Cole McConnell
EF1
What do you think?
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Too Much Hype?
- Thread starter Cole McConnell
- Start date
Chris Strahan
EF2
I say no, just because of the safety factor for those living there. As it is, many did not evacuate or are now heading home. I think if this had not weakened so much over the last 24 hours, there would not be much of NO left today
John Erwin
EF5
I don't think anything was overhyped on this; the storm itself has proven to be quite strong and damaging; luckily New Orleans managed to once again avoid the full brunt. Better for people to be prepared and take precautions rather than the alternative...
We still a few hours to go though.. lots of damage over Biloxi way and inland to consider.
Jeff Snyder
EF5
Absolutely not. All indication were that New Orleans faced a very real POSSIBILITY of catastrophic damage. Hurricanes are NEVER entirely forecastable. The storm took a relatively huge hit overnight (just look at the IR loop) which dropped winds from Cat 5 to probably more like Cat 3. A track only 30 miles to the west would have brought the eyewall across downtown New Orleans, and I seriously think we'd definately be looking at a different scenario. Unfortunately, there is NO way to forecast at 15-20 mile resolution 24-48 hours out. The track wasn't too surprising, but the relatively quick drop in intensity (the central pressure rose 20mb in 12 hrs) surprise me (and most I'd think).
The main problem here is that a "catastrophe" was anticipated, and it largely busted (FOR NEW ORLEANS). Yes, there's likely some signficant damage in New Orleans, but absolutely nothing like what was anticipated. This situation seemed to be similar to digital signals -- either a 1 or a 0. Things either were going to be "pretty bad" (levees hold, etc) or catastrohpic (levees break, massive flooding and loss of life). Again, certainly can't blaim the forecasters, since the wobble was within the noise level (in the words of an NHC forecaster last night). However, you absolutely cannot bust a "doomsday" forecast. Again, the NHC has been saying "POSSIBLE CATASTROPHE" for a while, but the media has made it seem like a catastrophy was a guarantee. FAR is critical for high-end events... People who didn't get out of the way for a cat 4-5 forecast certainly won't get out next time... There was already a mentality of "these things always weaken or move", and this certainly doesn't again. I was reiterate a third time -- this is not a comment on the forecasters. The forecast was largely a huge success since they've hit on a hit east of New Orleans for a couple of days.
If small parts of the roof of the Superdome were removed with 80-100mph winds this morning, what in the world would have happened in 175-200mph. I can't imagine that structure would have held up to that type of wind. Yes, only very small parts of the roof lining were removed, but a double in wind speed essentially yields a 4-fold increase in wind energy.Miriam Lawrence
EF1
Absolutely not.
Seems to me that 20 miles made the difference between some nasty damage and real catastrophe. If the storm hadn't taken that tiny jog to the east as it made landfall, much of NO would probably be under water right now. Better safe than sorry. If ever a situation deserved hype, this was it, IMO.
Pretty much the strongest language was coming out of the emergency managers and the municipal government. The media was just reporting what they were saying. Oh, and let us not forget that unbelievable NWS statement last night. That document was practically predicting the Rapture!HAltschule
EF5
Now if the poll was asking whether The Weather Channel and some of the other channels had too much hype, then....well, yes. When a field reporter is saying that sustained winds are really blowing furiously, somewhere around 30mph (?@!?!), that doesn't impress me. 30 MPH...so what. It does that all winter in Albany. And when a field reporter is talking, stumbling and losing their balance...and then a citizen walks behind them pretty casually without any problem...it doesn't impress me. It tells me they are trying to sensationalize the story. Having been a TV Met. for 7 years, I know what the TV biz is all about. And my conclusion can be summarized as such: "Save the drama for your mama and just tell us and show us the facts". Unfortunately, some of the veteran Met's are guilty of this too.Cole McConnell
EF1
Exactly, why I started the poll.HAltschule
EF5
Do there names rhyme with, I don't know, Pefanie Jabrams or Kim Santore?
Kurt Silvey
EF4
I voted no, BUT … I would like to separate the NWS & NHC for the mainstream media. Did they over hype … NO. They did their jobs, as they should. They gave warnings of very real possible scenarios. The people of SE LA are very lucking this morning. As for the Mainstream media YES, the headlines and lead-ins I saw on Fox last night were nothing short of scare mongering. “ Deadly Cat 5 Storm Kills 7 in Florida†The storm was barley Cat 1 when it went through FL 3 days before. These sort of headlines don’t do anything but try to hype.Rob_Davis
If anything, I would say it appears that they UNDERhyped the threat to Mississippi and Alabama. But that doesn't translate to an OVERhype of the New Orleans threat.Miriam Lawrence
EF1
Fair enough. I've been watching exclusively streaming coverage from the local NO stations (we don't get cable at our house so I don't watch TWC or Fox or CNN) and I think they have done a very good job of getting the facts out -- and the few field reports I caught were quite reasonable too.
Edward Ballou
EF4
My wife and I were watching CNN yesterday and a lady was giving the weather analysis of Katrina. She was stressing over and over how bad it could be. She was giving one last roundup of the situation and says, "Absolutely <insert CNN name here>, this is a very intense situation as there will be a hellheck of a lot of rain as was seen from when Katrina went through South Florida."
My wife whipped around and was like, "Did she just say a hell?" I nodded my head and we laughed about it.
The meteorologist was noticeably nervous and angry afterward.
Maybe they just need to get that crazy guy in from the Charlotte station to emphasize how bad things could be.HAltschule
EF5
One TWC anchor/reporter was standing behind a backdrop of a casino in Biloxi, MS and as he went to commercial said, you see this casino behind me, it won't be there tomorrow. At least something to that effect. That is just irresponsible and I'd expect more professionalism from a Meteorologist.Rob_Davis
Sheppard Smith did the same thing on Fox. He said something about "a hell of a lot of rain" and the studio hosts got kind of big eyed for a second.
Of course, that wasn't near as good as the guy on the street who told Smith that it was, "NONE OF YOUR FU**IN' BUSINESS!!" on air. :lol:Chris Carlson
EF1
Yeah, that was funny but also uncalled for. As for if it's over hyped, I'd say no. Most of the hype really didn't even happen until Saturday Morning. Once it went to 5, that's when the media started to go crazy. But anyway, how many storms are there they do major damage to a sports arena (see photo below, remember roof should be all white)?
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