While watching the CNN mini-documentary The Last Heart Attack, a commercial for Piers Morgan's Monday show came on. Apparently, he will be discussing whether Hurricane Irene was over-hyped by both the government and media.
I'll save them the trouble. No it wasn't.
If you follow the news (for example, the coverage on CNN), as, apparently, Mr. Morgan or his producers do not, there is/was mass flooding all along the east coast, millions are without power and could remain such for weeks, businesses and cities are flooded out. That's worth the evacuation orders.
It's one of those eternally stupid aspects of the media. No matter what happens, they find something to "criticize:. If Irene had been worse than expected, and evacuation orders had not been issued, there would be no end to them screaming about how everyone screwed up (like in VT, where they are already now wondering why they didn't issue mandatory evacuation warnings in places that are now experiencing flash floods). Instead, we got evacuations and warnings all up the east coast, people were prepared and warned against a worst-case scenario, and they got something a little better than that, and now they're questioning whether there was an overreaction. The only thing that they care about is whether they can get a story, not whether anything they say actually makes sense.
Sorry if this seemed disorganized. I just wanted to vent a little.
8:24 PM PT: Wow... Rec list for this? I'm honestly amazed, but thanks. :)
8:34 PM PT: CNN breaking news... 23 people trapped in the NY mountains, no food, no water, no power. They evacuated out of Brooklyn, up into the mountains, and are now surrounded by water and collapsed bridges. Mr Morgan, it appears that the bigger problem is that the warnings and advisories weren't enough. It's not enough to get out of town to a safe area, you still need to bring a supply of food and water to last at least a few days.