70 Trillion people affected, 13 Bajillion dollars in damage, Hurricane Sandy and media hype

Originally posted by bigfatfurrytexan
reply to post by Sissel

 

How did it save lives? Explain that to me. 45 minutes out of every hour....yet people still died?

As was mentioned by somebody in all these threads, some people died from trees falling, live electrical wires, etc...if people didn't get the hype, and believed in the intention of this thread, that it was basically nothing and all hype...LOL, use your brain. People can be stupid, and do things like go outside to just see what's happening. People do need to be told to stay inside, but aside your comment they need to be removed from the gene pool, I do believe a lot more of that would have happened if they were not given instructions. Remember one of my recent replies to you, and me being from the midwest having really no clue about hurricanes in the south?? Who would ever, from the midwest even consider that snake bites are on the rise as a consequence of a hurricane? The snakes are driven to areas where it might be drier, and then people go out to clean up debris, and are bitten by rattle snakes........and other things.

And why do I, in the desert southwest, need to know that much about it

Because it affects large port areas of the country. Considering your screen name, you might not be concerned about imports of fresh vegetables from say, Chile.....while a lot of other folks might be. Not everyone has a garden, and not all produce that we are able to get comes from our own homeland at the grocery store.

Who doesn't know that a hurricane is dangerous? And why would a regional weather effect not be covered primarily by regional weather channels?

I didn't know how dangerous it could be. I was thinking that damage occurred at the site it made impact. I was in Kentwood, Louisiana which was quite a ways inland from New Orleans, and lost everything that I had just moved to the state with 5 months prior to it happening. Furniture, vehicle, important documents...etc... I had to start completely over from square one. Oh, and I have still not recovered since I lost my job as well which was at a dialysis center along a river that got inundated. well away from New Orleans.

I don't think I will ever recover completely, so, all the hype? I think it's needed.

Originally posted by Wrabbit2000
You do realize the storm fronts are still in the process of merging into one and this is NOT over yet, right?

Wrong. They are not merging into one. They are not merging into one super storm. What is happening, is exactly what I said would happen in a previous thread... one system is absorbing and over taking the others. Want to take a guess which system is winning? It's the Canadian system. That is why temps are falling.

7 million without power...13 states with major economic losses at a time every state is in the red and crying uncle. Two hospitals with total failure on backup power systems and another with a fire responders couldn't even physically get to last night. Several nuke plants taken off line as a precaution or for cause as problems came up....

7 million is far cry from the media's claim that 60 million would be without power. No one claimed that there would be no power outages at all. It was simply claimed that the numbers were inflated and being hyped. The numbers prove this to be true. 7 million is 53 million short of the media claim prior to this storm making landfall.

This is also the lowest pressure storm by 10mb that New Jersey has seen in it's history. Battery Park broke previous records, apparently, with over 11 feet of water and total was as high as THIRTEEN FEET in that overall area. Irene was a dud and over hype. This was and is a nasty nasty storm.

Battery Park is 7 feet above sea level!!! It was expected to flood! No one said the storm was not a storm. It is still a storm, it still will cause damage. However the results are far far short of what the media claimed would be the result. That is hype!

I was clear in my post describing what we would see. Flooding in low lying areas. Guess what we got? Flooding in low lying areas! The data told us the story before this storm ever reached land. Yet by pointing out the data and telling people what to expect, I was called "condescending". I was told to "leave it to the real experts", I was told we had never seen such a storm before in history.. guess what? Those were all media talking points and everything I said turned out to be accurate.

I'd also say...in as friendly a way as I can manage....the deaths are not small to those who knew people yesterday that are dead today. To those folks, this was the worst storm in the history of the planet. To MOST right now in the impacted area, this has been among the worse storms they've seen. I've been reading those statements since the media ventured out after sun up.

Agreed. That being said, the dead did not have to die. Again, I point to my earlier post showing how these people died. Driving in a car during the storm, tree falls on car. Driving in car during storm on a snow covered roadway. People on a ship in the ocean. Tree falling on home. Thus far, every story of every dead person was a death that could have been avoided using common sense. There is even a report of a death in Toronto Canada... a lady hit by flying debris. It does not take a genius to know that with high winds and debris flying through the air, you probably dont want to go take a walk.

And yes, most will say this is the worst storm they have ever witnessed, but that does not mean it has never happened before. It simply means they have never seen it themselves. Which is another point I made in the other thread where I was told to leave for pointing out these facts.

Add to the fact I listened to the chaos all night on the dispatch channels and I've mentioned this... I grew up around law enforcement as a cop's kid. I'm no virgin to police and emergency dispatch traffic during a crisis. THIS one was insane and just none stop crazy town from last night to well after sunrise when I shut all that down for awhile. It's bad when cops and firemen are calling each OTHER for help and I heard that more than once too.

Yes, because Police and Fire are responding to calls of people who should have left areas. Again, look at the flooded areas.... they are all barely over sea level. They were expected to flood. If these people looked at the storm surge data, they would have known they would flood. These are the people who made a poor choice and then have to call for help for someone to save them. You can go back in this very thread and see a post on page 3 showing pics of the flooding... but what does this poster say?

I live in a flood plain expected to get surges up to 9ft tonight around midnight

Yet this poster made the stupid decision to not leave. If you live in a flood plain, and you know there will be storm surge of 6-12 feet as projected, which was down from 20 feet the media originally predicted, don't you think you might want to leave?

So yes- Over hyped. What we are seeing was predictable and even I, the none expert, called it based on the data and not the talking heads.

Originally posted by semicolonsmile
Sorry if somebody already posted this, didnt feel like reading through all 16 pages of thread.
I'm on the side of "it's all hype". I live in northwestern PA...today was supposed to be the "bad" day for us. It is currently barely raining at all. Made a post about it on the ol' fb(yes I still use it, don't tell me how bad it is) and a buddy of mine responded with...

This.

Anyone care to explain how that is anything other than media hype???

*edit: apparently this is an old one. first time I'd seen it though. Still a good example.

edit on 30-10-2012 by semicolonsmile because: explained.

Yes that is a clip from the Hurricane Irene coverage from last year and another perfect example of media hype.

Originally posted by beezzer


Or are we to start wetting ourselves over;
Nirubu
December 21st, 2012
Election Riots

If those things start getting the media attention that this storm did, perhaps we should all invest in pampers.

Deaths and damage are a tragedy. I'm not making light of that at all.

So, what's your point then, if the "hype," saved lives, and helped people to get prepared?

I am critical of the media's approach to the storm.

And I am not.

reply to post by bigfatfurrytexan

Sandy will be gone in a week. It will be a memory in a year. What I am talking about changes the whole world forever.

You listening to the news at all? This stuff doesn't evaporate overnight - they will be dealing with this for some time to come - in ways you haven't even thought about yet

Good of you to care about the bigger picture - but that bigger picture in no way makes this a lesser story. It is what it is

Just a difference in perspective. I choose to live far inland so as to not be impacted by hurricanes. So I am very puzzled by why a regional storm takes over world news.

The Eastern Seaboard ain't East Texas Tex

edit to add: and it fer sure ain't West Texas

c'mon :-)

I know you want to make a point (as does beezzer), but, seriously - c'mon

And right on cue, when Obama needs the discourse to shift away from his screw ups, we have the media jumping to make Sandy take up 45 minutes of every news hour.

uh huh...

gotta love the spin that gets spun on a conspiracy site. You're right of course - lucky break for Obama. That man leads a charmed life, I'll tell you what

:-)

reply to post by bigfatfurrytexan

Your arguement is so full of pleas to emotion that I just cannot answer any part of it with seriousness.

Tex?
I have know you for a long time, if I didn't know better I would swear someone had taken over your identity, this doesn't sound like the poster I first met.

Does the media Hype, yes, they hype, they lie, they cover up.

I think over the weeks we will understand the full magnitude of this storm and the wide range of damage and despair, I couldn't help but cry this morning when I first heard of people in the cold waiting for rescue, some of these people thought they were in a safe place I imagine,

Originally posted by Sissel

Why, if it helps people be prepared, and staves off deaths?

It didnt save lives!! The hype scared the crap out of people who then jumped in their cars when they lost power to go to a home that had power. What happened then? A tree fell on the car and killed them.

So NO, the media hype is not saving lives. It is putting lives in jeopardy. People who are scared to death make poor decisions based on that fear. Those poor decisions based on that fear gets people killed.

Originally posted by MrWendal


Yes that is a clip from the Hurricane Irene coverage from last year and another perfect example of media hype.

Even meteorologists can be wrong. Are you upset that it didn't cause catastrophic devastation and loss of life?

That's what it reads like to me, based on your comment.

I've been in hurricanes and without power add had to "dig out".
It sucks and its dangerous so I have every sympathy for storm victims. That being said, what the hell?
I turned on the weather channel for an update and heard President Obama signed a disaster order" at least a dozen times in five minutes. Listening to the radio driving in was worse.
I don't have any idea of what's going on besides the fact that Barack Obama has singlehandedly saved every living soul from Long Island to Cleveland from stormzilla.

Originally posted by Sissel


The media attention saved lives...if you haven't figured that out yet, there is no hope for you!

You can prove this of course?

You can also show that the media being there and hyping this up hasn't cost lives by encouraging panic buying or suchlike?

reply to post by Sissel


Did the "hype" save people.

Good question.

Do Americans need hype? Are they so inured that they need something over-blown to get their attention?

Has common sense so left the building that the only way to get their attention is to shreek loudly and flail arms?

Originally posted by MrWendal


It didnt save lives!! The hype scared the crap out of people who then jumped in their cars when they lost power to go to a home that had power. What happened then? A tree fell on the car and killed them.

Perhaps if people heeded warnings and left before the winds hit, instead of waiting until the last minute because of threads like this, that wouldn't have happened.

So NO, the media hype is not saving lives. It is putting lives in jeopardy. People who are scared to death make poor decisions based on that fear. Those poor decisions based on that fear gets people killed.

People need to heed these warnings early on. You go when it's recommended you leave, or you hunker down. But, according to you, early hype is useless.

Originally posted by beezzer
reply to post by Sissel

 

Did the "hype" save people.

Good question.

Do Americans need hype? Are they so inured that they need something over-blown to get their attention?

Has common sense so left the building that the only way to get their attention is to shreek loudly and flail arms?

Are you a meterologist who can predict a storm ? if not then im afraid we need the media to
send out a message to a "wider audience"

reply to post by MrWendal

So NO, the media hype is not saving lives. It is putting lives in jeopardy. People who are scared to death make poor decisions based on that fear. Those poor decisions based on that fear gets people killed.

Not always, the media was just relating the warnings of the officials of those states involved, anyway no use us arguing about this.

Originally posted by Stormdancer777
reply to post by MrWendal

 

So NO, the media hype is not saving lives. It is putting lives in jeopardy. People who are scared to death make poor decisions based on that fear. Those poor decisions based on that fear gets people killed.

Not always, the media was just relating the warnings of the officials of those states involved, anyway no use us arguing about this.

Yes they got the info and relayed it on air to warn people

Originally posted by Sissel

People need to heed these warnings early on. You go when it's recommended you leave, or you hunker down. But, according to you, early hype is useless.

There's a difference between early warning and early hysteria.

Consider:

"A massive category 1 hurricane is set to make landfall sometime between 7 and 10 PM. Coastal areas should expect flooding and inland areas should expect high winds."


Versus:

"Historic super-storm is set to combine with two other whirling typhoons of death bringing destruction to us all. Everyone get the hell out! Get the hell out now!!!"

If you listened to the weather band at all during this mess you would have heard perhaps the only rational reporting on the storm. The little robot voice told you exactly what it was and what you should expect. No more, no less.

Originally posted by denver22

Originally posted by beezzer
reply to post by Sissel

 

Did the "hype" save people.

Good question.

Do Americans need hype? Are they so inured that they need something over-blown to get their attention?

Has common sense so left the building that the only way to get their attention is to shreek loudly and flail arms? [/quote

Are you a meterologist who can predict a storm ? if not then im afraid we need the media to
send out a message to a "wider audience"

I'm no meteorologist, but I can access weatherunderground.com.

Next best thing!

Again, common sense.

edit on 30-10-2012 by beezzer because: (no reason given)

Originally posted by Sissel
Even meteorologists can be wrong.

Wrong!! I have been posting the actual data in these threads. The meteorologist were not wrong, the REPORTING of the DATA was wrong.

Are you upset that it didn't cause catastrophic devastation and loss of life?

My Brother lives in Philadelphia. My Mother lives in Philadelphia. Are you suggesting I am upset because my family did not die?? How stupid is your comment?

This pathetic point your making holds no water at all. I am upset that the media hyped this storm up and sold fear to people instead of reporting what the data actually said.

That's what it reads like to me, based on your comment.

Then maybe you should learn more about reading comprehension.

Originally posted by beezzer
reply to post by Sissel

 

Did the "hype" save people.

Good question.

Do Americans need hype? Are they so inured that they need something over-blown to get their attention?

Has common sense so left the building that the only way to get their attention is to shreek loudly and flail arms?

Well, and then there is you....who completely downplayed the hype. How many lives did you save in doing so? Have you considered that you have a fan base here? That I have seen comments from members saying you should be a write in on presidential ballots?

There were, members who said you were right on with your take on this, in harms way, who did nothing to prepare based on your saying this was all hype...go back and look at comments. They sat here replying all day long agreeing with you...making comments that they have extra packs of cigarettes or some stupid garbage.

I love this site. Really do, but, you basically talked folks into not following orders that were hyped in the media.

reply to post by beezzer

Did the "hype" save people.

have we determined that it was hype?

:-)

must've missed that page

gotta say beezzer - it takes some real brass raisinettes to call this thing hype before it's even over

I would have at least waited until tomorrow