As I watch the hurricane coverage, several things cross my mind.
This is September 11th, the anniversary of the day thousands of victims had no warning.
I think about the 1987 tornado that hit Edmonton. Again, people had no warning.
In Florida, they knew Irma was on the way. Some chose to stay, even putting up signs telling Irma they were not afraid.
The storm had already killed in the Caribbean, and now first responders may have to risk their lives rescuing those who chose to ignore the warnings.
There were reporters out in the storm, doing a play-by-play, showing harbours devoid of water, with boats sitting in mud. Then later, the storm surge flooding.
I have in the past, seen comedians mock reporters who stand out in the raging wind.
As one reporter explained, they are there, in part, to satisfy the curiosity of those who chose to stay, so that maybe they would just watch TV and not go out and see for themselves what was going on and maybe get hit in the head by some 100-kilometre-an-hour debris.
If you had the choice of whether to stay put or go to safety, let me know what you would do.
Bob Layton is the news manager of the Corus Edmonton group of radio stations and a commentator for Global News.
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