Episode 47: A Weather Communication Perspective on the Duck Boat Tragedy

Hype of the Week: 
 Castle and Minh discuss the recent duck boat tragedy, specifically analyzing the incident from a weather communication perspective.

Image Courtesy of Fox News

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Articles about the Duck Boat Tragedy 

Overview:

• What we know about the duck boat incident, CNN​
• Duck boat victims: 9 family members among 17 that died in accident, CNN
• Critics Say Calls To Change 'Duck Boat' Designs Have Gone Unheeded, NPR
• 'I didn't even sleep': In Branson, a mix of mourning and moving on, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
• Doomed Missouri duck boat faced near-hurricane winds: NTSB, Fox News
• How Missouri Duck Boat Tragedy Unfolded: Timeline of Weather Watches, Warnings, Reports, The Weather Channel
• AMS Statement on Weather Safety at Venues and Public Gatherings, American Meteorological Society​​

Weather Community Perspectives:

• The Duck Boat Tragedy Was Preventable Because The Storm Did Not 'Come Out Of Nowhere', Forbes
• What's An Outflow Boundary And Does It Cause 'Storm Came Without Warning' Perception?, Forbes

"It is 2018 not 1901. The meteorological community has advances weather satellites, weather radar and models. Storms like this do not “come out of nowhere...."
..@forbes https://t.co/bcaFD0NpBW

— Marshall Shepherd (@DrShepherd2013) July 20, 2021

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Here's what I think though, if you wake up and check the weather and it says "storms possible, tornadoes unlikely," then what happened yesterday evening WAS unexpected.

Maybe not unexpected for us, but obviously unexpected for residents. Those are the people who matter, not us.

— Angela Fritz (@angelafritz) July 20, 2021

The SW MO storms yesterday were not a surprise, they did not "come out of nowhere" and they most certainly did not strike with no warning. If someone says this, it's likely because they weren't paying attention to all the available information that gave plenty of advance notice. https://t.co/mdbUchfPaz

— Rick Smith (@ounwcm) July 20, 2021

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My take: We need more companies to be educated on their role with weather monitoring/public safety. ALL event staff are the only link between the life and death of their customers. They make the calls. There are plenty of wx decision support companies to help. https://t.co/fuE9s67pxW

— Ashley Morris (@MissAshes92) July 20, 2021