Open Letter to Discovery Channel Regarding Incident with the TIV

I sent the following letter off this morning to the executives at Discovery Channel, Executive Producer of Storm Chasers, Ronan Nagle, and posted it on Facebook in multiple places. I have little faith that anything will come of this, but I think it's important to get it out there.


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“Discovery's leadership is dedicated to upholding the highest standards of professional and ethical conduct.”

This is a direct quote from www.discoverychannel.com. In my experience, the people who represent the Discovery Channel brand are not upholding these standards.

As a fellow storm chaser and photographer, I understand Sean Casey's passion for finding and filming the best storm, for getting the perfect shot. I can even understand bending a few rules to ensure that he is in the best possible position to get that shot.

I do not, however, understand how he and his Discovery Channel film crew can so recklessly endanger the lives of other chasers and local motorists. In the past I've heard stories of irresponsible behavior on the part of Casey and his crew. This also is not the first time I have witnessed them practicing hazardous behavior. In fact, Casey and the Discovery Channel personnel that accompany him are now well known in the chase community as a collection of menaces who show no regard for 

human life.

May 30, 2011 was something different, though. Something much worse.

In the car with me were three other chasers, a total of 40 years of chasing experience between us. With limited road options, we found ourselves fleeing deadly hail up to the size of grapefruits. The TIV and Discovery crew were driving very slowly on a two lane road and refused to let us pass them. The Discovery crew drove for an extended period of time on the wrong side of the road, filming the TIV and completely blocking our ability to pass. When they decided to fall in behind the TIV and I attempted to pass them, they sped up and aggressively blocked us. Finally, I was able to get around one of the Discovery film crew vehicles. Immediately, the driver flew up behind us flashing his high beams. He passed me again, cut me off in doing so, and slammed on the brakes so that they were doing 20-30 MPH below the speed limit.

At a major intersection in O'Neill, Nebraska, the Discovery crew stopped and intentionally blocked the road so no one could get past them. I was forced to drive off the road on their right to get east, so I could continue to try to get away from the hail. Again they raced up behind me flashing their high beams. This time, they were so focused on our car that one of the Discovery crew Suburbans nearly crashed into the TIV.

Does Discovery actually advocate this outrageous, unacceptable, and downright dangerous behavior? Regardless of the answer, you must put a stop to it. There should never be a shot that is so important that the lives of the people around the Discovery Channel crew are put at risk. There should never be so much blind recklessness that the dangers to others are totally discounted. Will you not do anything until someone is killed as a direct result of Sean Casey and the Discovery Channel’s dangerous and maniacal behavior?

I understand that there is inherent risk in storm chasing. That risk was significantly compounded for us on the cited day by Sean Casey and the Discovery Channel film crew. While they have the luxury of driving a tank-like-vehicle and trucks with custom hail protection, we are not so fortunate. Their actions were directly responsible for hail damage sustained by our vehicle. We were lucky, this time, that it wasn't much worse.

I urge Discovery Channel to take a close look at your mission statement and your claims to “uphold the highest standard of professional and ethical conduct.” Is it truly your policy to adhere to these standards, or are these just empty words intended to portray an image you have no honest interest in ‘upholding?’ By employing individuals who do not honor that mission statement, it speaks volumes about the network as a whole. There is nothing professional or ethical about behavior of this kind. Please do not condone it by allowing it to continue.

Thank you for your crucial attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Samara Fogel

Day 13: The Perfect Ending

We headed out early because Dave and Keith both believed that our best chance of storms was in northern South Dakota.

As we crossed the border into South Dakota it became clear to me that this was a special place. The terrain changed and the grass became greener and the sky seemed bluer. Even the air smelled sweeter. Of course the mosquitoes were also like little helicopters, but you can't have everything, right?

One of the most interesting things about driving into South Dakota is that you have to drive through the Rosebud and Pine Ridge Indian Reservations. The dichotomy between the luscious and beautiful landscapes and the extreme poverty is startling. I had always heard stories about the conditions on the reservations, but this was the first time I ever witnessed it firsthand. It's very clear to me now that the White Man totally fucked the Native Americans. One has to hope that the extreme beauty in some way makes up for the extreme living conditions. It was eye-opening and heartbreaking.

After driving through the reservation we continued north on US Highway 83. We stopped for hours in Selby, South Dakota at a teensy little gas station. Selby is the county seat of Walworth County and has a population of 642. It's mind boggling to me that this is considered a big town! This is the heart of downtown Selby!

After spending several hours at the gas station we were thisclose to giving up and heading back south to a hotel and dinner. As we were about to make hotel reservations, Emily says, "look over there! some convection!" Sure enough, after a glance at radar we made the decision to head north to the border of North Dakota. 

During this drive I completely fell in love with the Dakotas. I have never, ever, been to a place so beautiful. The terrain became more rugged and rocky. The colors became brighter and the air became even sweeter. 

As we made our way north the storm came into view and it was back lit by the sun starting to set in the west. It looked like spun silver and gold. It was indescribably beautiful. The entire time I was driving I was just staring out the window and saying, "wow" every few seconds. Whenever I thought it couldn't possibly be any more beautiful, it was.

By the time we got to the storm, any danger had passed and we hopped out to take pictures and video of such an incredible scene. The colors were outrageous. I've never seen anything like it anywhere in the world. It was so incredibly beautiful that I nearly cried. I've never had such a visceral and emotional response to a landscape. 

Emily took some video:

We finally decided to leave this incredible place, but the sunset made us stop to take more photos.

Once we were finally able to tear ourselves away, we dropped back south and spend the night in Murdo.

Day 12: A Skinny Tornado

After spending a couple of days in the Nebraska Sandhills we headed south toward Interstate 80 to do some actual storm chasing. Our first stop of the day was the gas station in North Platte. Most people don't realize how much time is spent sitting in and around gas stations when storm chasing. It's a LOT. After hanging around for awhile storms started to go up southeast of North Platte.

I was more nervous during this chase than previous chases because for the very first time on an official chase, I was not driving. Dave was driving, and while I know that he has done this a zillion times and knows what he is doing, it was still scary for me. It was a loss of control that I've always had while chasing. It was interesting to give up that control.  To entirely put my life in the hands of someone else (albeit someone I trust implicitly) in a situation that for years terrified me. Yet another lesson learned on a chase trip.

So we chased this storm through the town of Lexington, Nebraska and came through some tiny little hail. As the hail got bigger we decided that we didn't want a repeat of O'Neill and the softball hail so we left that area and headed out of the core. From that area we had a pretty good view of the storm approaching.

We moved further east to allow the storm to come to us and sat on a dirt road for awhile. The storm didn't look great and none of us were particularly hopeful.

But then, all of a sudden, through the rain, appeared a skinny little funnel.

That skinny little funnel eventually (we think) became a weak tornado. 

It only lasted a minute or two, but it's still a tornado. 

I just really like this structure shot. No particular reason why.

At this point the storm completely evaporated and we headed back to North Platte for the night. While we were at dinner another cell formed due east of us along Route 80. We opted to let it go and have dinner. 

Day 11: Driving through the Sandhills

I love Nebraska. Really. I know it's weird. When I mention that Nebraska is my favorite state people look at me like I'm crazy. But that's because all they see is the flat stuff on Route 80 as they go speeding through the state. When you head north things change. When you go north on Route 83 things become really interesting.

The Sandhills are a part of Nebraska that used to be covered by a large ocean. What remains is the sand and the dunes. There's a peacefulness that exists there that I just can't describe. It's all cattle ranches and wild landscapes. The photos don't do it justice.

After leaving the sandhills we drove to Valentine, Nebraska and spent the night. On the way we encountered this old abandoned house that appeared to have a newish roof. Since my new photographic obsession is old abandoned houses, we had to stop.