Do you think Florida goes a bit over board scaring people in regard to hurricanes?

Question

Hurricane Ernesto ... Gas lines were 2 hours long in some areas....the sale of flashlights, plywood, gas, water, food went to the extreme for 3 days. The Hurricane never really came...it was a just a strong storm...in the Tampa Bay Area....The weaterman/woman go toooo far in scaring us, so I think!

Answer 1

People get complacent and don't stock up and prepare the way they should. The authorities and the weather people have to present the worst case scenario, just in case.
I was in Central Florida for Charley, Frances and Jeanne. People weren't ready for Charley as it had been 42 years since the last hurricane hit Orlando. No one believed it would come. No one believed it would have 105 mph winds.
No one could believe the mess after it hit. They prepared much better when the warnings came out for the next one.
Better to over-prepare than to under-prepare.

Answer 2

I don't think that "Florida goes overboard." I think that the media tries to make every storm look like a disaster because human misery sells newspapers and gives broadcast TV and radio good ratings. They are capitalizing on hardship.

Unfortunately, when people evacuate and take other precautions and the storm isn't destructive, they stop taking the media (and law-makers) seriously. They don't evacuate, they don't board their windows, move their possessions, stock up on supplies, etc. because they adopt an attitude of "we've been through this before and it's no big deal." I saw this happen in SC when Hugo hit in 1989. Believe me, there is a HUGE difference between being grazed by a few outer bands and being hit head-on by one of these monster storms. Cities are flooded, buildings are destroyed and people lose lives!

Agnes was only a catagory 1 hurricane when it made landfall in 1972, but 129 people lost their lives in that storm. Why? They just weren't prepared for the flooding that results from these storms.

However, what we are dealing with this year is very different. After the last two hurricane seasons in Florida and the massive destruction caused by Katrina and Rita on the Gulf, people on the coast are taking hurricane warnings, and even watches, seriously. I hope media hype and weak storms won't ever make us complacent again!

Answer 3

It was forecast to hit as a hurricane early on; then it was downgraded. Yes, the media likes to hype up this type of thing however, I think that it is far better to be over-prepared that to be caught unprepared. It it had suddenly strengthened and preparations were not made, then people would be crying about how they weren't properly warned or prepared.

After Hurricane Katrina, I don't think that any government wants to be responsible for another fiasco like that. However, here in Florida, the response to storms have always been way better than any other state.

Answer 4

No, I don't think they go too far when reporting about them. After Katrina and Rita last year, and the year before Florida getting hit back-to-back with 4 hurricanes, I am glad we heave them.

Hurricanes are not just this big rain storm that just sprinkles a little and goes away, or this big wind that blows a few branches down, they are storms that people need to be concerned with and to take seriously. As aggravating as it is to stock up on supplies, wouldn't a person rather have them than be without?!

Answer 5

In light of the fact that they have some pretty good storms there ; you can't be too careful. How many people ignored warnings in New Orleans are living to tell about it ; and how many are not ?

Answer 6

Blame the media's stupid scare tactics. I live in Florida and they totally blew the whole Ernesto situation out of proporton.

Answer 7

isn't it a case of better safe than sorry? err on the side of caution??

Answer 8

No.