Skip to content
Roger Simmons Roger Simmons

Birds, Words, Pics + TV

  • Home
  • All Posts
    • Orlando Wetlands
    • Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge
    • Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive
    • Joe Overstreet Road
    • UCF Arboretum
    • Fort DeSoto Park
  • My Bird Catalog
    • All Birds Catalog
    • American Flamingos
    • Bald Eagles
    • Barred Owls
    • Belted Kingfishers
    • Black-and-White Warblers
    • Eastern Bluebirds
    • Florida Scrub-Jays
    • Green Herons
    • Little Blue Herons
    • Northern Parulas
    • Ospreys
    • Reddish Egrets
    • Red-Shouldered Hawks
    • Roseate Spoonbills
    • Sandhill Cranes
    • Whooping Crane
  • Orlando TV News/History
    • Orlando TV Schedules
    • Florida TV History
  • About this Site
Roger Simmons
Roger Simmons

Birds, Words, Pics + TV

Hurricane Irene: Orlando TV’s connection

Roger Simmons, August 28, 2011
Former WESH anchor Tom Schaad (right) anchors storm coverage on WAVY-10 in Norfolk.

A couple of notes from a weekend of TV news dominated by Hurricane Irene…

HLN spent Saturday showing coverage from affiliate stations along the East Coast, including Norfolk’s WAVY-NBC 10. On the desk there was former WESH 2 anchor Tom Schaad — a veteran of Orlando’s hurricane-filled season of 2004.

Meanwhile on Sunday, WFTV News Director Bob Jordan — a man who doesn’t hesitate to speak his mind — was busy on Twitter critiquing the New York-centric, doom-and-gloom storm coverage. Some samples of his entertaining tweets:

  • Watching network coverage of the (marginal) hurricane. All I can say is, “Oh, the hyperbole.”
  • In 2004, 5 named storms hit FL. 3 of them (Charley, Frances & Jean) had winds in excess of 115MPH. Sorry NYC, your storm is puny.
  • Some of these network reporters (networks shall remain unnamed) look downright foolish.
  • ABC Reporter informs us that winds are about 20 miles per hour at his location. That’s no typo. TWENTY miles per hour.
  • GMA anchor open at 9A references “MONSTER hurricane.” This is not, has not been and will not be a Monster hurricane. It is a tropical storm.
  • WFTV had more boots on the ground covering the ’04 hurricanes than ABC News does covering this “monster hurricane.”
  • Not much evidence of social media on ABC this morning. They are behind the curve.
  • At 11AM, ABC graphics and copy still refer to Irene as a “hurricane.” This is beyond hype, this is deliberate misinformation.
Share on Social Media
x facebook reddit email
Orlando TV WESH-2WFTV-9

Post navigation

Previous post
Next post

Related Posts

Ex-WESH anchor Chioji: ‘Life’s never been so good’

October 10, 2010

As part of its continuing coverage for Breast Cancer Awareness month, the Orlando Sentinel decided to check up on former WESH 2 News anchor — and breast cancer survivor — Wendy Chioji. It’s a story with a happy ending. After Chioji announced her breast cancer diagnosis on air 10  years…

Read More

WESH reporter gets a surprise from Hurricane Irene

August 26, 2011

As Hurricane Irene passed by Central Florida, Orlando’s TV news crews were camped out along to coast to watch waves and report on beach erosion. WESH 2 reporter/meteorologist Dan Billow got an up-close-and-personal interaction with Irene — as he was drenched by a wave on Satellite Beach moments before a…

Read More

WESH-2 Photos

December 9, 2002

Share on Social Media x facebook reddit email

Read More

Latest Posts

  • Spending a magical morning at Orlando Wetlands
  • Finding some very colorful characters at Lake Apopka
  • Story of Merritt Island flamingos still being written
  • You never know what you’ll see at Orlando Wetlands
  • Reddish Egret puts on a sunset show

Top Locations

Orlando Wetlands

Posts about visits to Orlando Wetlands


UCF Arboretum

Posts about visits to UCF Arboretum


Merritt Island

Posts about visits to Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge


Lake Apopka

Posts about visits to Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive


Fort DeSoto

Posts about visits to Fort DeSoto Park


Galleries

Roger's Favorites

An ever-changing collection of my favorite pictures


American Flamingos

Photos of American Flamingos in Indian River


Belted Kingfishers

Photos of Belted Kingfishers across Central Florida.


Oystercatchers

Pictures of American Oystercatchers at Fort DeSoto Park


Spoonbills

Pictures of Roseate Spoonbills in Central Florida


Whooping Crane

Pictures of one of the last Whooping Cranes in Florida


MORE GALLERIES


Topics

American Flamingo American Kestrel Anhinga Bald Eagles Barn Swallow Barred Owl Belted Kingfisher Black-and-White Warbler Black-Crowned Night-Heron Caspian Tern Common Gallinule Common Yellowthroat Digital TV Eastern Bluebird Great Blue Heron Great Egret Green Heron Limpkin Little Blue Heron Loggerhead SHrike Northern Cardinal Northern Parula Orlando Wetlands Park Osprey Palm Warbler Prairie Warbler Red-bellied Woodpecker Red-shouldered Hawk Red-Winged Blackbird Reddish Egret Roseate Spoonbills Sandhill Crane Savannah Sparrow Snowy Egret Tricolored Heron Tufted Titmouse WESH-2 WFTV-9 White Ibis WKCF-18 WKMG-6 WMFE-24 WOFL-35 Wood Stork WRDQ-27

©2025 Roger Simmons | All Rights Reserved