Explosion in New York City — Local “News”.
I actually had something in mind to write about tonight, but I spent way too much time watching the local NY City television coverage of the explosion in mid-town New York, which spewed steam and debris dozens of stories into the air and scared many folks big time.
It appears from the very confusing television coverage that there may have been one fatality associated with the event, which appears to have been a ruptured steam line, the cause of which remains to be seen.
The thing is that the reporters have so much air time to fill, the viewer winds up with a fact to speculation ratio of about 20 to 1. One reporter “on the scene†stated, “Obviously the injuries are all related to the temperature of the steam,†when, at that point, the nature of the yet-to-be determined number of injuries was not at all clear, and the nature of the yet-to-be-determined number of injuries certainly was not “obvious.â€
On one station the “anchor†asked the Con-Ed (Consolidated Edison, the company responsible for NYC’s steam lines) spokesperson, “Do you have any idea when this will be cleared up?â€
The Con-Ed guy responded that the workers were still trying to get the matter under control and that there was no way to tell when things would be back to normal. At that point, the genius co-anchor asked, “What about tomorrow’s rush hour? Any idea how this will affect that?†DUH!!
Journalists? Hardly.
I figure I’ll write a bit of what I had intended to write about, save it, and then return to watch more of the local Speculo-News.
Saw it on the news.
I still have no clue what you guys use the steam for?
We don’t do that in Dallas.
Comment by Dick — July 18, 2007 @ 9:31 pm
Amazing isn’t it… how much BS comes out of the mouths of these people while trying to fill in airtime during a crisis. I’m convinced they were all former National Enquirer “reporters” and got their gigs because they can think fast on their feet when making up a story. heh.
Comment by Teresa — July 18, 2007 @ 9:53 pm
hmmm temperature of steam…let me see..at sea level it is 212F but under pressure it depends on the pressure so I reckon it could matter what the temperature of the steam in the line was. I can see where if it was a high pressure steam line what busted it would do more damage that steam coming off my mug of jumpstart..
Comment by GUYK — July 19, 2007 @ 6:31 am
Yeah, blah blah blah… “reminiscent of 9/11” … blah blah blah… What a fucking joke.
It may just be me, but I really don’t think it compares.
There should be a required license for these clows, which could be revoked due to blatant stupidity.
Some day. When I’m King of the World.
Comment by Dave S. — July 19, 2007 @ 3:05 pm
Steam is used commercially for heating and process plants(refineries, chemicals, sugar, silicates, etc.). Steam is also used to generate almost all electricity produced by the large and small power stations. I would guess that the steam line in question carries 150 to 250 PSIG saturated steam and is used for heating primarily. There are big problems with the steam distribution networks all over the country. No one wants to repair/replace/maintain them. No glamour in it.
Comment by Greg D — July 25, 2007 @ 2:54 pm