12 June 20 - 26, 2024 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents And many of us still love to and want to ex- plore that interest and curiosity.” Drieschman says he’s seen an exponential growth in storm chasing during his time in the field and, in turn, growth in the general pub- lic’s interest in chasers and severe weather. Although Cooley considers the thrill of the chase to be a large personal benefit of the job, he says professional storm spotting has always stressed the importance of accurate forecasting and public safety. More often than not, storm chasers are not merely adrenaline junkies. They’re a knowledgeable community committed to their love of the weather and need to raise awareness of storm safety. “There’s definitely a whole spectrum of at- titude toward chases and chasers between themselves, but at the end of the day, when high-impact tornadoes are happening, the mission is the same for all of us,” Cooley says. “And that’s to get the footage live, provide real- time information. Especially in the face of tragedy, that kind of trumps everything else.” Both Cooley and Drieschman know that there are plenty of chasers who get into the work without understanding the real funda- mentals behind storm chasing. Many new and inexperienced chasers easily feed into the thrilling aspects of the chase by prioritiz- ing the quality or extremity of their content over their own safety. Whether you’re look- ing to get into storm chasing as a one-time trip, a full-time profession or something in between, both Cooley and Drieschman hope to keep the genuineness of the field alive by showing newcomers how to do things the right, safe and smart way. Cooley and Drieschman recommend tag- ging along with an experienced professional. Tornado tourism businesses are typically led and organized by a team of experienced me- teorologists and chasers. For self-conducted chasing and reporting, Cooley says aspiring chasers can find a number of sites and social groups where they can network and pair up with veteran chasers, many of whom are of- ten happy to meet and help guide newcomers into professional spotting. “A lot of these folks, we all share the same passions, so it’s best to get to know your local chasing community,” Cooley says. “If you re- ally care about what you’re doing out there, for yourself, for others, you’re always going to want to do it the right way.” Cooley has driven for and guided tornado tours himself over the years, but tornado tourism can be a bit of a Catch-22 situation in his field. He wants to encourage others to experience the unique realm of severe weather, but he knows at times that touring can romanticize the more serious aspects and impacts of a tornado. “I think people get that mixed up with tornado tours,” Cooley says. “While they go out to have these extreme adrenaline pumping photography opportunities, it’s also kind of like, ‘Are you really celebrating destructive weather?’ It’s [tornado tour- ism] taken a lot of foothold across the globe, so I’m all for it as long as the tornado tours aren’t actively celebrating the de- struction of life and property.” Seeing the destruction left in the wake of natural disasters is the worst part of chasing, Cooley says. No matter how many tornadoes a chaser has experienced, Cooley doesn’t be- lieve it ever gets easy to learn about the many ways a town has been ripped apart by a storm. He knows of several storms he and other chasers have covered that have re- sulted in fatalities, including the deaths of on-the-scene chasers themselves. After the 2013 El Reno tornadoes resulted in the deaths of Tim and Paul Samaras and Carl Young from the Discovery Channel show Storm Chasers, Cooley says he began to reconsider his storm-spotting career and al- most wanted to give up chasing. However, he says he hasn’t reached his final breaking point just yet, mainly because he reminds himself of what duty he has to the communi- ties placed in a destructive tornado’s path. “There’s really no gratification for docu- menting a tornado once it’s really destroyed people’s lives,” Cooley says. “It’s a very so- bering and humbling experience. But some- times you have to think about how your documentation can still help other people and the importance of that, and that’s what keeps you in it. It keeps me going.” Extreme Tornado Tours Top: Extreme Tornado Tours owner Nick Drieschman likes to think of himself as a lifelong storm chaser; bottom left: a rainbow-twister combo; bottom right: a break in the storm. Culture from p10 SUMMER GUIDE ON STANDS JUNE 20 D SCAN HERE FOR MORE INFO
