So, the media hyped the hell out of Hurricane Irene, and then the whole thing sort of fizzled:
The media and the United States federal government [are] trying to live up to their own doom-laden warnings and predictions while a sizeable number of ordinary Americans just carried on as normal and even made gentle fun of all the fuss.
Yes, the coverage was overkill and just this side of hysteria. Duh. That's sort of what we do in the media, especially on TV when there's a lot of bad weather to photograph. Whether coverage of a particular event is too over the top depends on ambient circumstances.
And, personally, I'd rather see overkill than underplay. I realize that, over the long term, there could be a crying-wolf effect that makes people take risks they shouldn't. But if I'm in the middle of the target zone, I want all the information I can get -- including the breathless hype -- so I can decide to get out of Dodge ahead of the mayhem.
Like this guy says:
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who shut down the transportation system and mandatorily evacuated an estimated 2 million city residents, declared, “We did the right thing.” I am not a huge fan of the mayor, but this time I think he is right. There was no telling in advance what path the storm might take, nor was there any way of knowing whether power lines would go down.
Comments
Leo:
I don't know if Irene "fizzled...at $10 BILLION bucks, that's a LOT of "fizz" on the dollar (and the loss of at least 40 lives).
Fifth worse storm ever...gotta mean something.
Emergency preparedness is like a firearm:
Better to HAVE it and NOT NEED it, than to NEED it...and NOT HAVE it.
I'll take some of that overkill, thank you.
I'm just sayin'...
I'm starting to agree with Bob again. Must be my choice of liquid libation.
I would add that we will never know how much worse the death toll might have been had the media and the feds not reacted so excitedly about the approach of a very large hurricane.
Without all those breathless warnings, one wonders how many more people might have foolishly chosen to ride out the storm, rather than move inland.
I lived 15 years in South Carolina, and I know hurricanes. Even a Cat 1 will tear off roofs and send trees crashing through sturdy-looking houses. People tend to die when those things happen.
There is also, obviously, the political calculation. Every politician in the country remembers the criticism Dubya had to endure for remaining on vaction during and even after Katrina. Nobody wants to be in that position. You never really knows how bad a hurricane will be until it actually hits land.