coasterfreaky

sry - dbl post

Thank you. I see exactly what you're talking about. So TEMA def made an incorrect call, then Ober corrected them, and then TEMA corrected the previously reported information - that's completely understandable and what should be expected in the early hours of a disaster of this enormous caliber. For me, this has nothing to do with the state of journalism, as it was put. Journalists, who are humans, are operating off adrenaline, pressure, usually low personnel, and there will be mistakes made in reporting the early stages of any disaster, as I put it before. It aint the first time. I'm not going to believe anyone had ulterior motives in mind when they posted the wrong information...to the point where they need to be punished or blamed. Yeah, but if there is a command center with fire trucks stationed in the lower ober parking lot, they should have really confirmed with them first.. but maybe they were out of reach, I don't know. Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk Thank you! Does anyone know without a shadow of doubt????

I did, and you're not making any sense. If you want to make excuses for people who report that huge buildings and tourists attractions are destroyed without actually bothering to look at them to see if that's actually true then be my guest, but there's a reason basically nobody here agrees with you. That's completely irresponsible. It's called "human error". It's a thing. it's understandable when people around you are dying in a river of heat and fire.

Thank you. I see exactly what you're talking about. So TEMA def made an incorrect call, then Ober corrected them, and then TEMA corrected the previously reported information - that's completely understandable and what should be expected in the early hours of a disaster of this enormous caliber. For me, this has nothing to do with the state of journalism, as it was put. Journalists, who are humans, are operating off adrenaline, pressure, usually low personnel, and there will be mistakes made in reporting the early stages of any disaster, as I put it before. It aint the first time. I'm not going to believe anyone had ulterior motives in mind when they posted the wrong information...to the point where they need to be punished or blamed.

Would you post a link please? thanks

Make up your mind. These are direct contradictions. And in response to the idea that we should excuse trusted news agencies and government organizations for their royal f**k ups because these royal f**k ups have become commonplace, no. If you are going to quote me, do so correctly. I stand by what I said in my previous post. MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE CONCEPTS.

There will always be misinformation surrounding the early hours of every disaster. That is just the way it goes. How long did it take to figure out the events of 9/11, or the Ohio state shooting last week, for example. It is a by-product of 24/7 news cycles, and internet news and the immediate need to know. I agree on the points about TEMA, but do we know EXACTLY what they said and/or reported? I haven't seen it, but like you all, I've heard the same things that were attributed to TEMA - that Ober was reportedly destroyed, and so on. If we don't know exactly what they've said, and are going on bits of news reported in the early stages, then that has no value in my opinion. The fact remains that much assistance is needed at this time and assigning blame is not a helpful act. And I completely agree with what Robb, and others have said in this thread about "garbage news" - deal with its frustrations every single day. However, those are two mutually exclusive concepts. This "situation" that we're dealing with here has zero to do with the "State of American Journalism" lol.

It is impossible to find out what really happened because... A) this remains a fluid situation B) People are dead and missing, Fires are still burning! HELLO! C) There are not enough reporters to cover every story out there. Hillbilly Golf is not a priority at this time. D) 15 Thousand Acres on fire and a few roads to escape. E) "WAR ZONE" - "HELLSCAPE" - "RIVERS OF FIRE AND HEAT" - those are just some of the adjectives being used to describe this area. Please, Tell me more about how assigning blame to the media or anyone else is helpful at this moment!

I'm sorry, no. Acting as if criticizing trusted sources of information for doing a horrendous job somehow means we don't understand the severity of the situation or feel sympathy for those involved is ridiculous. You can understand the severity of the situation, praise the firefighters, police, volunteers and all first responders for their heroic efforts and sympathize with everyone involved while still being critical of the fact that trusted news sources got just about everything wrong and reported things that were entirely wrong as fact. If you don't have quality sources for information then you don't report the story as fact. Period. To be fair to the news agencies, it seems like they were getting a lot of this information from TEMA which really should have been credible so the blame may be more on them than the people who reported on what they were saying. TEMA has no obligation to rush to release information without verifying anything, they're not a news agency. It's not their job. The fact that people want information does not give them any obligation to provide it when they haven't verified their claims. You can't excuse legitimate sources of information getting just about everything wrong just because people are desperate for information. People have been way too forgiving of complete bullsh*t being passed off as news lately. The concept of garbage news is one idea (which I understand and agree with), the covering of the fluidity of a natural disaster is a whole other thing.

Dollywood would be gone. thunderhead and lightning rod would be in ashes r n....without the rain.

Ok - I think this blaming stuff has gone on long enough. I suppose if you're not somehow affected by this personally, you have zero grasp of what has happened to this area. People have died, people are missing. 15 THOUSAND ACRES on fire in a matter of two to three hours, hurricane force winds, with only a few roads to escape for your life. There was no way possible for the media to cover every single event happening. This was a multi-faceted disaster. People want information as quickly as possible about loved ones, their homes and businesses. Can you blame them - NO! Was the coverage perfect - NO, of course not. I would never in a million years expect it to be. Eventually, the news will catch up with reality. Last nights news on our nbc affiliate had reporters sent in from Atlanta, Nashville, Charlotte and probably other places to help fill in the obvious gaps in coverage. As rupaul said recently - we are all a few blood sugars away from a psychotic episode - I will agree to that.

If you're just catching up, here are two lists from two local affiliates about the what's been lost, damaged or left intact. WATE (abc) List of sites damaged WBIR (nbc) What's damaged, destroyed and intact this list is more thorough, and updated more than WATE.

I'm assuming so because I have not heard any bad news related to the fires this morning. The local networks have stopped interrupting regular broadcasting - also a good sign. It rained heavily all through the night in Knoxville. My cousin came in from middle Tennessee to help fight the fires....waiting to hear from him when he checks in with the family.

^It's possible its safe! It just goes to show how much confusion there is at this time. Im not sure Gatlinburg has "re-opened" per se, for business owners and others to see what damage has occurred. The priority right now is to go house to house in the areas outside of Gatlinburg to help others who may need assistance, so we may not know for sure for a day or two, or more depending on the weather this evening and overnight. I'm holding out hope!

I just listened to the 4pm news conference with local and state leaders, here’s what I heard… • Three lives have been lost. No details given. • Injured number has risen from 12 to 14. • Search and Rescue continues in areas previously inaccessible. Trees, power lines, power poles are blocking many roadways. They are going house by house to check on everyone. • Multiple structural fires are a top priority. • Many Gatlinburg neighborhoods are blocked. • Tonight’s forecast is a mixed bag. High Winds are predicted as well as significant rainfall. It’s not yet clear if the wind will arrive before the rain. High wind before rain would likely re-start many fires. Hoping for rain before big winds. Next 24 hours are critical. • Governor Haslam said that this is the largest fire situation in the state’s history. • Three Blackhawk helicopters are in the area; two are dropping buckets of water and the third is assessing damage from the air. • 14k evacuated, 2k in local shelters. • Local curfew: 6p to 6a

The local authorities just held a press conference and I took some notes from Q&A. Cassius Cash, the superintendent of the GSMNP said that the structures at Elkmont and LeConte Lodge were reported to be okay. The Gatlinburg fire chief, Greg Miller, was asked about the circumstances last night. He said once winds reached hurricane strength >87mph at points, around 6pm, then the embers from fires could be carried up to a mile away, creating more fires, downing trees and power lines in the process, compounding all the other issues they were dealing with. He added the “worst is behind us” now. More, heavier rain is anticipated this evening and overnight. Mayor of Gatlinburg said he believed he lost his house in the fire. Lots of damage assessment is continuing. Some important places they mentioned: • Elkmont – ok • LeConte Lodge – ok, but the trails leading up may be damaged. • Ripley’s Aquarium – ok, 11,000 animals are said to be ok. 2pm, they are reiterating that every animal is ok. Lots of concern for Ripley's and Dollywood. • Dollywood & DreamMore resort– ok - WWBIR latest info from 12p newscast 11.29.16 • 12 patients treated at area hospitals, 3 firefighters sent to Vanderbilt burn center in Nashville. • Ober - ok • Central downtown Gatlinburg is said to be okay. Fire damage limited to the perimeters of the city. * - a majority of the Westgate resort has been destroyed. It is in between Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. * TEMA reports that thousands were evacuated and no deaths reported. * Cristus Gardens, Hillbilly Golf and Mysterious Mansion are gone. Although, new reports are not clear about Mysterious Mansion - tbd. * Lots of cabins and homes destroyed...pets left behind, propane tanks exploding, PEOPLE ARE MISSING - out of touch with relatives...lots of sad stories coming to light. * WBIR List of damaged structures * The Gatlinburg skylift has been "impacted" - not sure how significantly, but IIRC it passes over Cristus Gardens.

here is some information about Arrowmont - from the schools director: facebook link to Arrowmont update

from SMAP's facebook page: Smoky Mountain Alpine Coaster did not have any fires on our property but will be closed this morning to assess the track from the high winds last night. We will post any new updates on our opening time. Please keep Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge in your thoughts and prayers from the devastating wild fires in the area.

^I'm not sure - but that fire behind DreamMore could be the mountain where Parrot Mountain is located, which is an incredible bird zoo - totally worth a visit if you love birds. So, I hope that is not the case.

Arrowmont - not sure what you've heard - I've heard conflicting info - but they've reported losing two buildings, but the rest of the campus is said to be okay. Yeah, Knoxville is the closest media market, where I live. They (the local news) broke into national broadcasting last night around 8 or 9 or so, but many were live streaming news coverage online prior to that. We have the three local affiliates and a few newspapers in the region to provide news coverage. I believe all helicopters in the area have been asked to remain grounded. Fire fighting helicopters and planes have also had to stop. For many, especially those of us that live here, this is completely unthinkable and difficult to accept, etc. Looks like WVLT-cbs affiliate, has some aerial footage from Knoxville's 'traffic guy in the sky' on their facebook and webpage. I did not see any Dollywood footage, however.

the latest as of 8:30am from WBIR on fb: Ripley's Aquarium was still standing as of Tuesday morning despite a "raging fire" about 50 yards away from the structure, according to the aquarium's general manager.

Just saw Ober reported on facebook that everything there is ok. DWFansite, on facebook reported Mystery Mansion in Gatlinburg is gone. The Wedding Chapel also gone. This is so devastating. Never would have predicted something like this.

Heads up for alpine coaster enthusiasts, the Smoky Mountain Coaster is closed until further notice. No official reason given, but its likely due to the fires in the area. www.facebook.com/SmokyMountainAlpineCoaster/ edit: Thursday 11/17 update - they're back open.

The Grist Mill was all lit up on Friday night...maybe they had a short in the lights or a blown fuse or something. I thought the same thing about some areas of the park not looking as lit up as usual. Tennessee Tornado's lights were pretty sparse compared to years past. They are usually themed to look as though a tornado came through the area, but not this year. However, the new lights in front of Lightning Rod (and the Chasing Rainbows museum) looked really good. I guess they pick and choose where they are going to spend their time and energy with the lights. We didn't see the light show that's centered around the lake - is that gone now? I thought Thunderhead was running very smoothly compared to other rides on it in the past. For me, it seems to have really good times, and really rough times. The Waltzing Swinger looked as it did in the photograph that was posted recently. The base was up and that was about it. It had some scaffolding around it. I really hope that they're getting a lighting package for it...badly needed.

It can have an effect, but it shouldn't sell out hotels on a usual football weekend. UT plays Kentucky, so maybe lots of Kentucky fans are headed down for the game. KY is playing 'fairly' well this year...usually they suck at football.