Reporters get killed all the time, mostly in war-zones, or trying to do a story on Hillary Clinton. But I am not aware of any reporter being killed while reporting on weather. However, if that is bound to happen, Irma is a good candidate for being the perp who did it.
I just wonder if these reporters are tying up emergency services, or using resources which would be better allocated to locals. I think we both agree, that many people see these reports is as being more 'stupid' than exhilarating.
The potential for injury or even death was palpable from the reporting I saw this morning. One reporter standing on a highrise balcony was holding onto something for dear life. Had she let go for even an instant, she may well have been swept away. She was 13 floors up. She could have been killed.
When I was at my heaviest (220 pounds), I worked in an office building that seemed like it was located in a wind tunnel. The winds in the rest of the city could be nearly calm, but at or near this building, the winds could be gale-force. I can't tell you how many times I stepped out of that building and was literally lifted off my feet by the wind. And at 220, pounds, I'm reasonably sure I was a lot heavier than the female reporter on a highrise balcony this morning.
If there is a legitimate reason to be put in harm's way, maybe I could understand. I just don't think a hurricane or any weather event is a legitimate reason. I saw Governor Scott urging people to leave. He issued a mandatory evacuation. If this storm was dangerous enough to order residents to leave, then what the H are the news hounds doing there? Isn't it dangerous for them too?