Media event hurricanes
It’s hurricane season. The guys at The Weather Channel are loving it because they can do their best to convince us that a 65 mph tropical storm is a near disaster and that we should watch their channel 24 hours a day to stay updated on the storm’s progress.
This is rather funny. I think the devastation the hurricane Katrina created; and I know that it was truly devastating because I’ve been on a relief trip to the Mississippi coast, has put us in a mode that we want to make media events out of every act of nature. We have a 24x7 cable weather channel so we need to create reasons for us to watch it all day long.
The truth is that hurricanes don’t move very fast and the winds don’t fluctuate really quickly once they’re moving. Sure, there might be 75 or 125 mph winds, but the actual progress of the storm is pretty slow. If it’s in the ocean and it’s coming at you, then it’ll be there so you’d better get out of town. I don’t need to watch cable TV to figure that out.
I pray that the US isn’t hit by a major hurricane this season, especially the Mississippi and Louisiana coast. But, if a hurricane is coming and it’s aimed at a specific area, then there’s not a lot we can do about it other than battening down the hatches and getting out of town. We don’t control the weather.
I agree in part with what you posted, and have to digress on the other.
I agree that in this day of 24x7 media coverage, the constant coverage of a hurricane can be overwhelming and boring all at the same time. Yes, Hurricanes can move slowly. But watching Hurricane Katrina intensify from a Catagory 3 to a Catagory 5 in a matter of hours and make a bee line for where I lived on the South Mississippi Coast. I'd much rather have a fast moving tropical storm or Cat 1 than the monstrous Hurricane Katrina which lashed the Gulf Coast for several days before moving inland.
If you are anywhere between the thin black lines, or somewhat near them, you are glued to the TV. The Weather Channel becomes your best friend, and you PRAY that Jim Cantore doesn't come to your city, because if he does, you can pretty much predict that you WILL get the storm. And then you have to have to get your hurricane plans in order, notify famiy & friends where you are going, and hope that when you get back home you still have cell phone service.
I lived in South Mississippi, and am truly grateful for all the services provided by all the organizations which came down to assist us in the days & weeks which followed Hurricane Katrina. However, the cavalier attitude we once had is gone. Yes, for us EVERY storm is now a media event, because so many have to evacuate as they are in FEMA trailers. If Katrina had been more of a media event, more people might have left their homes, instead of being killed by the storm.
For us who live on the Gulf Coast, or near it, Hurricane season is not funny. It is the price we pay for living in our paradise, and we now take it very seriously. Many of us lost everything we had, lost friends and relations, jobs, and our entire lives have been altered.
I'm sorry if I appear to be harsh about this, but I lost a wonderful life, a home, and saw the destruction to my home, and the homes of my friends, and all the landmarks I had known were destroyed. When I got back to Gulfport and Pass Christian after the storm, it was as if I was plunked down in an alien verson of Gulfport and the Pass, where everything was the same, yet different. And it was, and in many was still is. The Pass is still a virtual ghost town, and our mayor is resigning, because at 70+ years old, he can't handle what has happened to our town. And I haven't cried about this loss yet. Which may be the most disturbing thing of all.