Taking a Stand: Olympics Vs Storms - 14 News, WFIE, Evansville, Henderson, Owensboro

Taking a Stand: Olympics Vs Storms

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TRI-STATE (WFIE) -

While NBC is focused on the excitement of the Olympic games half a world away, our job at 14News is to serve you, our local viewers with news, weather and sports from right here in the Tri-State. This is especially true in emergency weather situations.

Around 6:30 last night, a severe thunderstorm with winds of 70-80 mph and baseball-sized hail ripped into Oakland City just as a parade had started. As reports of damage and injuries began to come in, the National Weather Service at Paducah upgraded the severe thunderstorm warning to a tornado warning. Our station policy dictates that we remain on the air during a tornado warning to ensure the safety of not only our viewers, but also listeners on our media partner radio stations.

Damaging winds and large hail continued as the storm moved into Warrick county around 7:00, and additional severe thunderstorm warnings were issued. Given the previous confirmed damage and injuries, we decided to stay on the air until 7:30 when the storms began to weaken.

The decision to interrupt programming--especially the Olympics---was frustrating to many viewers not affected by the storms, but it may have been life-saving to families in the path of the severe storms. Your safety may someday depend on our storm coverage, and our mission is to be there on air and online when you need us most.

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