Hurricane Irene

[lizzieloo]

Apologies

Yardbird Saves the US/Caribbean

Fixed

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Single-handedly

 

[ferrelhadley]

Exactly. Yesterday, I was watching CNN. The weatherman made a big fuss when the winds in North Carolina gusted up to..............wait for it...............50 mph. Gusts of 50 mph.

Sustained wind speed in North Carolian were 85 mph gusting of up to 101 mph.

Why are you lying to us?

Why were you not getting on this hobby horse before the hurricane\ tropical storm had passed New York? Why are you playing the all knowing Monday morning quarter back? You think I am fooled by your game?

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

Sustained wind speed in North Carolian were 85 mph gusting of up to 101 mph.

Why are you lying to us?

Why were you not getting on this hobby horse before the hurricane\ tropical storm had passed New York? Why are you playing the all knowing Monday morning quarter back? You think I am fooled by your game?

I can only go by what I saw. I watched one minute of CNN yesterday. While I was watching, the weatherman got excited when the special windspeed monitors which are built into the weather map, indicated a gust of 50 mph.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

"Even if you have to walk, evacuate now," said New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
The city was under a tornado watch late Saturday. A tornado watch indicates that conditions are favorable for a tornado to form. No tornado has developed or been reported yet.
Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. Nutter declared a state of emergency, the first such declaration since 1986.
Ocean City, Maryland, Mayor Rick Meehan said Saturday evening that he was pulling police off the streets because of deteriorating conditions. Emergency calls will be handled on a case-by-case basis, Meehan told CNN.
Forecasters have told the mayor that waves could soar as high as 15 feet, especially when the worst of the storm hits the city between midnight and 3 a.m. Sunday.

"Do not venture outside," Meehan said. "This is not a hurricane party. This is a very serious storm."

This ain't no party! This ain't no disco! This ain't no foolin' around!

 

[ferrelhadley]

I can only go by what I saw.

Yeah sorry but fuck off.

Mr wise after the event who seen something on TV (irrespective of its accuracy). Shit trolling.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

Yeah sorry but fuck off.

Mr wise after the event who seen something on TV (irrespective of its accuracy). Shit trolling.

I said it was bullshit before the event.

Do you always get this worked up over American weather stories?

 

[ferrelhadley]

I said it was bullshit before the event.

Do you always get this worked up over American weather stories?

Monday morning quarter back. And as I have pointed out: wrong.

But you are not the kind of person who will ever be stopped by being wrong. So do carry on cunt.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

Monday morning quarter back. And as I have pointed out: wrong.

But you are not the kind of person who will ever be stopped by being wrong. So do carry on cunt.

You're a lovely person.

 

[Miss Caphat]

I'd say that the indications pointed to just that all along, and that the hyperbolic news reporting, resulting in panic buying etc, was irresponsible to say the least.

no it wasn't...it was sensible. It could have been much worse. It was huge in span and had great potential for flooding, tornadoes, and power outages. By the way, millions of people are without power.

not that I'm upset about you posting comments about the media hype-I somewhat agree

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

no it wasn't...it was sensible. It could have been much worse. It was huge in span and had great potential for flooding, tornadoes, and power outages. By the way, millions of people are without power.

not that I'm upset about you posting comments about the media hype-I somewhat agree

What little I watched was on CNN, and CNN made its name by continuous reporting of disasters of one sort or another. It got big reporting on Desert Storm, and it's taken the same approach with any impending news story since. CNN thrives on overkill, imo.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

You live on or near the East Coast, don't you? What happened in your neck of the woods?

 

[Miss Caphat]

yes I live right near the coast of massachusetts, below new hampshire. It just rained a lot and was windy. Power is out in most of the surrounding towns but not here. Irene had downgraded to a tropical storm before it reached here, and had also changed course a bit, moving westward and a bit faster. It was supposed to hit us directly at about 6 or 7 pm during high tide and certainly would have caused some flooding.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

Here's the Canadian version of the warning:

"All we're doing right now is just giving everybody a headsup and saying there is something heading our way, it is a storm of tropical origin, they can pack a wallop, so let's all just pay attention," said Peter Boyer, a meteorologist with the Canadian Hurricane Centre.

http://www.nationalpost.com/Irene+could+bring+heavy+rain+Eastern+Ontario+Quebec/5309698/story.html

 

[Miss Caphat]

the thing with weather, especially large low pressure systems is that there are so many variables it's almost impossible to accurately predict what is going to happen and when/where. Problem is people mistakenly believe that meteorologists have more insight than they actually do, and they get frustrated when things don't happen as predicted.
so, I think it's a combination of hype and misinformation on the part of the public.
It's better to take precautions than not imo/ime.

 

[Miss Caphat]

Here's the Canadian version of the warning:



http://www.nationalpost.com/Irene could bring heavy rain Eastern Ontario Quebec/5309698/story.html

but dude you live in Canada. That's a hell of a long way for a tropical storm to travel, so of course it's not likely to cause any serious damage.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

but dude you live in Canada. That's a hell of a long way for a tropical storm to travel, so of course it's not likely to cause any serious damage. also because of various factors tropical storms don't generally hit the west coast.

Storms gain strength over water. There have been storms that weakened as they crossed New England, then picked up strength again as they cross Lake Ontario.

p.s. the warning was meant for Eastern Canada, not here. But we have had hurricanes here in the past. A hurricane/typhoon called Freda blew down most of the trees in Stanley Park.

I looked it up: there've been a few over the years.

http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/engli...999/majorhurricanes/hurricanes_stats_new.html

 

[Miss Caphat]

I don't see your point. if there had been a danger to eastern Canada, it would have been reported as such. Despite the fact that what you're saying is true in a sense, tropical storms start in the tropics and have the greatest impact there, losing strength as they travel north, even though they are typically traveling over water the whole time. Which is why it is always a hit or miss situation here in New England.
If we're comparing frequency, it's easy to see that New England has had far more severe hurricanes/tropical storms than Canada, yet far less than any of the southern coastal states. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_New_England_hurricanes

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

I don't see your point. if there had been a danger to eastern Canada, it would have been reported as such. Despite the fact that what you're saying is true in a sense, tropical storms start in the tropics and have the greatest impact there, losing strength as they travel north, even though they are typically traveling over water the whole time. Which is why it is always a hit or miss situation here in New England.
If we're comparing frequency, it's easy to see that New England has had far more severe hurricanes/tropical storms than Canada, yet far less than any of the southern coastal states. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_New_England_hurricanes

There is no point. I was comparing the tenor of the news stories in Canada vs the US.

Let's not forget that the storm was declared a Category 1 before it even made landfall in the Northeast.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

Hurricane Irene may have been a category one storm, but some wondered if hot air from the media and politicians wasn't what really blew off the scale.
New York is the biggest US city, media capital, financial powerhouse and one of the most photogenic places on Earth -- Hollywood's favorite backdrop for disaster movies.
So, given the chance to report on a rare storm at their doorstep, TV networks headquartered in Manhattan did not disappoint.
Beautifully coiffed and tanned weathermen competed to paint more terrifying scenarios.

Even before Irene was anywhere near New York, one big network aired a colorful report about a possible urban apocalypse, with JFK airport under 20 feet of water, Wall Street submerged, and the subway system "knocked out."
During the actual storm some TV reporters -- and stars like CNN's Anderson Cooper -- took the tone to yet another level.

Dripping wet, wind scraping at their microphones, the reporters stood resolutely in the familiar pose of hurricane journalists -- water everywhere and bodies bent to the gale.
Never mind that during one network's report, ordinary people could be seen calmly walking around while the correspondent seemingly battled to stay upright. Or that sometimes the extent of flooding shown in New York seemed to have been exaggerated through clever camera angles.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/af...ocId=CNG.2d8b43d5c0ba134157b858447e0197fd.191

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, seen by some as a dark horse contender for Republican presidential candidate, confronted Irene in his own particular media savvy way.
Not only did he order one million people out of their homes, he loudly told everyone to "get the hell off the beach." They did, fleeing in droves -- and Christie's authority was boosted.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg -- still stung by criticism that the city failed miserably in a huge snow storm last winter -- shut down New York before so much as a rain drop fell.

............

And persuading the public of danger next time around may be difficult -- with deadly results, he warned.

"How many people will the hyping of Irene have killed?" Michaels asked. "That's how Hurricane Hype followed by Hurricane Insanity leads to hurricane death."

................

 

[dilute micro]

Some pics from the NC outer banks which took the brunt. Much of this damage happens when water is returning back to the sea.

 

[dilute micro]

I'd say that the indications pointed to just that all along, and that the hyperbolic news reporting, resulting in panic buying etc, was irresponsible to say the least.

You can't know where the storm is going to go. They can guess a track but the storm will do what it does. Some have come up the coast and then stopped and hovered then moved on.

 

[dilute micro]

What little I watched was on CNN, and CNN made its name by continuous reporting of disasters of one sort or another. It got big reporting on Desert Storm, and it's taken the same approach with any impending news story since. CNN thrives on overkill, imo.

You were watching reports on Irene before it hit land.

The danger depends on lots of things. If you live near rivers or creeks in low elevation areas it's good to go somewhere else. It's a matter of how much rain will fall. During Floyd people were dying because they were trying to leave for higher ground. The local river rose 24 feet above normal. When you get that much rain - 17" - it's really hard to tell what roads will be cut off either by water or fallen trees. 6" of moving water can pick up a truck and slide it off the road. That happened to a guy trying to get to his family. He drowned in a creek that at the time looked like a river but only 6 inches of water was flowing over the bridge. I remember that one from the local news. I've never seen the news people like that - on the verge of cursing their viewers. The anchors were pissed that so many people were drowning.

 

[Miss Caphat]

Johnny, you might have a point but what's getting in the way is your general lack of understanding of weather/big storms.Yes, you found some examples of media hype. But comparing hurricane hype to the news in Canada is neither here nor there. You'd have to pick a different subject in order to prove your point.

anyway, as it happens, New England might be becoming one of the hardest hit areas. There has been a lot of flooding in Vermont and NH and the Connecticut River is rising to flood levels and may flood many more areas in the next few days.

http://www.latimes.com/news/la-na-0829-hurricane-irene-20110829,0,4750693.story?track=rss

 

[Miss Caphat]

more "hype" pics

This is the town in CT where my grandma lives

 

[Miss Caphat]

and yeah it was probably silly to shut down the trains

 

[Miss Caphat]

because New York didn't flood at all

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

Johnny, you might have a point but what's getting in the way is your general lack of understanding of weather/big storms.Yes, you found some examples of media hype.

The point is that there are different threat levels, depending in the severity of the storm approaching. Arguably, a higher threat level is warranted by the approach of a Category 5 hurricane than by the approach of a Category 1.

The examples I found weren't found by me, but were reported on by another media outlet, which is unusual in and of itself. As that article concludes, the problem created by saying that the sky is falling when it's not, is that people, who are never all that eager to evacuate their homes, will be even less likely to believe the media and the authorities next time, when real danger approaches.

 

[Miss Caphat]

argh. do you understand that storms change from one category to the next as they travel? It was still supposed to be category 4 iirc when it hit New York and possibly New England.

and I don't agree with that article or whatever you're trying to say. Because:
A. weathermen did not predict the storm incorrectly, the storm changed. It happens all the time. Meteorologists are not psychics.

B. decisions have to be made days in advance for things like evacuations. These decisions were made when the initial predictions were made. Officials erred on the side of caution to avoid a complete disaster which could have been very possible.

C. the news stations may be responsible for hyping up the stories, but they are not responsible for the decisions made by town and city officials. They are advised by their sources about what action to take.

and finally, if people are such morons that they don't understand any of the above and as a result, next time they choose to stay in their homes, so be it. It's not the fault of people who were trying to keep them safe.