The last few days I have spent many hours viewing weather maps and watching meteorologists predict Hurricane Irene’s path. I am probably more educated than most people when it comes to weather, due to some light meteorology courses I have taken in the last year. Although these classes by no means gives me any right to predict weather patterns, in my own head I can calculate what I personally think will happen with any given storm based on the little bit I know. In other words, I know just enough to be dangerous to myself and everyone around me. That’s not a good thing.
When hurricane season arrives and the predictions are given for the year, it does not seem too many people are concerned. Yeah, maybe a hurricane will hit me, maybe not. It does not really matter…until that hurricane begins to look like a Katrina.
The problem starts when this hurricane is predicted and does not look like a Katrina. In the last few days I have seen countless posts on Facebook from people saying, “if it’s not a Katrina then it can’t be that bad.” “Unless it’s like Katrina then I’m not leaving.” There have been many photos posted on Facebook showing slight damage, such as leaves off of a tree, or a pot blown over, with captions such as, “Devastation from Irene.” I wonder if they would rather be posting rows of dead bodies covered up with blankets. Hurricanes are no joke.
Sometimes television, Hollywood, and the media hype may actually make the decision to evacuate more difficult for the public as most people out there rely on reality, but see catastrophes so much on television that they are immune to the possibility of a true catastrophe, so they stay in the danger zone.
Our meteorologists rely on data with constantly changing conditions, so they are only able to predict based on these conditions. The public becomes confused, then unconcerned, mostly because it is no longer “news.”
Sure, Irene was forecast as being a possible Category 3, which is very dangerous indeed. She then went down to a Category 2, and finally when making landfall she was Category 1. Just because it went down to Category 1 does not mean it was not a dangerous storm in NC no matter how many NC residents made light of the storm.
Personally, I applaud everyone working these around-the-clock shifts trying to help us know what to expect. They are not Supreme Beings, however. Although they can predict with their knowledge and a lot of computer software, they do not know for sure what is going to happen to us. Nonetheless, they do their best job to help us help ourselves be safe and a lot of times risk themselves to do their job.
For us living more inland of this storm, I suggest that instead of complaining about the storm and how disappointed we are in its effects, we should be thankful that we did not have a Katrina. We should consider giving thanks to the WRAL weather crew and all of the other weather teams for their dedication in following the storm’s path and allowing us time to make logical decisions based on our own personal circumstances.