CNN’s Anderson Cooper was quoted telling a weather expert after learning that the peak of Irene’s mild fury had passed Manhattan. “It’s an annoying rain but it isn’t even a sideways rain.”
Today, some experts are wondering whether Irene media overkill will lead to similar inaction the next time a storm barrels up the Atlantic – even if it really does prove to be a major hurricane.
Jarvis said bluntly last night that his warning to many journalists is that “you’ve ruined your credibility. The next time when it is a Category 5 storm . . . it’s going to sound like this one.”
When it is a real storm nobody will know the difference and remember the hype!
I still remember the 50 tornado warnings issued from the NWS for my area in 24 hours and the nearest touch down was over 30 miles away! When My barn roof blew off there was no warning. When a few trees blew down I was warned for 24 hours catastrophe was imminent! They need to be realistic about their warnings!
Unquestionably the media over-hyped Irene – guess they missed out on the fable “The Boy That Cried Wolf”. One of my colleagues flew back to North Carolina for the storm – he has a boat berthed there – when he comes back this week I’ll get his take. He is a no-nonsense guy, has been through many storms and surges and he’ll have the real story.
Funny huh? You get better info from blogs and friends than from the media. Hey, any journalists reading here?
Steven,
Your site looks great; I was on it all weekend tracking the Real Irene.
Thanks!
YouTube of it