The blizzard of 78 was pre-internet, and weather forecasting back then was a lot of guesswork. Most Nor’easters pass through in fairly short order, but that one stalled, catching people out and about, when they should have been at home. At least 100 people died, many of them in their cars from asphyxiation. I think people are much better prepared nowadays, but don’t take chances, Dopers.
Correct: I incorrectly titled the post.
I was thinking of starting a thread to talk about the media’s role in storm reporting. I may yet, but I’ll start here.
I think the media’s treatment of major weather events is a disgrace, and has been getting worse for at least the last ten years. Each time a major storm comes up, the weather reporters all but cheerlead for the storm to be a major disaster, with major destruction, loss of life, dogs, cats, living together, etc.
Obviously, the public needs to be informed of upcoming weather events so they can prepare, but it seems to me that the media is panic-mongering rather than informing.
Am I completely out to lunch on this?
No, you’re not. When it comes to winter storms, there’s so much disaster-mongering that it becomes comical.
Really, it’s like one of those movies that’s so bad, it’s good :rolleyes:
My personal theory on this is that New Englanders were severely traumatized by the “Blizzard of '78” and that is the reason we react the way we do.
Only on this occasion. I completely agree with you in general, but in this case they are doing the right thing. This will end up being a deadly storm, unless something very weird happens in the next 10 hours or so.
This storm is apparently serious enough for work to close tomorrow, this is a company that has only closed once in my 5 years here (the “blizzard” of 2012), and I’m a little concerned for a couple of my co-workers, they’re from Thailand and they have no supplemental heat or food preps, and they’re terrified of the storm…
If we had room at home, I’d offer them a place to crash, but if our region loses power, my sister, niece, and nephew will crash at our place…
They cancelled our shifts here as well (I work in the warehouse for the most famous company out of Freeport, ME). But what really cheeses me is that Tuesday night is band practice night and I just got a new toy that I won’t get to test drive with the boys (got me a used Line 6 Pod HD 300 effects bank … it’s sweet).
I got a library full of books, a ton of firewood, toe days off and my family at home safe. I’m all set.
You should help them figure out options. There have to be shelters being set up. It’s not going to get above freezing in Boston until Friday. That would be an awfully cold house by then if they lose power.
They cancelled school tomorrow here in northern NJ.
You know what’s weird about this? CNN, The Weather Channel, and MSNBC are covering this storm almost exclusively, but when I pass by Fox News, they have nothing. It’s all terrorism and terrorism and a drone landing at the White House, and terrorism. I worry about all the old people who watch Fox 24/7. Unless they read the crawl at the bottom of the screen, they may not even know what is coming.
This is not a political statement. I’m serious. It is the biggest story in the country and they are just not reporting it. I just watched them for a half hour straight and there wasn’t one word about the storm. The other three channels were switching between press conferences by the New York and Boston mayors, and Fox was talking about some bomb threats to airlines over the weekend that amounted to nothing.
That’s what I’m doing, I’m also going to give them my phone number in case they encounter an emergency situation and need an assist
Here in Nwingland we put rocks underground. Lots of them. When you clear them, more grow. Given that and the spread-out population, buried lines are pretty much on a par with a door-to-door subway system.
I’m calling it the Blizzard of Doom. :eek:
Silly New Englanders. A few years ago we got 6+ feet of snow in Maryland and no one panicked…
Maryland… where is that again?
Reporting from the Gulf Coast–where no blizzards are expected. But where we get various tropical systems from time to time.
Yes, some TV reporters do get all het up about possible disasters. (Always remembering that Dan Rather got national notice, standing outside in Hurricane Carla.) But there are people who really need to do something. Down here, anybody within reach of storm surge does need to head inland before the storm hits land; escape routes can get washed out very early.
The media need to ensure that everybody gets the word to prepare for the impending situation. But most of us get tired of the constant hysteria. So we should switch to TCM or something & only check back occasionally to see if things have changed.
Woo! It’s pretty light right now, but it’s going to pick up the pace in a couple hours. I’ve already slipped on ice and landed directly on my back once today, so I’m going to try to keep my clumsiness inside as much as possible. Bring it on!
I recommend using weather.gov instead of weather. com. Weather. com is much, much worse in terms of fear-mongering (you’ll NEVER guess what happened to these two girls!!!).
Here in the Adirondacks we are only expecting 8-14 inches. Just a dusting really. I remember several years ago opening my front door, which was level with the ground, and looking at a solid wall of snow. My wonderful neighbors came to dig me out.
What’s bugging me most about TWC coverage is that their graphic says “A historic blizzard”. That just sounds wrong to my ears, when I read it out loud.