A little soapbox time

[Downdraft]

For several days I've read some members of this board downplay Katrina as "only" a tropical storm or a "minor" hurricane. Therefore, not worthy of much respect. One million people currently without power, 4 dead so far and once again roof and screen miseries to keep the gypsy contractors happy for weeks. No it was not the doomsday CAT 5, another Andrew, and no it wasn't a monster Cat 4 churning across metropolitan Dade and Broward counties. It was "only" a Cat 1. The stats so far speak for themselves. When it comes to tropical cyclones there is no such thing as an "only" storm. Soapbox kicked back in corner.

[krysof]

Katrina will probably be more than just a minimal hurricane. It seems like Katrina is a person. Last night's track was the quickest way to the gulf. Instead of 24 hours on land it was only a third of that. I storm barely weakened, and now it's getting ready to cause a lot more problems.

[Cookiely]

I would like to know why the overpass collapsed. I know it was under construction but shouldn't they be able to survive a cat 1 storm? Could the storm have been stronger in gusts or could it have been a tornado? 18 inches or rain in some areas so I don't want to hear its "only a cat 1".

[sfwx]

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/12479277.htm

[johngaltfla]

For several days I've read some members of this board downplay Katrina as "only" a tropical storm or a "minor" hurricane. Therefore, not worthy of much respect. One million people currently without power, 4 dead so far and once again roof and screen miseries to keep the gypsy contractors happy for weeks. No it was not the doomsday CAT 5, another Andrew, and no it wasn't a monster Cat 4 churning across metropolitan Dade and Broward counties. It was "only" a Cat 1. The stats so far speak for themselves. When it comes to tropical cyclones there is no such thing as an "only" storm. Soapbox kicked back in corner.

Amen. One of the worst storms I went through was "only" a tropical storm, Gabrielle.

It did more damage to my house than any hurricane I went through.

[artist]

I so agre - posted in another thread about it. I also very much feel the local EOC's as well as the city commissioners (which they are usually part of the EOC) try to keep things quiet as long as they can as well. If they were to come forward and tell everyone as soon as the storm has them in the cone to start preparing for the worst but hope for the best it would help more people take these things seriously. As it is now you don't hear from them until the storm is just hours away!

[caribepr]

Good post.
Talked to my bro last night (he was ready and doing fine, did fine) and he sent pics today - downed trees, sparking transformers through the window (he DID wait til daylight to go out, I'm so proud of him! Yep, he's my *baby* bro)
He said most he knows WERE taken by surprise, and he knew more from my emails than most did, so was more prepared. I said, GEEZE - it's been out there, I've been telling you...he said it was majorly downplayed and then it didn't "do what it was supposed to do" - and he was glad for my warnings...for the rest, all I can say is...well...the only word I can think of is...duh. Mother Nature is funny that way.
Despite all the blah blah that might go on here, I got some seriously good information I was able to share with him and some friends in the Keys and it made a difference (of course it helps that they take me seriously, knowing I am not an alarmist, just a believer in...hope for the best, prepare for the worst). So, thanks, S2K, and the posts/posters well worth wading through that helped!

[SouthFloridawx]

I noticed on the Local News the storm was being down played until the final few hours. Everyone was saying ohh it's only going to be a cat 1 nothing major just a little rainstorm. Little rainstorm yeah right.... I think then local media should have hyped it up just a little bit more to help people prepare for it. In Palm Beach and Broward counties people where still out at the the store buying things and it looked like a usual day about 5 pm in the afternoon except we were getting tropical storm force winds and a rain so heavy you couldn't see anything in front of your face. I just could not believe how complaicent people were (sorry bout the spelling). anyway that my two cents....

[Hurritrax]

I think the fact that even though she was forecast to become a hurricane, she was a tropical storm up until about 4 PM....this tends to lull the public into thinking that it's not going to be much of a problem...a little wind and a little rain. However we all know there not a heck of alot of difference between a 73 MPH tropical storm and a Cat. 1 hurricane with gusts over 80.

[vbhoutex]

A big part of the problem IMO, is that the media isn't going to hype it(not that I like hype) unless it appears that it is going to give them some spectacular News coverage. That is really sad. I applaud CBS4 for stepping up in your area yesterday. I am sure they were quite helpful.

Problem is, even a "little tropical storm" such as Allison can cause BILLIONS in damage and kill many people(22 in Houston). The media needs to learn there is no "only a cat1" etc. and report the storms as they should be reported!!! Rant off!

[artist]

our channel 5 (sorry -can't remember the affiliate) is pretty good here.

What gets me though is if the county doesn't warn people they don't respond - even the boat tour operators have been told by the commissioners or our council (can't remember which) NOT to say the damage that is still visible is due to hurricanes but by some wind! Ridiculous! This also drives our insurance rates up because more damage occurs when preparation has not been done.