Captain Janks strikes again

August 16, 2004

BY RICHARD ROEPER SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST

Elsewhere on the storm front, the cable-channel coverage of Hurricane Charley featured the inevitable
wind-whipped, rain-soaked reporters struggling to maintain their balance while shouting into foggy, wet
camera lenses. Friday afternoon, I thought we were going to lose poor Trey Radel of WINK-TV as he filed
updates from Naples, Fla., for CNN.

"Within the last hour, traffic has completely died down," Radel noted at one point.

Yes. That's because there was a HURRICANE COMING.

Also Friday, CNN carried a live interview with an emergency worker who sounded suspiciously like
Captain Janks, the telephonic gate-crasher who always manages to get on the air in times of crisis and
drop Howard Stern's name.

CNN anchor Miles O'Brien: "All right, on the line with us now as we continue our coverage of Hurricane Charley, Category 4 storm,
is Gary Vickers. He's with the Florida State Emergency Center in Fort Myers,
which is on the receiving end of the
brunt of Charley as we speak and in the coming hours.
Gary, just bring us up to date. Give us the big picture: What you know about evacuations, how successful
those evacuations have been?"

Gary Vickers: "Hello Miles. So far as it is, 250,000 people have already been evacuated from this county
from their homes, and we're extending the evacuation further north all the way through Bradenton and
Manatee County itself."

O'Brien: "Did folks cooperate pretty well on the evacuation order, given the fact that we were focusing so
much of our attention on the possibility of Tampa being the target?"

"Vickers": "Well, everyone is evacuating, as far as I -- you know, I mean, I would encourage everyone, if
you've been ordered to evacuate your home, the best thing to do is evacuate. Don't try to sit and wait it out,
because this is a killer. This is a, you know, Category 4 and a finger of God, pretty much. And it's also a
blast of wind from Howard Stern's --"

O'Brien: "Oh, boy. All right. Thank you very much. Let's end that call, and we will take a break from our
Hurricane Charley coverage. Head toward a drier climate. 2004 Summer Olympic Games are officially
under way. . ."

Captain Janks strikes again.

 

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