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Thursday, September 1, 2011

HURRICANE IRENE REDUX!

     Well, as I write this there are still many people who have yet to get their power restored. SWMBO and I are one of the very fortunate ones who did not lose power at all during the storm. I am grateful that we did not sustain any damage or injuries as well.
     There has been a fair amount of criticism about how the weather folks reported on the storm. Some say that the storm was hyped way out of proportion to the facts. Others ascribe reasons for the hype as collusion between the media and the hardware and/or grocery stores.
     Here's my take on the matter. I believe that the weather people were in a no-win situation. If they had under played and under reported the potential hazards associated with the storm and there had been greater loss of life, greater property damage, etc, they would have been soundly condemned. There would have been demands for an investigation as to why people who were in the projected path of the storm were not better informed.
     As it was, there were some places where no amount of preparation would have prevented the catastrophe that did occur. The fact is, if flood waters are coming at you, unless you can move all your property out of the way, you are going to sustain damage.
     Some places from North Carolina to the northern New England states, experienced flooding the likes of which have not been seen in over a hundred years. Bridges were washed out. Roads that had formerly been spared were washed out. A case in point, residents in upstate Vermont became, and still are, stranded when bridges and roads were washed out by the floods. Some neighborhoods in New Jersey are still under water.
     Other locations sustained damage from high winds knocking down trees and power lines. Again, there is little that you can do to prevent a tree from being blown down onto your house or power lines.
     So, even though some of us were extremely fortunate to have escaped sustaining death, injury or severe property damage, others were not so fortunate. Many people have lost everything!
     Was the reporting on Hurricane Irene over hyped? I don't think so! Warnings were issued far enough in advance to provide sufficient time to prepare as well as one could prepare in such circumstances. I'm glad that the technology exists to enable us to be so well informed in such a timely manner.
     Join me in saying prayers for those who have suffered greatly because of the damages caused by Hurricane Irene!

1 comment:

  1. What I didn't like was the comparisons to past hurricanes. You can't compare a Cat 1 to a Cat 5! I do pray that all the power gets restored soon.

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