Brendan Loy

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Brendan Loy is an American law student at the University of Notre Dame who publishes a blog entitled The Irish Trojan's Blog. Loy gained attention on the Internet for his vigorous blogging on Hurricane Katrina, urging evacuations at a time when local authorities had not yet acted and the national media, with the exception of the Weather Channel, was still largely focused on threats to Florida rather than Louisiana. Though he does not have any formal meteorological training, Loy is a self-admitted "hurricane buff" and "weather nerd." He was a finalist for The Week magazine's "Blogger of the Year" for 2005.^[1]

Loy is a native of Newington, Connecticut. He graduated from the University of Southern California.

1 Hurricane Katrina coverage
2 Other media attention
3 Notes
4 External link

[edit] Hurricane Katrina coverage

At 1:57 p.m. on Friday, August 26, 2005, nearly two days before Mayor Ray Nagin of New Orleans issued a mandatory evacuation of the city, Loy wrote, "At the risk of being alarmist, we could be 3-4 days away from an unprecedented cataclysm that could kill as many as 100,000 people in New Orleans...If I were in New Orleans, I would seriously consider getting the hell out of dodge right now, just in case."^[2] Later that day, Glenn Reynolds of InstaPundit linked to Loy's site, causing thousands of people—including some in the New Orleans area—to view his warnings. Loy's site became increasingly heavily trafficked as Katrina approached and eventually made landfall, and ultimately became the "most frequently cited hurricane-related blog" for Katrina-related coverage, according to Intelliseek's Blogpulse.^[3]

In the aftermath of the storm, Loy's posts describing Katrina's potential devastation were seized upon by a few journalists investigating what some saw as a slow and inadequate government response to Katrina. Unfortunately, they ignored the crucial issue, which many, including Loy, cited repeatedly: lack of preparedness and proactive solutions were far more damaging than any negligent or mismanaged response. Though Loy freely admits that he merely passed on information readily obtainable from the National Weather Service, Accuweather, and other sources, Loy was nonetheless the subject of articles in The New York Times,^[4] The Washington Post,^[5] and the Associated Press,^[6] and he appeared on MSNBC^[7] and the national syndicated Hugh Hewitt radio show, among others.

On Friday, September 2, 2005, blogger Mickey Kaus declared, "Loy's blog for the past week is a pretty extraordinary document. It should maybe be in the Smithsonian, if you can put a blog in the Smithsonian."

Although a few journalists and blog visitors credited Loy with "predicting" Katrina's path, he pointed out repeatedly^[8]^[9] that the information was already out there from sources such as the National Hurricane Center and other respected meteorologists, and he merely passed that information along to his readers. Loy has also relayed the theory, espoused by other meteorologists ^[10] that, but for a last-minute shift in the storm's path, Katrina's eye would have passed directly over downtown New Orleans, causing even more extensive damage and deaths approaching or exceeding 100,000. This apocalyptic theory had been predicted for years by weather experts.^[11]

Loy was featured in Spike Lee's HBO documentary film When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts, premiered in August of 2006.^[12]

[edit] Other media attention

The Irish Trojan's Blog has received media attention outside of Hurrican Katrina coverage. Loy's blog was featured in a South Bend Tribune article on local bloggers.^[13] Loy and the The Irish Trojan's Blog have been linked to by Michelle Malkin, Instapundit and other sites for topics including sports, popular culture, and politics. Loy also authored a piece for Sports Illustrated on Campus entitled "The Perfect Bracket: How to come out on top in your NCAA tournament pool."^[14]