Reply #53: Which is really good

[kdmorris]

I would expect that local news would be better at this sort of reporting (my local news was not - they said that Irene would cause "unprecedented destruction" (Andrew?), and "end life as we knew it in SE Florida". And we were not even under a tropical storm watch at the time - no watches or warnings were ever issued for my area). The Weather Channel, CNN, MSNBC... mainly the national "news" stations. And of course, the terror junkies here at DU, apparently.

It is good that you are respectful of the potential loss of life. I assume from that statement that you've been through these before.

Calm, factual reporting of the news that a category 1 (or 2 or 3) storm is heading for your area, with information on what you need to do is what everyone should strive for in these situations. And then... do what you need to protect your life and property.

The "end of life as we know it" and "NC will be destroyed (NC's Katrina)" type things cause people to panic. And after a few times of that, that become apathetic and do not do what they need to next time to protect their life and property. Someone alluded to the difference in preparation in SC when he was there and here in SE Florida... the panicked, freaking out, will run down your own grandmother to get water behaviors happen all the time here. And I'm convinced it's because our local news sucks and just scares the crap out of people instead of calmly telling them what they need to do.

No, the amount of flooding that can occur is not hype. Nor is reporting that these types of storms can cause tornadoes or power outages. But the "we're all gonna die" stuff... just needs to stop or people really won't take it seriously when they need to (later this year or next year or in the 2013 hurricane season).