OUGD403 - Studio Brief 4 - Message & Delivery 2

Interim Crit 28/10/13

We were put into small groups for this crit where we each went through the research gathered from the news story we had decided on using. It was helpful to see a variety of other stories people had been looking at and the different perspectives the stories had been viewed at. 

I presented the story I had chosen and focused on the early reports and the way it had been reported through the headlines and tone of voice in the article. 

As my research was from the week before the storm had started I found a lot of the articles trying to make the predicted weather as dramatic as possible. These headlines were what drew me to the story initially and found as I read through the articles it was only speculation. This lead me to look at other peoples opinions and I picked out some sarcastic and jokey comments people had made regarding how bad the storm would actually be which is the direction I thought I would take the project. 

In the crit it was suggested that I make comparisons to the before and after of the storm and see how the nature of the reports changed along with the publics reactions. Also as the storm had been compared to the 1987 storm in headlines, make actual comparisons between the two based on various statistics that had been gathered such as wind speed and rain fall in the form of an info graphic.      

Aftermath of St. Jude Storm

A lot of the reports of the storm seem to have greatly exaggerated how bad it would be which left a lot of people over prepared. This is an interesting contrast to the reports of the 1987 storm which prior to it happening wasn't anticipated as a big threat resulting in the aftermath being far more shocking.

This could have been down to the technology at the time or the fact that a storm like the one in 87 hadn't happened for a long time.

Quote from the article: 'We talk of “hurricane-force winds” simply because some gusts are over 72mph, which is Category 12 – the highest – on the Beaufort scale. But in a hurricane, such wind speeds are sustained, often for hours on end, with the gusts reaching 160mph. At its peak, Hurricane Katrina, in 2005, had maximum sustained winds of 175mph and gusts of 215mph.The hurricane analogy was pushed further when the storm was given a name. A bright spark with an ecclesiastical calendar noted that yesterday was the feast day of St Jude Thaddeus, the patron saint of lost causes.' 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/weather/10409362/Was-St-Judes-storm-really-that-bad.html

I found it interesting that the storm had been given a name and been referred to as a 'hurricane' as this doesn't commonly happen in the UK which again shows that the storm had been exaggerated in early reports. 

Some examples of others opinions on the storm. These comments show a lot of peoples attitudes on the storm. 

On social network sites/blogs:

    

Comparisons to the 1987 Storm

The Great storm of 1987 became synonymous with BBC weatherman Michael Fish as he understated the nature of the storm by saying the weather would get 'rather windy'. This perhaps links to the heading from the newspaper article at the top of the page 'why didn't they warn us?' 

1987

St Jude (2013)

Weather Statistics

Gusts of 70 mph were recorded in London.

Maximum wind speed of 99 mph was recorded at the Isle of Wright, second nearest was Langdon Bay, Kent with max gusts of 82 mph.

Highest rainfall 50 mm.

• 3 people were killed by falling trees, 1 boy was very sadly swept out in rough seas on s coast in the lead-up to the storm
• 147 flood alerts, 17 flood warnings issued by Environment Agency, including our own River Mole
• In the English Channel and approaches there were 20-30 foot waves and storm force winds.
• power cuts in SE across 270,000 homes, some for 2 days
• 5 train companies cancelled all their trains in SE
• 130 flights from Heathrow cancelled, delays at Gatwick
• Port of Dover closed, horrifying stories of Channel ferry crossings
• crane collapsed onto Cabinet office
• Major bridges were shut in high winds including Severn Bridge and QE2.
• Dungeness B nuclear powerstation had a power cut in 90mph winds and had to shut down both reactors
• In Suffolk a double decker bus was rolled over by a gust of wind
• Clacton pier helter skelter was blown down
• 1000′s of trees blocked roads and caused travel delays and closures

An interesting area to look at regarding the storms would be the anticipated compared to what actually happened. As reports came in over the days up to the storms the wind speed of the storms varied. Some news reports suggested at first there would be 70mph winds which then changed to 80mph then 90mph and gradually back down as it got closer to the predicted day of the storm as more information had been gathered. 

Blown out of proportion