Dollywood Discussion Thread

[Shavethewhales]

After all the back and forth (mis)information today I just have to ask: there was an actual fire, right? /s

 

If the Mansion is indeed safe I will be very happy. Still some horrible losses today, but that's a ray of hope right there. I can't wait to be back soon.

[maverickpoint]

that's one way to put some light onto this devastating event. worst fire in gatlinburg history :/ guess an entire school burnt down, the steakhouse is gone, bed and breakfast is gone, an entire hotel completely destroyed, same with many homes. I would post links to the articles but in a class right now.

 

sad day for sure. thank goodness it was not worse.

[Guy T. Koepp]

Any good news if the rains last night helped? It started drizzling at 8ish with off and on downpours, then poured for like a 45 minute stretch here in Nashville around midnight. I hope the storm pressed on to you all and helped out.

 

My thoughts go out to the people and communities in and around Gatlinburg.

[dstephe9]

Knoxville has been getting dumped on all morning so I'm sure it's helping up in Gatlinburg

 

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[coasterfreaky]

Any good news if the rains last night helped?

 

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.

[coasterfreaky]

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.

[dstephe9]

So looks like hillbilly golf has even survived and only has a little damage according to WBIR..

 

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[coasterbill]

Yup. They pretty much blew everything. Good job guys.

[Shavethewhales]

So Hillbilly Golf was also only partially damaged and not completely destroyed. I'm sure it won't be quite as pretty with all the trees burnt up for awhile though.

 

And Arrowmont only lost two of the more-modern dorm buildings as opposed to the historical structures. Still really sucks, but as far as a cultural hit it's not as bad as I feared.

 

The loss of all those cabins will be a huge hit for the area though. That will affect everyone even if their businesses are still standing. Obviously they will rebuild, but it will take time.

 

I'm impressed that the firefighters were able to keep the town from completely burning. I mean the fire was literally nipping at all edges of the town. Must have been hell for awhile, and what would have happened without the rain?

[dstephe9]

Without the little raid we got Monday, I'm sure it would have been much worse, maybe even for Dollywood.. that rain at least gave the fire fighters an upper hand even if it wasn't enough to put the fire out

 

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[coasterfreaky]

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.

[Gerstlauerguy]

Must have been hell for awhile, and what would have happened without the rain?

that's such a scary thought. its pretty much over now though (i think. I'm sure theirs still embers or something) . It will be sad next time i go over to Dollywood and see so many trees that have become a crisp.

 

*Edit- Over (again i think) in that specific area. still fires all around here.

Edited November 30, 2016 by Gerstlauerguy

[coasterfreaky]

Without the little raid we got Monday, I'm sure it would have been much worse, maybe even for Dollywood.. that rain at least gave the fire fighters an upper hand even if it wasn't enough to put the fire out

 

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

[STDog]

I'm still amazed that Ober survived, even more so when I found out that escape video all over the news was Ski Mountain Dr.

[coasterbill]

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.

 

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.

[emarkd]

So since the fires seem to be under control and Dollywood is reopening Friday, is anybody going this weekend?

 

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[dstephe9]

So since the fires seem to be under control and Dollywood is reopening Friday, is anybody going this weekend?

 

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I'll be there Saturday

 

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[coasterfreaky]

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.

 

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.

Edited November 30, 2016 by coasterfreaky

[dstephe9]

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.

 

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.

I agree, like I posted earlier TEMA rushed a lot of their information it seems and TEMA should be a credible source.. but TEMA keeps saying they had gotten their info from the "field" so whoever that was, was also incorrect

 

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[Keetz]

The videos of this fire raging are so scary. Everything picked up so quickly and turned into hell on earth. It looks like 14,000 people have been displaced, and four deaths have been reported. What a nightmare. I hope the death toll doesn't climb anymore. I hope the area can rebuild swiftly and recover.

 

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

 

Lightning Rod getting burnt down would have been the cherry on top of 2016

[bluestreak]

Nature's way of saying #It'llNeverOpen...

[dstephe9]

The videos of this fire raging are so scary. Everything picked up so quickly and turned into hell on earth. It looks like 14,000 people have been displaced, and four deaths have been reported. What a nightmare. I hope the death toll doesn't climb anymore. I hope the area can rebuild swiftly and recover.

 

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

 

Lightning Rod getting burnt down would have been the cherry on top of 2016

Luckily everything is going into the off season so tourist wise, it'll give them time to rebuild.. I know the area is so much more than tourism BUT tourism is the biggest source of income in the area for both the city and residents.. it's very important so hopefully they can get everything back very quickly, if not, the damage this fire has done might last much longer.

 

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[ytterbiumanalyst]

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.

 

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.

 

I've been following this closely the last couple of days, mainly because we are planning a trip here next summer, and it's just been impossible to find out what really happened. "We don't have that information yet" is a perfectly acceptable answer, but everyone seems to have gone to great lengths to avoid saying that.

[coasterfreaky]

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!

[robbalvey]

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.

 

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.

Yep. Also agree with this completely. If there is any lesson to be learned from this it's that TEMA, and any other state's emergency agencies should simply not report ANYTHING to any news agencies until they are sure what they are reporting is factual. It's the classic game of "telephone" and in today's technology that shouldn't even be an issue.

 

What I'm sure they have also learned is that the news outlets are ruthless and will post anything and everything to get ad views and website hits. It doesn't matter if it's true or not. And all that does it put people like the poor guys that operate the Gatlinburg Mystery Mansion through absolute HELL when they spend most of a day trying to figure out how to deal with their losses when it turns out it may not be true at all.