DALLAS, Tx. – After a tornado ripped through parts of northern Dallas, a TV station from the city has issued an apology for not cutting into a Cowboys game for a tornado warning.
The EF-3 storm with winds of 140 mph touched down in the city around 9:30 p.m. and tore apart buildings, uprooted trees and snapped utility poles in half, according to CNN affiliate KTVT.
According to the Dallas Office of Emergency Management, three people were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening storm-related injuries. Officials say the storm went through a densely populated part of the city and they believe they are lucky there were no fatalities.
During the storm, NBC 5 made the decision to not cut into the Cowboys game, and some viewers on social media were not happy.
Cowboys over possibly deaths seems like a firing offense to me.
— F blanch (@Fab7555) October 22, 2019
It was only an EF-3 tornado! Ratings matter more!
— va room (@VaBogu) October 22, 2019
The decision to cut into programming or not is one that is made in newsrooms across the country, including ours, in times of inclement weather.
On Monday, after the dust had settled and officials were able to come to grips with the destruction left in the storm's wake, Dallas NBC station NBC 5 released the following apology:
During Sunday night's Dallas Cowboys game, we made a mistake by not immediately interrupting the football game with a Tornado Warning.
Although our meteorologists were tracking thunderstorms across the area when the National Weather Service issued a Tornado Warning for Dallas County, we delayed breaking into programming for six minutes.
Our meteorologists were also streaming live weather coverage throughout the evening on our site, NBCDFW.com. We also alerted the football audience to our weather livestream throughout the game.
When it comes to dealing with severe weather, we know that seconds matter. We should have broken into football programming sooner. We apologize and want you to know that we're doing everything in our power to make sure this does not happen again.
We look forward to regaining the trust of anyone we may have disappointed.
Many praised the news station for owning up to its decision, and some said they are still disappointed.
Y’all dropped the ball big time but thanks for realizing and admitting the mistake and committing to making better judgments going forward.
— Brad Young (@notbradleyyoung) October 21, 2019
We were really frustrated that the sirens started going off here and the wind and rain was insane, yet the game was still going. We had to change the channel so we could stay up-to-date.
— Vino Drinker, Foodie & Traveler (@vino_foodie) October 21, 2019