FaithManor Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 I know it's annoying. But, the scientists involved are between a rock and hard spot. Italy just convicted scientists for their perceived failure to not warn residents of L'Aquila of a possible earthquake. Except, this is by far not an exact science, there is no way to actually predict such a thing, etc. These scientists said this more than once. They tried to make a "middle of the road" prediction in order to satisfy both sides. Yes, there is real danger, no we don't have any reason to suspect that the big one is necessarily coming. That kind of thing. Yet, these six (if memory serves) scientists have been sentenced to prison because residents did not evacuate and lives were lost. This if FRESH in the minds of meteorologists, vulcanologists, seismologists, etc. Anyone who collects data for the purposes of trying to figure out what is going one with mother nature is now very nervous of legal action. Frankly, the conviction of the Italian scientists is likely to have far-reaching and very negative effects on the scientific community and that will, in turn, affect how major natural disasters are predicted or reported. Now, that said...the media... GRRRRRR, I'm just really sick of their inflammatory reporting, ridiculous use of over-dramatized speech, and their sick groveling for ratings that seems to lead to a lot of crazy talk. Yes, they should have to look up "unprecedented" and other terms in the dictionary. They ought to actually be given a course in stats and analysis as well as logic! A little research before reporting wouldn't hurt them either, but there I go thinking again! :glare: Faith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyNellen Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 I was in andrew, too. at the U of Miami. Robin How funny...so was I. I was a freshman. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slartibartfast Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 My dh says he now wants to see home insurance along the east coast rise by over 24% in less than one year just because insurance companies take advantage of the hype of super storms, and see if non-florida residents think it's fair. There are some areas in tornado alley that has seen similar treatment from insurance companies. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 I think you have to take it in context. I live on high ground in an area that rarely loses power and is near plenty of grocery options. Reasonable precautions, but there was no need to go nuts stocking up or freaking out. People on the coast or in rural areas or in neighborhoods with old trees that knock out the power have to prepare more. I think when the meteorologists look giddy when things start to flood and blow, they are actually doing us all a bit of a disservice because people like me basically groan and tune it all out. Just give real, basic, straight up information and possibilities. Don't talk about the worst case as if you are dying for it to happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatMomof3 Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 My parents live right outside of DC, my mom said that the birds are going crazy. She ran to the store just to be sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marbel Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 Hurricane Irene killed 44 Americans, including 6 in NJ and 9 in New York. It did $15 billion worth of damage. It was not an overhyped storm. So many people lost their homes in the flooding that it just makes you sound petulant to complain that you evacuated and your house wasn't damaged. Meteorologists' predictions are not perfect. It would be awesome if they could predict with perfect certainty who needs to evacuate and who will be fine staying in place, so that no one is inconvenienced by evacuating without need, but they can't. If they err on the side of caution, people are inconvenienced. If they err on the side of risk, people die. :iagree: And now scientists are going to prison for not giving good enough warning... of an unpredictable event. So, expect the warnings to be more severe in the future as scientists need to protect themselves along with trying to protect others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 :iagree: It's like they've never heard the story "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" My dh says he now wants to see home insurance along the east coast rise by over 24% in less than one year just because insurance companies take advantage of the hype of super storms, and see if non-florida residents think it's fair. Wow. He's a peach. I think home insurance in the mid Atlantic to NE should be rising due to the storms the last two years. They have had a lot of losses and this one will be worse than Irene. I think the insurance companies should expect to have to pay out sometimes rather than just collect money. It's the nature of their business and they've had a decade of decent weather to save up for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom-ninja. Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 Wow. He's a peach. I think the insurance companies should expect to have to pay out sometimes rather than just collect money. It's the nature of their business and they've had a decade of decent weather to save up for it. Yes, insurance companies should expect to pay out. They don't want to. They often find loopholes to not pay out. Dh's comment is due to the comments from people not in FL stating that Floridians get what they deserve for choosing to live in FL. It was a huge insurance mess a few years ago with insurance companies refusing to pay for damages, and at the same time increasing rates for everyone including people who had never made claims. Plus, insurance companies just dropped a lot of clients after *years* of those clients paying premiums. My in-laws had the same insurance for 30 years and never made a claim, and were dropped with a few months notice. So there were many many people seeking new insurance and yet we couldn't get any because insurance companies were refusing to insure homes in FL. People had to "choose" the state insurance and the premiums were (are) unbelievable. Many couldn't afford it, and their mortgage companies threatened foreclosure. When the people began shouting for help the general consensus from outside FL was "that what you get for living in FL." It was ugly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeacefulChaos Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 I can see warnings and such if one lives in a coastal area that is likely to be affected (or, in this case, can expect to get snow). Where I live, we are 3 hours from the coast - the news station we get is about 2-2.5 hours from the coast. There is NO news other than what pertains to the storm. That is obnoxious - I don't need to be reminded 20 times that the power company is going to try to be on top of things this time, or see the map every five minutes - but that is literally all they had on the 5 and 5:30 news tonight. That is it. The rest of the world didn't stop just because there is a storm. I'm sure there is still news to report elsewhere, kwim? Then I go grocery shopping tonight - just my regular, weekly trip - and the milk is gone. Completely. I had to buy skim for the kids to put in their cereal :ack2: (I don't drink milk but skim just looks nasty) and chocolate for them to drink. In a town that won't be all that affected - there may be power outages but I think the longest any power has gone out here - and that was out in the rural areas - was 5-7 days. Everyone knows people who have electricity (in town, like me, we rarely lose power, and our grid is very high on the list to restore ASAP) and they can go shower there or whatever. I just see it every.single.time here. A possibility of snow? Cancel school! Buy all the bread and milk! PANIC! It's the reaction of the people that bothers me, and the fact that the news thinks we want to hear about it 24/7. And I'm very glad we homeschool now, since they cancel school here for the stupidest reasons. They didn't have school anywhere around here today..... Because of rain? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 Yes, insurance companies should expect to pay out. They don't want to. They often find loopholes to not pay out. Dh's comment is due to the comments from people not in FL stating that Floridians get what they deserve for choosing to live in FL. It was a huge insurance mess a few years ago with insurance companies refusing to pay for damages, and at the same time increasing rates for everyone including people who had never made claims. Plus, insurance companies just dropped a lot of clients after *years* of those clients paying premiums. My in-laws had the same insurance for 30 years and never made a claim, and were dropped with a few months notice. So there were many many people seeking new insurance and yet we couldn't get any because insurance companies were refusing to insure homes in FL. People had to "choose" the state insurance and the premiums were (are) unbelievable. Many couldn't afford it, and their mortgage companies threatened foreclosure. When the people began shouting for help the general consensus from outside FL was "that what you get for living in FL." It was ugly. I knew exactly what your dh meant when you posted that comment. Years without claims, then one bad season and the insurance companies pulled that carp. Some companies, including ours, decided they would no longer sell homeowner's ins. in the state. People had to find other (usually more expensive) coverage. In our case we had our home and cars insured with the same company. We decided if they didn't want our home, we wouldn't give them our cars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firestar Academy Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 How funny...so was I. I was a freshman. I was also a freshman. weird !!! Robin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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