Are storm chasers clogging roads and causing problems for emergency vehicles?
During the spring of 2004, chasers enjoyed a phenomenal season of many easy and spectacular tornado intercepts. However, the same season also brought some unprecedented negative publicity to chasers in the form of several high-profile newspaper articles. In the articles, storm chasers are unilaterally categorized as careless, gawking ‘tornado tourists’ that clog roads, insensitively celebrate the destruction of property, and block emergency vehicles from responding to damaged areas. The stories were written in response to several incidents that occured on big severe weather days in Kansas, mainly where heavy traffic created a difficult situation for emergency personnel trying to reach damaged homes. As a result, the storm chasing community and has suddenly found itself on the defensive against this growing trend of media attention on this subject. While some of the problems that the articles address are legitimate concerns, most storm chasers are unhappy with the fact that these articl
