The Coming Storm
Article: Raenna Gohm – Contributor
Media is used as a very effective way of letting the general public know about current events as well as future events, but recently a flaw has been noticed in the media. This flaw in the media is what the media choses to prioritize and publish. Having the power to, most media sources pick and choose what to publish and what to keep out of the public eye. As important as most events are, recent complaints have sprouted throughout Regina about the media’s coverage of the weather.
Oklahoma, or Saskatchewan? We won’t tell you. /Source: Quinton Myers
The summer of 2013 has been full of sudden storms and tornados followed by warnings throughout the media. For most cases the general public was given warnings and advanced notices scattered throughout the media to be prepared if situations became worse. Yet on Jul 16 many citizens reported they had no warning for the storm that struck late in the afternoon on that day.
On July 16th late in the afternoon citizens around Regina reported large dark clouds beginning to spiral directly on top of Regina. Soon after citizens reported hail in select areas of the city. Whereas in other parts of the city strong winds came out of seemingly no where. Shortly thereafter heavy rain soaked the city. Citizens began rushing to protect their loved ones and property. Of course this storm did only last a matter of maybe twenty minutes and did not cause any life threatening situations. So why were citizens running for cover and panicking? Because, for this storm there was no warning!
Citizens around Regina commented on the lack of information and warning for this storm. This lack of warning led to many panicked parents rushing to pick up their children and protect them. A family in the east end of Regina comments on driving out to White City to get their daughter to protect her. Why did they feel the need to protect her? Simply, they were not informed of what to expect, because there was no notice of this storm or any indication of how long it would last. This was not the only family that took such action. The sudden violence of the storm also caused some local stores to take action to protect their customers, such as suddenly rushing customers out of the outside Lawn and Garden centers, followed by closing the centers due to flying debris. With notice the centers would have been closed in advance to avoid a public panic.
So why did the public not know about this sudden violent storm? Was it because local media sources had already known it would only be a short storm and felt no need to send out warning to the public? Or did the storm come so fast that there was no prediction or warning? To be honest, many don’t have a clue, the media has yet to say if the storm was unworthy of warning or if it came without any advance notice.
