Hurricane Ivan and New Orleans

By overhpyed I mean the weathermen. THey went on and on about Ivan as if was a giant meteor heading towards the Gulf coast.

As for the 60 deaths, how many were in the US?? And how many of those are of the trailer home colapsing variety.

Homes are built differently in different areas. In Flordia you dont have to worry about your roof caving in from a big blizzard. Ntheast has had a histiry of bad storms. THats why there are a bunch of seawalls and dikes around. I must admit its been a whoile that a big one has hit. You can tell by all the coastal construction that will one day be wiped away. (although new beach houses now have to be on big concrete pillars)
 
I've heard reports of 8 to 12 US deaths. Haven't heard any trailer statistics.
 
Tmy said:
By overhpyed I mean the weathermen. THey went on and on about Ivan as if was a giant meteor heading towards the Gulf coast.

As for the 60 deaths, how many were in the US?? And how many of those are of the trailer home colapsing variety.

)
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Boy, Tmy, you just pushed my buttons.

There were 68 deaths in the Caribbean and 8 so far in the US. Most of them were caused by the dozen or so tornados spawned by Ivan. One victim was an 8 year old girl killed by a tree falling on her house. Whenever I hear someone downplaying the horror of riding out a hurricane, I know they've never been through a big one. Ask survivors of Camille, or Hugo, or Andrew.

I've been through several, starting with Donna in 1960 and Cleo in '64. I remember the house shaking, the wind howling, the rain being driven THROUGH the door, the trees falling around us. And you know what...I've been lucky because I've never had to deal with a storm larger than a cat 2. Even Andrew when it hit South Florida was only a cat 1 in Fort Lauderdale, and I spent the night in my hallway with sofa cushions piled up against the doors and 4 cats huddled together in fear. My house was sturdy...it had weathered both major storms in 1947, so I knew the structure was good, but I didn't know what kind of debris could come flying at it, or if the 150 year old oak tree in my front yard would come crashing down, so yes, I was scared. After it was over, I needed a new roof, and I lost a sea grape tree, but it was nothing compared to South Dade county, so I can imagine the terror those people experienced when their roofs lifted off.

I can't convey to anyone the sense of dread knowing they're in the path of a major storm if they've never been through it. It truly is something you have to experience before you become a believer. I remember so well Bryan Norcross saying, as Andrew approached, "people will die tonight". He wasn't trying to create panic, it was said in a tone of resignation and sadness. And he was right. People died then, and people died last night. It could have been so much worse, but don't denigrate how bad it really was in some areas.

And now....on to Jeanne.
 
"people will die tonight" A tad dramatic dont you think. I would think that tornado season is far deadlier, are the weather guys that scary then.

I specifially remember Hurricanes Gloria and Bob. I think they were cat 3's. Before Gloria hit my buddies n I road our bikes down to the harbor to watch the boats get tossed around. If I remember right the eye passed over us.

Lots of wind and down trees. Thats how most people are killed. Trees fall on them, or they get electricuted by downed powerlines. I heard that most people are killed after the hurrican than during.

I'd much rather ride out a hurricane than get caught in tornado alley.
 
Tmy said:
"people will die tonight" A tad dramatic dont you think. I would think that tornado season is far deadlier, are the weather guys that scary then.

I specifially remember Hurricanes Gloria and Bob. I think they were cat 3's. Before Gloria hit my buddies n I road our bikes down to the harbor to watch the boats get tossed around. If I remember right the eye passed over us.

Lots of wind and down trees. Thats how most people are killed. Trees fall on them, or they get electricuted by downed powerlines. I heard that most people are killed after the hurrican than during.

I'd much rather ride out a hurricane than get caught in tornado alley.
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Yes, it was dramatic...but not done excitedly, or hysterically , but matter-of-factly.
In years gone by, most hurricane deaths were from the storm surge. Nowadays, people are warned to evacuate low-lying areas and most do. Did you click on the link in an earlier post that pointed you to the story of Hurricane Camille and the 12 people that decided to stay in their 3rd floor apartment and have a hurricane party? 11 died and the 12th was found clinging to a tree five miles away.

And being in 80 mph winds is not the same as 135 or 150. And if you're in a hurricane you get tornados along with them anyway.
 
THey love to hype up snowstorms too. Over the last couple years weve had some really overhyped duds. Now people laugh off storm warnings. Boy who cried wolf and all.
 
Tmy said:
"people will die tonight" A tad dramatic dont you think. I would think that tornado season is far deadlier, are the weather guys that scary then.
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Lived in tornado country (in fact, N. Alabama has had a few killer twisters in it's history), but I think the difference is the inevitablity.

A tornado tends to be a hit or miss, lottery selection...you don't know where it will touch down, how large it will be, or if it will skip over your house and demolish your neighbors. The tornado is the sniper of storms.

The hurricance, however, you see coming, it's there and it cannot be stopped, cannot be avoided (without fleeing several hundred miles, and you know exactly what it's going to hit you with and that it will do so over a very large area. And that based upon history, it will kill.

So I don't think the weatherman was being overly dramatic. Now for some of our local weatherfolks when it gets bad.....:hit:

Still, I will admit when the tornado sirens go off, I do notice a certain amount of adrenelin increase....
 
Tmy said:
THey love to hype up snowstorms too. Over the last couple years weve had some really overhyped duds. Now people laugh off storm warnings. Boy who cried wolf and all.
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I'm sure the people in Pensacola didn't consider it "crying wolf".

The problem is that people expect the forecasters to be able to tell EXACTLY where a storm will hit and they can't do that. All they can do is give you probabilities and "cones of error" (or cornucopeia of chaos as one of our local dj's cal it). They also can't predict exactly how much rain, or how much storm surge or how fast it will move. But they have gotten a LOT better at predicting and explaining how and why storms move and behave than they did 20 years ago. So if you're in that cone of error, but the storm misses you, do you consider it "crying wolf"? You've hit on a major problem with hurricanes....a lot of people think the way you do and that's going to get people in trouble.

Meanwhile, we're keeping most of our storm shutters up for the next couple weeks, at the minimum.
 
You could make the "people will die tonight" prediction every New Years Eve. You always get the DUI deaths every year.

Considering the 10's of millions of people directly affected by the storm, vs the handful of deaths associated with the cane', statistically "Death by Hurricane" is probably alot lower than with other weather events.
 
tedly said:
He jests at scars, that never felt a wound.
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Well put.

Tmy said:
You could make the "people will die tonight" prediction every New Years Eve.
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Yes, and you could warn people about the dangers of standing in front of a rifle when someone else fires it. Neither would be "overhyped".

Tmy said:
. . . Considering the 10's of millions of people directly affected by the storm, vs the handful of deaths associated with the cane', statistically "Death by Hurricane" is probably alot lower than with other weather events.
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Yes, it's amazing how many people die every time the sun shines, and during periods of low humidity and during afternoon showers.

Hurricane deaths may in fact be lower than some other weather-related deaths, like ice ages and such, but perhaps the perilously low number of hurricane deaths you mention is due to "overhyping".
 
Oh please.

Ivan has been hyped as the worst storm in 100 years. Reports have it as anything but. Yes hurricanes suck and our deadly, we all know that. But Ivan isnt even close to being the worst, maybe not even the worst this year.
 
Linda said:
Phil, we're wasting our breath.
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Perhaps where Tmy is concerned. I suspect he is diliberately being thick.

But I am amazed at how many people who, after I've described to them what it's like to be in the midst of a hurricane, still say they think it would be neat to be in one.

You just can't impress upon them the power of those things.
 
All I was saying is that the weatherman overphyped the storm. Considering the reports, I think thats true. I belive the press loves to pump up all kinds of storms cause it makes for great ratings and no one wants to underestimate. Sorry if that makes me worse than Hitler.
 
Tmy said:
All I was saying is that the weatherman overphyped the storm. Considering the reports, I think thats true. I belive the press loves to pump up all kinds of storms cause it makes for great ratings and no one wants to underestimate. Sorry if that makes me worse than Hitler.
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Okay, here's what you see on the tube every time there's a hurricane on its way:

Reporter: "So are people evacuating?"
Cop: "Yeah, for the most part."
Reporter: "You mean there are people who are staying behind?"
Cop: "Yeah, there's a few."
Reporter: "But isn't it a mandatory evacuation?"
Cop: "Yeah, but we really can't force people to leave."

...and...

Reporter: "So, are you worried about Hurricane Adolf?"
Puzzlewit: "Yeah, a little bit."
Reporter: "It's expected to hit right here where we're standing. Are you going to evacuate?"
Puzzlewit: "Nahh - me and my wife are gonna ride it out."

"Me and my wife are going to ride it out." A storm packing more energy than a thermonuclear bomb is on its way, and they're talking like it's an amusement park ride. Proof positive that natural selection works.
 
Instead of evacuating people they shoudl hand them cameras and microphones. From what I can tell news reporters are immune to the effects of Hurricanes. Thats why they can provide live broadcasts right from the waterfront whenever a hurricane hits!!!;)
 
Tmy said:
THey love to hype up snowstorms too. Over the last couple years weve had some really overhyped duds. Now people laugh off storm warnings. Boy who cried wolf and all.
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Isn't this the kind of thing that Michael Moore discusses in BFC? But as Linda says, they try to get everyone out of the storm surge, not because the stomr surge will hit everyone, but because you don't know just where and how bad it will be. You have to prepare for the worst in this case.
 
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