Anyone else fed up with Hurricane Irene?

[Gromit]

It hits the Caribbean nations, it gets 30 seconds on the news. Now, as it heads for the US coast, the rolling news channels are spending hours on it, live press conferences from the NY mayor. Sat from in my confortable armchair, it all looks like hype and over reaction.

By all means cover natural disasters and their aftermath. But not hours of scaremongering for what will hopefully be just a wet and windy evening.

[bookbinder]

I have had to listen to my roof being taken off, bit by bit, in gale-force winds (in the UK) and it was an unpleasant experience. That was very small beer compared to what the Americans are going through with this hurricane, so they have my sympathy.

[DTCwordfan]

fell into my trap Gromit - the storms were not trivial as you have suggested. What would be the UK press reaction (duly recorded by Wilkipedia) if Plymouth had 16 inches of rain fall on it, caused 30 deaths - and then later on Leeds got 5 inches and another £100 million of disruption to its economy (plus the trail of damage and destruction in between)?

Yes it would feature and it is not trivial

[DTCwordfan]

I don't wish it on you Gromit but I hope that you never have to experience a Cat 3 hurricane (Ike) or a Cat 2 (Charlie plus a typhoon in Hong Kong).....

[pastafreak]

I'd say there are real 'baddies' every few years-the same as with blizzards.
I grew up on Long Island,and it can be quite vulnerable in a way NYC can't be. But all coastal areas can be under threat.

Here's an interesting bit of 'local' history regarding hurricanes to hit Connecticut-pretty far north...

http://middletown-ct....g-down-on-connecticut

[pastafreak]

mumsie...your relatives will be ok...Irene is off the coast of Virginia now.

http://www.stormpulse.com/hurricane-irene-2011

[Gromit]

I am not saying it is trivial. I am saying it hasn't occurred yet. If it hits and it is bad then I want full reports on it. But all this speculation beforehand does not really interest me.

[Gromit]

Meanwhile in the Philippines, Typhoon Mina does not get a mention on the rolling news or in our newspapers.

// MANILA, Philippines (Today) - At least 6 people were killed as heavy rains brought by Typhoon "Mina" triggered landslides in Pangasinan and Baguio City on Saturday, authorities said.

Mina battered Northern Luzon, packing winds of up to 195 kilometers per hour before weakening upon landfall in Gonzaga, Cagayan.

In Pangasinan, siblings Reajen, 6, and John Rey Bautista, 5, were buried alive after a landslide struck their home in Barangay Rabon, San Fabian. //

[DTCwordfan]

Fair enough on that. However, it was how you finished your question.....//for what will hopefully be just a wet and windy evening// That was dismissive and disdainful and hence the reaction. Alo bear in mind folk like Pasta who have relatives and friends over there.

[Mamyalynne]

I agree with the erratic reporting depending on where these storms etc occur. I am however concerned about family living in the Hamptons, Long Island.

[pastafreak]

Thanks,DT.
Folk forget also that hurricanes are,by their very nature,very unpredictable. They go from tiger to pussy cat-and vice versa-very quickly.

[mumsie_wumsie]

Thanks for that info pastafreak, I haven't looked at the news much today, but I'll still be glad when they are back home..

[pastafreak]

I should have said that I too understand the criticism of a lack of balance in reporting. But it may be due to the fact that so many Brits do live on the East Coast.

[DTCwordfan]

That is why we have the coverage of Irene - and not Mina - there are many more people affected in the UK by Irene through their family and friends being in the path

By the way there is one model tracking Irene to head close to Scotland before she fizzles out. Charley (sorry I wrote Charlie) ended up crossing Scotland in 86 before expiring off Denmark.

If you are interested in seeing the real forecasts (the one inland security and major companies likethe oil idustry use - and not ABC, NBC etc), then I refer you to http://www.crownweather.com/?page_id=6609

[pastafreak]

And to think I just stated in an email to my brother ( who lives on Long Island ) that I missed hurricanes.... ;-0

[DTCwordfan]

He may be really interested in the crown site, Pasta, they were really accurate on Ike, Katrina, etc in the Gulf and they update every 6 hours - you have to dig through the update reports but their forecasting of what is happening to water temps which usually get colder as you approach the coast (river waters coming in), and then get storm weakening, is usually very accurate and helps them determine the storm veer.

[DTCwordfan]

Its a bit scary when you see the gun barrels of the forecasted eye line come right over your house - Hurricane Rita.... it eventually went inland in the 'dead area' of the La Tx border - no wonder they never really developed the shoreline there..

I was ten miles from the eye of Ike and that wasn't funny.

[Gromit]

DTCrosswordfan

Hoping it is a wet and windy evening wasn't meant to be dismissive or disdainful. It is a genuine hope it fizzles out and no one is hurt.

There are many British people with relatives in the Caribbean, yet when Irene was heading through there, it got a few seconds on the news.

British TV networks have live permanent live feeds from the USA and reciprical arrangements with US TV companies. The difference between the coverage is simply down to the rolling news having access to pictures from the US and non from the far east.

[Gromit]

I have been looking at live CCTV from Central New York, and it doesn't look too bad at the moment.

[pastafreak]

This is from an email I just recieved.......

>if you don't hear- we may be without power for a while- i hope not, but we lost it during gloria in the eighties, and this is supposed to be worse.<

So it may not be just a 'wet and windy' night.

[DTCwordfan]

Possibly - and given there is no other 'real' news (or should that read relevant) to feed off. Its one of the reasons I prefer the radio (4 - just got my vote on the other thread) as there are many more news items - and then a decent broadside paper or two. Sorry, I do not count the Mail in that select band!