Was Irene Overblown?

[RJay]

The media and forecasters reported that hurricane Irene would slam the east coast producing devastating damage from wind, rain and storm surge. States all along the eastern seaboard activated evacuation procedures as far north as New York with New York shutting down the subway system and evacuating 350,000 residents. New Jersey has reported damage as high as in the tens of billions of dollars. If you were in the direct path of the storm you probably experienced the worst of conditions, but was this storm overblown by the media?

[SeeTheUSA]

This may shed some light on the question you pose:

George Will feels media reaction to Irene overblown*|*Raw Replay

So . . . are you smart enough or do you need way more intelligent folks, such as the reporter out in the hurricane about to take a picnic table in the head (now that would be some sensational video!), to lead you around?

[wingtrike]

No.

["007"]

The media over blows everything.
As far as the storm goes the people that were directly involved within it they have survived it and will pull through.
The pictures on the news this morning from N.J, VT. and upper state N.Y. have not been seen in over 100 years if ever.
We have been lucky on east coast I haven't seen anything as bad as 38,55 or 94 in some time,we must be due.

[tvman44]

IMHO way over blown, only a cat 1. Heaven help them if they ever get a cat 4 or 5 like we get around here.

[ajm12]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RJay The media and forecasters reported that hurricane Irene would slam the east coast producing devastating damage from wind, rain and storm surge. States all along the eastern seaboard activated evacuation procedures as far north as New York with New York shutting down the subway system and evacuating 350,000 residents. New Jersey has reported damage as high as in the tens of billions of dollars. If you were in the direct path of the storm you probably experienced the worst of conditions, but was this storm overblown by the media?

Yes sometimes the news media will blow things out of proportion. But with that said. People must respect these storms. No one can predict what might happen. Even in a small storm that might just come near you can create damage. They tender to produce Tornadoes and also push a lot of water.
I am a retired fire fighter from New Orleans and i was working for Katrina. I was amazed of the amount of people that did not leave. They all though everything would hold and if it was not for some miss calculations of the Corp of Engineers things might have been okay (but that is another discussions). I spent 6 days after the storm Chopping people out of there attics and bringing them to dry ground. So in IMHO it is better to take a little precaution then to become part of the problem.

[W4MBG]

overblown? no. we were just very fortunate that it dropped from a 3 to a 1 before it hit.

[RJay]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W4MBG overblown? no. we were just very fortunate that it dropped from a 3 to a 1 before it hit.

You may be right if your talking about the outer banks of the Carolina's where it first made landfall but the storms intensity was well known by the time it reached New York.

[RVThere]

Let's see:
I-287 collapsed and is closed.
We lost power for 12 hours but hooked the refrig and freezer to the MH genset so we were OK.
In-laws live 3 miles away and have been without power for 30 hours now.
Some NJ rivers won't crest until later today or tomorrow.
One river, the Millstone, rose from 3 feet to 22 feet in 12 hours
Over 10 inches of rain fell during the storm.

Overblown? Not by a long shot.

[GOLDWINGER2]

Ask the victims of Katrina.
J

[gmasters]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GOLDWINGER2 Ask the victims of Katrina. J

Those people in katrina had time to leave, but didnt

[njs42]

Media? It is a competive business----young field reporters struggle to make producers happy and a name in the business. It can get a bit tiring.

National weather gurus predicted the path within 10 miles---kudos. Turns out it is much more difficult to predict the intensity.

So that leads to local officials who must make the choice---evacuate or not---IMHO they did just fine.

Be prepared.

[njs42]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gmasters Those people in katrina had time to leave, but didnt

Many could not leave----

[edj]

Maybe it was overhyped somewhat. BUT, people in the NE rarely get hurricanes coming their way. Better to be over-prepared than under-prepared. Also, there are a LOT of very big trees that rarely see high winds. When high winds arrive, a lot of them come crashing down on utility lines, houses and roads. While a Cat 1 storm does not do much damage down south with few trees, it can do severe damage in the north.

The networks seemed to go through the same thing over and over. While that was obvious to those who sat and watched all day long, people just tuning in for a little while only saw it once. They wanted the info to be available when they were able to turn the TV on.