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.

[DTCwordfan]

Have you been in a hurricane, Gromit? I ask that in a friendly manner as I can, I think, describe the sound if you havent.....

Its still a "long way" off - this is a mother-f----r of a storm with a width of 600 miles - similar to Irene, the effect of that may well be to enlarge the eye and weaken the intensity to Cat 1 or 2 - and bear in mind Pasta's comments that they can have a kick in the eye......against the lower intensity, the length of time in the storm can cause real damage as (i) the ground gets saturated and tress uproot and (ii) with that the wind reverses by 180 degrees after the eye comes through, so trees having taken a battering from one direction then get it from the other...... Pines etc are very prone to snapping.

[DTCwordfan]

similar to Ike....sorry

[Gromit]

The Daily Mail probably could be called a Broadside newspaper.

I perfer a broadsheet like the Daily Telegraph myself.

[emmie]

sad to report but looks like one person has been killed, and its got some way to go yet.

[DTCwordfan]

the windgradually intensifies. heavy squalls of rain, and then you get that whistling sound that you hear over here in a really good gale. You can't venture out with the wind power and, if you could, you would be drenched.

This intensifies further.........then when you get up to 95+ it is even hard to talk as there is a roar right through the house as if you went and pronounced "xcrr-xcrr-xcrr-xcrrr" through the back of your mouth using your back molars.......and do it as loudly as you can!

[DTCwordfan]

Em, unfortunately, they will be happy if it is less than 20 as to the death budget, with a heavy Cat 2 .......a lot of deaths are secondary such as fires, electrical, etc.....

[ladybirder]

Where are you getting your reports from em, TV or Radio?

[jno]

"You wouldnt be if you were in it"

but we're not; that's the point. Why are we getting this, er, saturation coverage in Britain? Hurricanes happen every year in that region but it seems they only make the headlines when they hit the USA. I can understand heavy coverage of Japanese earthquakes, and even Katrina - these were once-in-50-year events. But it does seem, at present, that Irene is getting more TV time here than it's worth.

I will of course revise my view if the White House is blown away.

[pastafreak]

I for one,am thankful for coverage like this - http://www.guardian.c...e-irene-hits-us-coast

[pastafreak]

PS- I should have said-you would be too if the situation was reversed if similar was happening here,and you were in the States.

[emmie]

radio, it was on news at 5pm

[jno]

pasta, if you're in the USA, you can always get coverage of events in the UK by looking at UK websites. But you wouldn't actually expect British weather to be headline news on US television or in US newspapers, which is basically what's happening here.

[Gromit]

DTCrosswordfan

I have not been in a hurricane and I can appreciate it is frightening. I have however been in a gale in the UK. At the moment it isn't even very windy in NY. When the bad weather does hit, I will be interest reading about it, but until then, this pre amble is like watching the players eat their breakfast before the FA Cup Final.

[237SJ]

I well see the point in giving out endless news coverage to the people who live in the areas affected because they need to have constant updates and know how to prepare but I (as well as others) can`t see the point here. Yes, if it causes lots of damage/loss of life/hardship it will be newsworthy but if it degenerates into a lesser storm then it will all have been a lot of coverage for not much reason at all. I`ve been in a CAT 1 storm in the States and I hardly remember anyone telling us it was coming. All I remember is horizontal palm trees and all the shops closed. It was immediately after 9/11 though, so I had much more pressing things on my mind. A pal of mine was in Antigua in Luis. Now that was a hurricane..

[emmie]

Gromit quite honestly i am not sure why you should be fed up with it, you aren't anywhere near. We have been watching the Libyan crisis for months, endless news of the rioting and looting across London and the rest of the country, so this is another news story, and one i am sure many are interested in.

DT i am sure you are right. I feel sorry for anyone caught up in these natural disasters, whether there are no deaths, or many one should always have sympathy.

[bednobs]

on balance i agree with jno and gromit. I have never been in a hurricane, and hope not ever to be - i live in the uk. Therefore i don't see why BBC news is giving me constant updates on the weather 4000 miles away from where i am. I have a sister who lives over there, but as has been said, it could change at any moment (course or intensity) so therefore if the worst does happen. tell me about it, but don't go so blooming over the top on what might happen

[jno]

they all used to be named after women until women protested; now they're half-and-half, I think, and the names are regularly rotated, and reappear each year or two. The names of really big storms, like Katrina, are removed from the list.

[ladybirder]

Probably because it's men naming them!

[jno]

here's a list of this year's, including those yet to come

http://miami.about.co.../a/hurricanenames.htm