Request of all persons on the board

[DoctorHurricane2003]

The recent locking of Derek Ortt's thread with his forecast is disconcerting. It is an outrage that people would flame other people in their personal forecast threads leading them to ultimately get locked instead of letting them be open for debate.

If you have a problem with one of the member's forecast or with them personally...that is what the private messaging system is for. Leave their forecasts open for debate in the forum.

Thanks!

[Brent]

Hey Doctor... have you heard if your residence survived Ivan?

[Rainband]

Agreed. I locked it to prevent havoc in an already stressed enviornment. People, please!!! have respect for each other and take your gripes to pm.

[Pughetime]

I've been a lurker here but Derek's forecasts are something I not only look forward to but I have an enormous amount of confidence in them as well.

[mf_dolphin]

The thread was locked until we could edit out the garbage. The thread has now been unlocked

[rjgator]

DEreck spends an enormous amount of time and I respect his forecasts very much and have been listening to them since the Palm Beach Post Forum. Some people are just amped up and ready to jump on anyone. Keep up the good work and your efforts are much abliged.

[SeaBrz_FL]

I know I risk being suspended (or booted) for this post, but could you give a little more detail on what we should avoid to prevent this from happening again?

Obviously, most of us didn't get to read the post that locked the thread, but after reading the posts I've read here in the last month, it must have been very major. It appears the editted post was from HUGO from NC which really surprises me because he/she is DEFINITELY not one of the "instigators" here.

I'm not trying to start trouble, but I think we're confused if the rules have changed.

I received a "private message" 3 weeks ago notifying me that my post that mentioned "-removed-" was edited and that I was to refrain from using that term again, but I didn't complain when the board became overrun this last week with members directly calling each other people I disagree with (which I never did).

I realize that you are operating on a shoe string and trying to preserve the integrity of this fabulous board, but selective editting and admonishments from whichever Staff or Moderator is online at the time is inconsistent and alarming.

[mf_dolphin]

The edited post was not from Hugo just to clear that up. I edited the thread to remove some posts that were focused Derek and his qualifications.

As to some of the posts in the last week, it has been a trying time on the board for sure. We've grown by almost 2000 members in the last month, 1000 in the last week alone. Even with an active staff of more than a dozen it's extremely difficult if not impossible for us to catch everything. At STORM2K we do everything we can to promote a friendly exchange of information and ideas however with the massive influx of new people conflict is almost unavoidable. We will get things settled down. People will either learn to do things the STORM2K way or they won't be posting here for long. All we can ask is that people report offensive posts to the staff and don't feed the trolls.

[SeaBrz_FL]

Thank you very much for the response and clarification (and letting me vent). I'm sure it will help many understand your predicament. With this season, we need a stress-related psychologist on the board!

I've said it before, but can't say it enough --thanks for providing this great, now LIFESAVING, forum. I'm sorry I can't afford it now, but as soon as my roof is fixed, I'm sending you all a big donation for all your efforts.

SeaBrz

[mf_dolphin]

Your very welcome! I think we all need a chance to vent some I'd also like to take the time to say thank you to the Moderator Staff here on the board. They are all unpaid volunteers and they devote a tremendous amount of blood, sweat and tears to the board. It's truly a thankless job sometimes but the board couldn't survive without them!

[Hugo_Charlotte]

Me? Hugo from Charlotte..Huh???? What????

[mf_dolphin]

Not you Hugo that was just a misunderstanding

[Hugo_Charlotte]

[Sean in New Orleans]

Agreed....I wish this site had an ignore feature like a couple of other sites that I belong to--there are a couple of posters on this board that I would put that feature on and then I wouldn't ever have to see their posts. It's a great feature, IMO---if you don't want to read someone's posts because they are egotistical, constantly flaming, -removed-, etc...you don't even see it because they are on your "ignore" list!

[BlueNole]

I've been a lurker here but Derek's forecasts are something I not only look forward to but I have an enormous amount of confidence in them as well.

Same here. I respect Derek's forecasts regarding the weather. His forecast below of "hundreds of deaths" as a component of "good news" however, was uncalled for, and in fact, was disconcerting. Let's let the meteorologists stick to their specialty of forecasting weather and refrain from estimating body bag counts. Please. Thanks.

[jagesq]

Hey what happened to Hurricane_Lover, I must say I thoroughly enjoyed his thoughtful posts and forecasts. So well thought out, so well researched, so easy to understand, and above all, SO ACCURATE.