Is just me or do the Yanks constantly make a mountain of a molehill when it comes to blustery conditions? Irene is running at 74mph windspeed and they've evacuated New York...
We had 90+ mph back in the early summer and kids were still out skateboarding...
After Katrina, if I was President, I'd be cautious.
It's easier to explain why you did something when nothing happened then to explain why you didn't do something when you've got lots of dead people on your hands.
I guess we'll see what happens in a few hours. It's already killed about 10 people.
Flooding is the main issue, not the wind speed
Most of Manhattan is effectively at sea-level and therefore susceptible from flooding, especially if the hurricane causes a storm-surge.
A lot of people don't actually realise how much pumping equipment is required to keep Manhattan dry, particularly the underground spaces.
Totally agree. Those winds are normal on the western sales, and never makes the news.
as others have said it is the effect [stromr surge] not the speed per se
yes other places have wind that does not make this an over reaction - there have been deaths already.
Perhaps those of you who note other places have weather too and it is sometimes windy should read up on hurricanes and death
Aren't hurricane winds also pretty much constant not gusting? I imagine that might quite a difference.
Maybe the Americans have the polar opposite of Michael Fish to do the weather forcast.....
I don't know whether 'the Yanks make a mountain of a molehill' but I do know that the British media takes inclement weather in the United States extremely seriously.
Generally speaking hurricanes can wreak havoc and leave a trail of disaster, including to British Commonwealth countries, and they will be mostly ignored by the British media. But the moment they threaten the United States they make the BBC top news headlines and the front page of the Sun.
And just the "threat" of a hurricane hitting the US is sufficient to be treated as a very major news story. Extreme weather conditions anywhere else in the world are reported as they happen or after they occur, if at all. I recall once Radio 1 treating the threat of a hurricane hitting the US as their top news story in all their news bulletins, the hurricane on this particular occasion petered out before hitting the US and only ended up doing damage to other countries - which must have come as a huge relief to Radio 1 listeners.
Our deference to God's Chosen People and our media's recognition of just how special they are, despite the fact that they only represent about 5% of the world's population, is truly touching. We even have threads on mtb forums when they have a spot of bad weather.
Obama probably pooped himself after seeing this
http://www.youtube.com/user/NASAtelevision#p/a/F79E4EB7A88AC7FA/1/9lq6eNqQ4_0
So would I 
mikey74 - Member
A lot of people don't actually realise how much pumping equipment is required to keep Manhattan dry, particularly the underground spaces.Posted 47 minutes ago # Report-Post
So they have high winds,and water,the electric goes off, and floods the basements and utility tunnels, and then we have civil unrest probably because the internet is down,and with no power or sanitation, best to evacuate the plebs so they cant nick stuff then.
But hype it up as youre protecting people not actual multi milion pound companies who would loose a lot due to possible looting.
It also takes their mind off their failing ecconomy, and high unemploymentand crime rates.
But hype it up as youre protecting people not actual multi milion pound companies who would loose a lot due to possible looting.
Multi-million [dollar] companies rarely lose much over these kind of events, even with civil unrest/looting etc. The biggest cost is usually borne by those lower down the pecking order, sometimes with their lives, often with losing all their worldy possessions and jobs etc.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJn261UAdaA
Uh oh...
There is a difference between gusts of 90+mph and constant winds of 70mph. I know which I'd prefer to be out in.
The important question here is whether Irene will bring some good surf to the Westcountry.
I don't know whether 'the Yanks make a mountain of a molehill' but I do know that the British media takes inclement weather in the United States extremely seriously.
In case you didn't know, we tend to get the arse end of their weather a week or two later, which will be part of the reason for that.
In case you didn't know, we tend to get the arse end of their weather a week or two later, which will be part of the reason for that.
Only if the hurricane's trajectory involves hitting the United States mainland ? No I didn't know that.
Hurricane Irene has been causing devastation and deaths for week now, including to the Antilles, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Cuba, and the Bahamas, and yet it didn't make the top news story until it threaten the United States.
I suspect that all hurricanes in the region have a knock on effect on the British weather. And I also suspect that Hurricane Irene's sudden prominence on British TV and in newspapers has nothing whatsoever to do with concerns about its effects on the weather in the British Isles.
But well done for making a half-arsed attempt to justify our media's obsession with all things American.
yes PP that will be the reason they are telling us to expect turbulent weather in 2 weeks by making this the top story ...well spotted
But well done for making a half-arsed attempt to justify our media's obsession with all things American.
It's no more surprising than news in London making the headlines more often than news in Melton Mowbray. A smaller percentage of the population have any interest, or connection with the place so its less newsworthy.
Ditto Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Cuba, and the Bahamas etc.
That's not to say the bias is always healthy or proportionate, but it would be a very strange world if there wasn't such a bias.
Strange ? ...... I would be quite frankly shocked.
"A smaller percentage of the population have any interest...."
Of course a large percentage of the population has an obsession with all things American......the media makes damn sure it has. Hurricane Irene has generated 2 threads already on this forum.
Meanwhile a thread by Aracer highlighting the other consequences of high and severe winds gets almost totally ignored :
There is a steady trickle of cynical views here in Florida, most folk are truly glad it missed us but a few are saying it might have done long term good. Hurricane Andrew in 1992, a Cat 4 storm that came through South Florida is locally known as Saint Andrew as it brought in millons of $$$$ in insurance payouts, boosted the economy and created loads of work for about 5 yeayrs after. It was just what the region needed at the time.
So maybe Obama thought - get everyone evacuated, let Irene do her worst, then let the insurance companies boost the economy for me.
But wow the weather channel presenters here are giddy with excitement over it all, so the OP is right in that sense, very hard to watch at times
Well, I just came home and found a sheet of plywood I had left leaning up against my shed blown over.
You won't catch me making a song and dance about it though.
I just called upon my British resolve in a time of crisis and stood it back up at a shallower angle this time.
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