NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) 鈥� Anyone who has watched an episode of 鈥�9-1-1: Nashville鈥� could be forgiven for thinking the city is constantly beset by tornados that turn outdoor concerts into scenes of carnage and blow scooter-riding tourists onto the tops of water towers.
That may be a TV exaggeration, but do hit the city regularly. When they do, many people here turn to Nashville Severe 蜜桃视频app.
This group of dedicated volunteers can be found on social media, calmly explaining the storm movement, advising when to take cover and giving the 鈥渁ll clear.鈥� The coverage by Will Minkoff, Andrew Leeper and Tom Johnstone draws tens of thousands of viewers who interact with them in real time. It鈥檚 a service that evokes the early promise of the internet, before the rise of the influencer.
This is happening at a time when many people no longer watch local news and weather reports. Yet Kevin Trowbridge, who teaches strategic communication at Belmont University in Nashville, says an informal survey of his students found many are tuning in to Nashville Severe 蜜桃视频app.
鈥淭he millennials and Gen Z 鈥� and teaching college students, I know this all too well 鈥� their source of information is that handheld device,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not turning on a TV. And it鈥檚 not even looking at a traditional media outlet鈥檚 online presence. It鈥檚 finding sources that provide them quick information when they need it.鈥�
They are 鈥榩repared, not scared鈥�
The rise of Nashville Severe 蜜桃视频app is a modern case study in multiple areas 鈥� a shifting tornado alley, a changing climate, the prevalance of social media and the value of instantaneous, hyperlocal information that can save the day or save lives.
The initiative has evolved over more than a decade from its origins as a Twitter feed and blog. Today, volunteers livestream on their YouTube channel whenever Nashville or surrounding counties face severe weather. Because Leeper, Minkoff and Johnstone all live here, they are facing the same threats as their audience.
鈥淭here鈥檚 something about Nash Severe 蜜桃视频app that鈥檚 different from the hobbyist enthusiast,鈥� Trowbridge says. 鈥淚 think that鈥檚 why people are following them. That鈥檚 why they are trusting them. That鈥檚 why they鈥檙e tuning in and turning to them. … It is authentic and real.鈥�
Leeper, a church pastor, has a soothing voice and a sign on a shelf behind him that reads 鈥減repared not scared.鈥� He has had to leave the stream to wake up his family and hunker down in their safe space. He did so calmly, modeling the behavior of his motto. After the threat passed, he rejoined the stream.
Katherine Moffat, who works as the executive director of the Tennessee Academy of Physician Assistants, says local TV weather can be 鈥渁 little over-the-top鈥� when storms are threatening. Nashville Severe Wether, she says, is different.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e a little more calm and telling it to you straight,鈥� she says. “They don鈥檛 get people overly excited.”
Tornado Alley has shifted
The need for their service has never been greater. 鈥淭ornado Alley鈥� has been shifting from the Midwest plains to states further east, says Johnstone, a meteorologist who joined the group last year after 33 years with the National 蜜桃视频app Service.
鈥淭he mid-South, especially down through Alabama, Mississippi, and into Tennessee and western Kentucky, has been where tornadoes have been most frequent … and people have been dying in the highest numbers,鈥� he says.
Michelle Stewart gets all her weather information via push notifications from Nashville Severe 蜜桃视频app on her phone. It’s a service she found invaluable during an ice storm that left much of the city without power or internet service for days.
鈥淭hey are very informative about, not just what to expect, but , and just giving everybody the lay of the land without it being too science-y. You know, it kind of feels like you鈥檙e talking to your neighbor,鈥� says Stewart, a project manager at a healthcare research company. 鈥淭hey are so calming to me during those live events.”
Brett Withers, a former Nashville city councilman who saw two people die in his district during a that killed 24 people in Tennessee, calls Nashville Severe 蜜桃视频app a 鈥済odsend.鈥�
鈥淲e have so many people moving to Nashville, and they might move from places where tornadoes are rare, if they ever happen,鈥� he says.
Low production value with a 鈥榲olunteer heart鈥�
The popularity of Nashville Severe 蜜桃视频app defies much of the received logic about how to build an audience on social media. There’s nothing fancy or highly produced about their livestreams. They don’t try to play up danger or excitement. They certainly don’t try to chase them down or run around outside in hurricane-force winds.
Their streams are visually dominated by weather radar. Minkoff, Leeper and Johnstone, sometimes joined by other volunteers, each stream from their own homes and appear in little boxes at the bottom or side of the screen. Graphics, when they have them at all, look like they could have been drawn by a 5-year-old.
Take the beloved 鈥淒ry Air Monster,鈥� a stick figure with an huge head and chomping Godzilla jaws.
Nashville Severe 蜜桃视频app co-founder David Drobny drew this to explain how dry air could 鈥渆at鈥� snow that was headed towards Nashville. In a Southern town that usually sees snow on the ground only a few days each year, many people look forward to it as a mini-vacation. The monster’s motto is 鈥淣o Snow for You.鈥�
Its hyperlocal focus stays grounded
Their hyperlocal focus allows Nashville Severe 蜜桃视频app to fill a niche left open by the local TV meteorologists who have to report on dozens of counties.
鈥淥ne of the things that Nash Severe can do that even the TV stations have trouble doing is really bring it down to intersection level, school level, church level to let people know where the danger and the threat is,鈥� Johnstone says.
Their coverage is a two-way street. Audience members provide photos and video showing on-the-ground conditions and comment in the chat. Nashville Severe 蜜桃视频app shares that information with the National 蜜桃视频app Service and TV meteorologists. They also try to answer people’s questions as they stream.
Leeper remembers a day when schoolchildren were sent home because of a tornado threat. When one child commented in the chat about being home alone, his heart sank.
鈥淲e just stopped what we were saying on the stream, and I said, 鈥楬ey. It dawns on me that we鈥檝e got a bunch of kiddos at home that are maybe by themselves. Hey. Here鈥檚 what you do鈥�,鈥� Leeper recalls. 鈥淚 love those moments where we can just sort of put everything else aside to talk to the people who are listening, in whatever situation they鈥檙e in.鈥�
It’s moments like that that help them stay grounded.
In 2023, a here who lived in a trailer. Leeper didn’t know them, but he attended the visitation.
鈥淚t just creates a whole other emotion when you walk into a funeral visitation for hurting families when it鈥檚 a weather event that you covered,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not all action and adventure. It really affects people鈥檚 lives forever.鈥�
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