Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Blog offers look at ice-ravaged Springfield

For once, I really have no opinions about how the local media handled its coverage of the ice storm that has virtually paralyzed southwest Missouri.
As I mentioned in the first post after my nature-forced four-day sabbatical, I spent most of that time with no electricity, no heat, and not much inclination to go out and see the devastation.
With no television, I turned to radio for information and found it on 1310 KRZG. The station's morning and afternoon programs kept me abreast of what was going on (plus providing me with the knowledge that I could sleep late this morning because Joplin R-8 schools had been canceled).
Otherwise, my first exposure to local media coverage of the ice storm and its aftermath came with today's 5 and 6 p.m. newscasts and I thought the stations acquitted themselves well.
Though I have no personal observations about the storm, except to note the hard work being done by emergency personnel and electrical workers, a much better description of what happened, albeit in Springfield, is featured in Ron Davis' Chatter blog.
Sometimes it is easy to forget because of his penchant for linking to wild and outlandish stories from across the Globe, but Davis is and always has been one of the most gifted reporters in this region. This post is a refreshing reminder of his undeniable way with words:

Because it had been warm -- 50s and 60s into Friday, just before the storm struck -- there was fog at night, and if you stood outside for more than a minute you could see through the shroud as ice-burdened trees gave way. You could hear them creaking and losing limbs with a sound like the rip of a well-worn flannel shirt, followed by a snap and the crystal sound of shattered ice. If you stayed outside long enough you could make yourself believe there was some sort of lumbering monster out there in the fog, stomping through the dark.

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