Hurricane Irene: is this lady NUTS?!

[Karen]

Yes, it took the furthest westward path of the ones they predicted, and I don't know if Vermonters even got the amount of pre-storm hysteria we did. I saw several reports saying it was possible that Wall Street would be under 7-8 feet of water ... and nothing about the potential for Vermont or Upstate NY suffering.

It is worrisome, because the next Hurricane that comes, people who evacuated this time "for no reason" as it turns out may be tempted to stay, and suffer because of it.

[momcat]

Hurricane Katrina hit 6 years ago today.

[Karen]

45 dead

12.4 Billion in damages, so far -
[snip]
All this from a Category 1 - just a rainstorm with high wind.

That was just what he said we would get when it finally got up here. Why the running tally, especially of the dead? Many of those deaths were due to senseless human error/stupidity and not simply the fault of the storm. I would not "blame" the Hurricane for the death of someone foolish enough to stand at the edge of a raging river in a hurricane and risk getting washed in and drowning - that was that person's decision, foolish though it may be. Likewise people who get washed off the sea wall, or off the beach when the beaches have all been closed, and signs posted to keep away. Or for the death of someone who decided to try canoeing in the rapidly rising floodwaters ... how is that a good idea? The rescue worker who died trying to rescue someone from a car when the driver foolishly thought they could just drive through the water, when it was pouring rain and in the middle of a hurricane, and we are all told as student drivers "don't ever try to cross running water on a roadway" ...

Yes, some of the deaths were tragic - the man who died when a tree fell on his house while he was inside is one example. But saying "45 dead" does not tell the whole story by any means.