Frank2 wrote:...all we have to do is read the early thoughts on Bertha - especially that "head for the hills" comment, to know that the outcome is usually much different that any prediction...
Earlier today I was thinking about the disasterous 2005 Hurricane Rita evacuation, and, how most or all of the lives lost in the panic could have been saved, had the national and local media kept calm, and, realized that the Hurricane Katrina scenario was unlikely to be duplicated in an area much different than New Orleans...
True, Rita was just as powerful, but, the models were continually showing Rita as peaking in intensity and moving north of the Houston area before landfall, but, the local media seemed intent on playing up the disaster scenario as much as possible, instead of telling local residents that only Galveston Island would be affected in any significant way - so much human suffering could have been avoided, had the media kept control of their imagination...
Frank
With all due respect, the NHC had a hurricane watch from Port Mansfield, Texas, to Intracoastal City, La., about 36-40 hours from projected landfall. That placed Houston in a high-risk "cone." At that point, had the local media told Houston-area residents "don't worry about Rita unless you're in Galveston" ... it would have been highly irresponsible! The storm was a strong category 4 at that point.
I'm not absolving the media from sensationalism. Everyone's sensitivies in southeast Texas were high at that point given the kind of year 2005 was and the disaster from Katrina.
