Behind Katrina, Hurricane Sandy ranks as the second costliest storm for the US. Although not a hurricane when it made landfall in October of 2012 off the coast of New Jersey, Sandy gained celebrity status and earned the alliterative name Superstorm Sandy. The storm affected millions of people in the population-dense Northeast, and because its storm surge pushed water into lower Manhattan, commuter routes, and public transportation, the dollar amount rose quickly. Media attention began accumulating as Sandy spun up the Mid Atlantic until her debut, like a hot-mess reality TV star. The next weather reality TV star, Nemo, burst on the scene four months later in February 2013 courtesy of The Weather Channel. The network claims that it began naming winter storms in the fall of 2012 for the same reasons that tropical systems are named; however, one cannot disregard the commercial interests of a profit-based network. Nemo mania descended not only on The Weather Channel’s programing, but Nemo gained a Facebook fan page, Twitter handle, and other social media. In addition, politicians along the East Coast adopted “Nemo” when informing the public of safety measures and hazards. We look at Sandy, Nemo, and other celebrity storms to illustrate how each storm season is structured like a new, and unpredictable, reality TV season.
About the presenterRobert Ficociello
Assistant Professor of Writing at Holy Family University in Philadelphia PA.