Hello, Dolly!: Latest Hurricane News

07/23/08  Print This Post Print This Post    1 Comment      Written by Julie Schwietert
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Hurricane Dolly made landfall earlier today in the coastal region of Texas and northern Mexico. While locals brace for gale-force rains and winds, a special group of tourists gears up for adventure tours that take them into the eye of the storm.

These types of tourists have to be on-call for their one-of-a-kind trips. Tour operators keep a constant vigil of local and national weather reports and notify would-be hurricane thrill-seekers 48 hours in advance if a storm is poised to reach Category 2 or higher.

Of course, if you’re not willing to pay the exorbitant price for this type of trip, you can always organize your own hurricane tour… check out the YouTube video above.

What do you think about hurricane and other natural disaster tours? Sound off in the comments!


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About the Author

Matador ID: collazo

Julie Schwietert is the managing editor of Matador Network. She contributed a chapter to the recently published book, The Voluntary Traveler, and is currently working on five features for Fodor's Puerto Rico, 6th Edition.

1 Comment... join the discussion!

  • Eva replied on July 24, 2008

    We caught the edges of Dolly here in NOLA yesterday, Julie! Just enough to cool things off, though. As for hurricane tourism… if they're going close enough to see anything, they're going close enough to put themselves – and the emergency services people who have to come help them out of a jam – at risk. A category 2 storm made a direct hit on the town where I went to college a couple years back. People flocked to the beaches to "watch it arrive" – almost the only fatalities were ambulance drivers hit by falling trees while trying to get to accident scenes. The whole notion of this type of tourism has been sort of a pet peeve for me ever since…

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