped rescuers had to be rescued.

And all this was captured by live cameras.

AP staffer observes Gulf of Mexico oil spill below surface

While some reporters, in pursuing stories, fly low over disasters, drive through wildfires or dodge bullets near enemy battle lines, Associated Press video journalist Rich Matthews takes the plunge --- into the murky, oily, sticky waters 40 miles from shore in the Gulf of Mexico, notices Grumpy Editor.

That certainly gives a different perspective on the vast oil spill, the latest --- and lingering --- disaster affecting the U.S.

It didn’t take long, however, for Matthews to discover that a hoped-for dive to about 60 feet only got as far as 15 to 20 feet “because it was just too dangerous,” he explains.  “I didn’t want to lose my orientation and get lost.”

Dallas-based Matthews, certified with the Professional Association of Diving Instructors and diving for about 10 years, has about 50 dives to depths of 120 feet.

He tells Editor & Publisher, “I go to disasters for a living.  I do a dangerous job, but I’m not a risk-taker.”

With a Gulf of Mexico dateline, Matthews’ story this week for AP describes the situation:  “I jump off the boat into the thickest, reddest patch of oil I've ever seen. I open my eyes and realize my mask is already smeared. I can't see anything five seconds into the dive.”

He recounts dropping beneath the surface with an oxygen tank and “the only thing I see is oil. To the left, right, up and down --- it sits on top of the water in giant pools and hangs suspended 15 feet below in softball-size blobs. Nothing is alive under the slick, although I see a dead jellyfish and a handful of small bait fish.”

A major chore following the underwater observation is “getting the gunk off.”

But as a follow-up, Matthews is ready to take the plunge again in the same area “because there are thousands of us covering from above the water and just a few of us covering it from under the water.”

Boston area water shut-off gets scant national coverage

Overlooked by national media in the news-heavy past few days is the subject of water, usually a favorite topic with editors, with warnings about it being undrinkable for about two million people in and around Boston, notes Grumpy Editor.

A 10-foot-diameter underground pipe ruptured Saturday, sending about eight million gallons of water an hour into the Charles River until shut off hours later.

Until repairs were completed yesterday, water was ruled unsuitable for drinking.

Residents were cautioned not to use water from backup systems for brushing teeth or washing produce. Those actions with untreated water could lead to symptoms such as diarrhea, cramping, nausea or vomiting.

Operations, ranging from restaurants to hospitals to coffee bars, were having problems from lack of drinkable water.

Water users were asked to boil water for at least one minute before use.

All this led Gov. Deval Patrick to declare a state of emergency.

The boil order was lifted today by Gov. Patrick.

Despite all this, the major water problem affecting so many people and businesses in Massachusetts received scant attention in newspapers outside the affected area.