|
On August 29 2011 10:23 LegendaryZ wrote:Show nested quote +On August 29 2011 10:10 muse5187 wrote:On August 29 2011 10:00 LegendaryZ wrote:On August 29 2011 09:27 Xivsa wrote:On August 29 2011 09:16 LegendaryZ wrote:On August 29 2011 03:53 mav451 wrote:On August 29 2011 02:15 Moochlol wrote: The winds following the ass of this storm, are becoming way more dangerous than I had expected, two huge trees came feet from landing on my house in NE PA. To the people claiming this is nothing but hype, hold your comments to yourself. Trees falling are fucking dangerous regardless of how much sensationalism the media has given this storm. Yeah I'd ignore those posts. Lot of metropolitan/city folk have extreme tunnel vision of the realities of what's happening outside. I know some people in Manhattan who are whining about it this being 'overrated'. Talk about a total loss of perspective on those idiots - I'd just ignore them. PS - Pepco, the worst electric company in the nation, is failing again. Hundreds of thousands in DC without power. Not a total surpise, but yeah. I don't think anyone's saying that there weren't dangers or damage done. We're just saying that the media hype just wasn't justified. The fact that a tree fell a few feet from your house is pretty irrelevant to that. The hype was justified. Just because NYC didn't experience major damage does not mean that over 4 million Americans aren't without power, that parts of Philadelphia aren't under 15 ft of water, that Vermont hasn't had catastrophic flooding across almost every large riverbank in the state, nor that 16 (confirmed so far) people haven't died because of the storm. If the media told everyone to ignore evacuation orders and take the storm lightly, total damage and storm casualties may have been much worse. It's impossible to predict where exactly the worse wind damage and flooding will occur, especially given the massive size of what was tropical storm (hurricane) Irene. The problem with doing this is you're pretty much crying wolf every time you sensationalize an event like this. You can be realistic about the level of damage that a given area is likely to suffer without making it out to be the next world war with 24-hour coverage and nothing but pictures and videos of worst-case scenarios to strike fear into peoples' hearts. I don't really agree with that. These people aren't used to a hurricane, and as the flooding is showing they likely saved a good amount of lives. One life is worth it right? You would have to be stupid to blow a hurricane off because the last one was weak. Yet plenty of people will blow it off next time and if the goal is saving lives, in the big picture, you will have failed because of it. This is really no different from the media crying "blizzard of the century" every other winter or droning on and on about the constant risk of getting blown up by a terrorist whenever you're out in public in NYC. People close businesses, are inconvenienced, lose money, and all for what? Rain, wind and flooding in isolated parts of the city? Let those parts of the city worry about it and give me a realistic report so I know to get on with my life. I found it hilarious how the news was constantly talking about how New Yorkers don't take them or their warnings seriously when all they were doing with their overblown reports was just proving us right for not taking them seriously.
are you at all familiar with the geography of long island? A six foot storm surge puts the entirety of long beach and fire island underwater. as if the island was never there.
Also, the road to get to my house in vermont has become a river. there use to be a small, SMALL creek on either side, and now those two creeks have met in the middle and the road flows downhill. That being said, the storm was SO overrated. So imagine if it did in fact gain some speed and power on its way up, as a hurricane is apt to do. Boy would the governers' faces have been red if they stayed quiet and their contituents got buried in water.
anyone not evacuating the long beach area is retarded. anyone else not in immediate danger smartened up and stayed in doors. im pretty sure every warning given was heeded and with good purpose.
|
you can look out your window and see a branch or two on the ground and think "Psh, seriously?"
but then keep in mind that noone was really concerned about your area and take a look at the places that were asked to evacuate and say yeah okay whatever nbd. kind of like taking the small tremor we had up here and saying OMG I WAS HIT WITH A 5.9 EARTHQUAKE WHAT A JOKE
|
Pretty obvious how this was going to turn out beforehand. The media always overhype big weather events like this, triply so when it involves the 95 corridor.
I didn't even lose power.
|
On August 29 2011 10:00 LegendaryZ wrote:Show nested quote +On August 29 2011 09:27 Xivsa wrote:On August 29 2011 09:16 LegendaryZ wrote:On August 29 2011 03:53 mav451 wrote:On August 29 2011 02:15 Moochlol wrote: The winds following the ass of this storm, are becoming way more dangerous than I had expected, two huge trees came feet from landing on my house in NE PA. To the people claiming this is nothing but hype, hold your comments to yourself. Trees falling are fucking dangerous regardless of how much sensationalism the media has given this storm. Yeah I'd ignore those posts. Lot of metropolitan/city folk have extreme tunnel vision of the realities of what's happening outside. I know some people in Manhattan who are whining about it this being 'overrated'. Talk about a total loss of perspective on those idiots - I'd just ignore them. PS - Pepco, the worst electric company in the nation, is failing again. Hundreds of thousands in DC without power. Not a total surpise, but yeah. I don't think anyone's saying that there weren't dangers or damage done. We're just saying that the media hype just wasn't justified. The fact that a tree fell a few feet from your house is pretty irrelevant to that. The hype was justified. Just because NYC didn't experience major damage does not mean that over 4 million Americans aren't without power, that parts of Philadelphia aren't under 15 ft of water, that Vermont hasn't had catastrophic flooding across almost every large riverbank in the state, nor that 16 (confirmed so far) people haven't died because of the storm. If the media told everyone to ignore evacuation orders and take the storm lightly, total damage and storm casualties may have been much worse. It's impossible to predict where exactly the worse wind damage and flooding will occur, especially given the massive size of what was tropical storm (hurricane) Irene. The problem with doing this is you're pretty much crying wolf every time you sensationalize an event like this. You can be realistic about the level of damage that a given area is likely to suffer without making it out to be the next world war with 24-hour coverage and nothing but pictures and videos of worst-case scenarios to strike fear into peoples' hearts.
Every time a Category 1 hurricane or a tropical storm with sustained winds over 60 mph threatens NYC or the tristate area, I'm perfectly fine with the media, or myself, "crying wolf" as you put it. Obviously, you can take what the media says with a grain of salt - the media is the media, not the government agencies trying to warn people and prepare for bad conditions. If you're worried about people being 'struck by fear' because of, god forbid, 24 hour news coverage then I think you need to find new things to worry about.
|
On August 29 2011 10:52 Gene wrote: are you at all familiar with the geography of long island? A six foot storm surge puts the entirety of long beach and fire island underwater. as if the island was never there.
Also, the road to get to my house in vermont has become a river. there use to be a small, SMALL creek on either side, and now those two creeks have met in the middle and the road flows downhill. That being said, the storm was SO overrated. So imagine if it did in fact gain some speed and power on its way up, as a hurricane is apt to do. Boy would the governers' faces have been red if they stayed quiet and their contituents got buried in water.
anyone not evacuating the long beach area is retarded. anyone else not in immediate danger smartened up and stayed in doors. im pretty sure every warning given was heeded and with good purpose.
Yes I am familiar with the geography of Long Island. I'm also familiar with the fact that Long Island is not a part of NYC, which is the city I was talking about.
On August 29 2011 11:16 Xivsa wrote: Every time a Category 1 hurricane or a tropical storm with sustained winds over 60 mph threatens NYC or the tristate area, I'm perfectly fine with the media, or myself, "crying wolf" as you put it. Obviously, you can take what the media says with a grain of salt - the media is the media, not the government agencies trying to warn people and prepare for bad conditions. If you're worried about people being 'struck by fear' because of, god forbid, 24 hour news coverage then I think you need to find new things to worry about.
Honestly, I'm far more irked about mass transit closing down at noon than anything else at this point. That aside, the media "cries wolf" about absolutely everything. If it's not some massive snowstorm that never comes, it's the dangerous heatwave that hospitalized an idiot who stayed out in it too long. Can you guess what happens every single time? NOTHING. And then it's just business as usual the following day. I can understand unpredictability. Hell, I can even understand the need to be cautious. But the dreadfully low percentage of accuracy in their predictions and broadcasted projections does make me wonder.
|
On August 29 2011 11:35 LegendaryZ wrote:Show nested quote +On August 29 2011 10:52 Gene wrote: are you at all familiar with the geography of long island? A six foot storm surge puts the entirety of long beach and fire island underwater. as if the island was never there.
Also, the road to get to my house in vermont has become a river. there use to be a small, SMALL creek on either side, and now those two creeks have met in the middle and the road flows downhill. That being said, the storm was SO overrated. So imagine if it did in fact gain some speed and power on its way up, as a hurricane is apt to do. Boy would the governers' faces have been red if they stayed quiet and their contituents got buried in water.
anyone not evacuating the long beach area is retarded. anyone else not in immediate danger smartened up and stayed in doors. im pretty sure every warning given was heeded and with good purpose. Yes I am familiar with the geography of Long Island. I'm also familiar with the fact that Long Island is not a part of NYC, which is the city I was talking about.
JFK airport, queens, and brooklyn are all in NYC and on long island. Even if they weren't that doesnt change anything. You complained about the crazy media, its not like only nyc has tv.
|
Baltimore, USA22251 Posts
I lost power and spent about 4 hours Saturday night bailing out my sub-pump so my basement wouldn't flood.
NOT AT ALL how I wanted to spend my night. 
Edit - North East, Maryland for reference.
|
A lot of fallen branches and only a few fallen trees. Those few fallen trees managed to knock out a few key traffic lights. A lot of peoples' curiosity sparked or the 28th is officially the 'take the family for a walk' day. Combine that with the traffic lights, driving became a bitch. But the most important thing of all?
We're still alive.
Best wishes to those on the eastern seaboard.
Love, Long Island, New York
|
On August 29 2011 11:44 muse5187 wrote:Show nested quote +On August 29 2011 11:35 LegendaryZ wrote:On August 29 2011 10:52 Gene wrote: are you at all familiar with the geography of long island? A six foot storm surge puts the entirety of long beach and fire island underwater. as if the island was never there.
Also, the road to get to my house in vermont has become a river. there use to be a small, SMALL creek on either side, and now those two creeks have met in the middle and the road flows downhill. That being said, the storm was SO overrated. So imagine if it did in fact gain some speed and power on its way up, as a hurricane is apt to do. Boy would the governers' faces have been red if they stayed quiet and their contituents got buried in water.
anyone not evacuating the long beach area is retarded. anyone else not in immediate danger smartened up and stayed in doors. im pretty sure every warning given was heeded and with good purpose. Yes I am familiar with the geography of Long Island. I'm also familiar with the fact that Long Island is not a part of NYC, which is the city I was talking about. JFK airport, queens, and brooklyn are all in NYC and on long island. Even if they weren't that doesnt change anything. You complained about the crazy media, its not like only nyc has tv.
While geographically speaking, you're correct, nobody seriously thinks about Queens or Brooklyn when you're talking about Long Island because it's politically separate. Also both Queens and Brooklyn are more elevated and not surrounded by nearly as much water as Nassau and Suffolk.
My complaints were primarily toward local media, although national media certainly had its own fair share of sensationalism going on.
|
On August 29 2011 11:13 Fleebenworth wrote: Pretty obvious how this was going to turn out beforehand. The media always overhype big weather events like this, triply so when it involves the 95 corridor.
I didn't even lose power.
I live in Miami, hurricane central, 3 feet above sea level. Imagine my view on all of this. While it seems the Northeast is just overall unprepared for anything by nature, the evacuations for a category 1 hurricane and all of the world-is-ending scenarios are quite hilarious.
|
|
On August 29 2011 11:55 Game wrote:Show nested quote +On August 29 2011 11:13 Fleebenworth wrote: Pretty obvious how this was going to turn out beforehand. The media always overhype big weather events like this, triply so when it involves the 95 corridor.
I didn't even lose power. I live in Miami, hurricane central, 3 feet above sea level. Imagine my view on all of this. While it seems the Northeast is just overall unprepared for anything by nature, the evacuations for a category 1 hurricane and all of the world-is-ending scenarios are quite hilarious. Because this is a hurricane e-peen contest. The evacuations are because of flooding not because of the wind.
|
When the media started making a big deal about this hurricane, I just shrugged it off assuming the news was exaggerating, which they usually do, but now there's a tree on my house, a hole in the attic, and a broken chimney.
:S
I live in Medfield, MA and this kind of stuff never really happens here.
|
On August 29 2011 12:03 Antares777 wrote: When the media started making a big deal about this hurricane, I just shrugged it off assuming the news was exaggerating, which they usually do, but now there's a tree on my house, a hole in the attic, and a broken chimney.
:S
I live in Medfield, MA and this kind of stuff never really happens here. So if you had bought into the hype, would it have prevented a tree from falling on your house?
|
On August 29 2011 12:17 LegendaryZ wrote:Show nested quote +On August 29 2011 12:03 Antares777 wrote: When the media started making a big deal about this hurricane, I just shrugged it off assuming the news was exaggerating, which they usually do, but now there's a tree on my house, a hole in the attic, and a broken chimney.
:S
I live in Medfield, MA and this kind of stuff never really happens here. So if you had bought into the hype, would it have prevented a tree from falling on your house?
If there had been no hype would his house have been saved?
|
Well for me, there was close to no damage, a few stray branches. I'm happy it turned out alright, but there have been some fatalities, so my condolences.
|
Ri shore, lots of wind, little rain, high tide sweeping over the seawall and past a row of houses. Lost power at 6 am, they say it could take 5 days to get it back
|
It's really not "crying wolf"... look how much damage was done just a couple hours away (most cases less than a hour away)... the truth is the media has no idea how powerful the storm is going to be by the time it gets to each state. So the best bet is to be prepared.
They straight up said the winds arent as bad as Hurricaine Gloria was, but that it was moving slower, so the bigger worry was flooding in areas that are vulnerable.
But you gotta realize, if you were watching Irene on radar, poeple in NY onward only had a storm that was pretty much half as big as everywhere else - the southern "half" below the eye broke apart right as it hit NY. If this didnt happen at that point, and if it didnt get downgraded to tropical storm, think of how much worse things would have been,
I really hope the people who think it was crying wolf get some sense and dont ignore things next time something like this happens.
|
On August 29 2011 12:17 LegendaryZ wrote:Show nested quote +On August 29 2011 12:03 Antares777 wrote: When the media started making a big deal about this hurricane, I just shrugged it off assuming the news was exaggerating, which they usually do, but now there's a tree on my house, a hole in the attic, and a broken chimney.
:S
I live in Medfield, MA and this kind of stuff never really happens here. So if you had bought into the hype, would it have prevented a tree from falling on your house? kind of missing the point entirely...?
|
A lot of people complain about the attention the north east gets for natural disasters that are at first glance minor compared to what other parts of the country have to deal with.
Consider that on the coast between Washington D.C. and Boston in what amounts to about 2% of the land area of the United States, there lives almost 20% of the United States population. The high population and the population density make any threat to the region much more significant.
It is also a region that gets a little bit of everything on top of potentially heavy snow and blizzards in the winter. Yeah the quake last week was small by west coast standards but on the west coast they don't use bricks to construct buildings and the building codes are designed precisely to deal with quakes. The cities are much older, with many buildings designed prior to modern building codes. On top of that they need to deal with with snow and retaining heat. A tall slanted roof on a home probably isn't the best thing to have in a big hurricane though. Yeah the north east gets weaker hurricanes but they don't have as much invested in infrastructure to deal with tidal surge and flooding rivers and the cities are generally more compact with just less place for water to go.
Irene turned out to not be so bad and yet it still cost a fortune in damages and power outages. It doesn't take too many fallen trees and large branches to knock the power out in an entire town. In the tropics where they experience cat 4 and 5 storms they have trees which evolved to deal with wind and can flex extensively without snapping. The trees up in the north east are not like that. They get a lot of wind in the winter when the trees have no leaves and the wind passes right between the branches (and the ground is frozen to anchor the trees further). Irene was a tropical storm and it still managed to knock down some pretty damn big trees in my area in south eastern Massachusetts. <edit> And I missed almost all of mlg today thanks to it :/
So part of me is annoyed with the media hyping the whole thing up just to keep people scared and tuned in to increase their ratings ( it's what the "news" does best after all). On the other hand it is true that the storm was a potentially huge disaster and the coverage was warranted. I would say a strong category 2 or higher hurricane hitting the populated areas of the north east would easily be a bigger story than a category 5 hurricane hitting anywhere else (except a dead hit on a major city ie Katrina) simply because the potential for destruction is so much greater.
|
|
|
|