So this Hurricane

There is no doubt that a lot of the country has been badly affected by the storm, and people will be recovering for a while yet.

But to follow the various old and new media - FB, Twitter, RTE, Newstalk, as well as various commentators - you would think that the whole country was besieged, laid waste to, flattened. There is an element of this being a big media event and a narrative being formed where this was a national event, that we were all going to be seriously effected, hyped up by RTE and other outlets into a national event that we all had to take part in.

You could see some of the TV3 reporters around the country (like the ones in Limerick and Galway) desperately trying to find some minor damage to mention just so they could join in the narrative.

The fact is that a good part of the island had some medium-strong winds for a couple of hours today, a little rain, and that was it. There was no mass destruction in many parts, and virtually no reason for the mass shutdown that occurred. Where I live in the west, the streets were deserted this morning, people obviously too scared to come out, and there was blue sky! Stay in, be scared, your life is in danger, we were told - this was true in some parts of the country but in others it was simply alarmist.

They have closed all the schools again tomorrow, a total overreaction. Again, some schools undoubtedly needed to be shut, but to impose this disaster management on areas where there was no disaster is just overkill. In some parts of the country there was no catastrophe - it was just a bit windy - though that part of the story does not seem to be reported.

RayM wrote: »

Just wondering if you posted that before or after reading my post above yours?

Well... now I'm watching 'The Mainland'... thanks :pac:

fisgon wrote: »

There is no doubt that a lot of the country has been badly affected by the storm, and people will be recovering for a while yet.

But to follow the various old and new media - FB, Twitter, RTE, Newstalk, as well as various commentators - you would think that the whole country was besieged, laid waste to, flattened. There is an element of this being a big media event and a narrative being formed where this was a national event, that we were all going to be seriously effected, hyped up by RTE and other outlets into a national event that we all had to take part in.

You could see some of the TV3 reporters around the country (like the ones in Limerick and Galway) desperately trying to find some minor damage to mention just so they could join in the narrative.

The fact is that a good part of the island had some medium-strong winds for a couple of hours today, a little rain, and that was it. There was no mass destruction in many parts, and virtually no reason for the mass shutdown that occurred. Where I live in the west, the streets were deserted this morning, people obviously too scared to come out, and there was blue sky! Stay in, be scared, your life is in danger, we were told - this was true in some parts of the country but in others it was simply alarmist.

They have closed all the schools again tomorrow, a total overreaction. Again, some schools undoubtedly needed to be shut, but to impose this disaster management on areas where there was no disaster is just overkill. In some parts of the country there was no catastrophe - it was just a bit windy - though that part of the story does not seem to be reported.

It's very easy to be wise after the event.

This was not media driven. It was initiated by Met Eireann and in turn by government bodies and then the media passed on the information.

The red weather alert was done by Met Eireann not the media. The government advised everyone to stay in not the media.

It's based on a risk assessment and calls were made to minimise risk and try to keep people safe.

Sadly 3 people, who ultimately chose to disregard the advice, have paid the ultimate price.
Imagine how high the death toll would have been if these warnings and advice were not in place and everybody went to work and school today?

Better to be safe than sorry and I think there is no doubt that lives were saved today because of it. Compared the last event like this in 1961, eleven people died then so it's fair to say the warnings have worked.

Surely it's worth it? It's not a narrative of fear.

Reporters are a different breed and they seek out a story, that's their job and raison d'etre.

As for schools, of course they are closed tomorrow, roads will be dangerous tomorow, trees can still fall and schools need to be assessed.

Why is it so bad?

I think an excellent job has been done by government and its agencies and even both RTE and TV3 did a great job in keeping people informed.

There's no narrative, it's all about keeping people informed and safe.

fisgon wrote: »

There is no doubt that a lot of the country has been badly affected by the storm, and people will be recovering for a while yet.

But to follow the various old and new media - FB, Twitter, RTE, Newstalk, as well as various commentators - you would think that the whole country was besieged, laid waste to, flattened. There is an element of this being a big media event and a narrative being formed where this was a national event, that we were all going to be seriously effected, hyped up by RTE and other outlets into a national event that we all had to take part in.

You could see some of the TV3 reporters around the country (like the ones in Limerick and Galway) desperately trying to find some minor damage to mention just so they could join in the narrative.

The fact is that a good part of the island had some medium-strong winds for a couple of hours today, a little rain, and that was it. There was no mass destruction in many parts, and virtually no reason for the mass shutdown that occurred. Where I live in the west, the streets were deserted this morning, people obviously too scared to come out, and there was blue sky! Stay in, be scared, your life is in danger, we were told - this was true in some parts of the country but in others it was simply alarmist.

They have closed all the schools again tomorrow, a total overreaction. Again, some schools undoubtedly needed to be shut, but to impose this disaster management on areas where there was no disaster is just overkill. In some parts of the country there was no catastrophe - it was just a bit windy - though that part of the story does not seem to be reported.

I agree with all of that. I live in rural Co Meath and, while it was very windy by times, it was not that unusually so. No trees came down in my area, there were no power outages and nobody's roof got blown off. The overreaction was probably due to everyone in authority covering their ass and making sure they don't get any blame for anything.

letyougo wrote: »

The winds in Dublin seem to be a lot stronger now than they were earlier

Yep, in D7 and was just thinking the same.

Dont forget today has changed the lives of 3 families. For them it was no over reaction to the elements.

No Luas tomorrow morning for anybody planning on using it. Seems a tech room was damaged today

I think met eireann were afraid of getting it wrong and just put the whole country under red alert. Costly move, is it lazy weather forecasting or was it just that unpredictable?

I think the wind in north Dublin is far worse now.

Also, while i criticize the forecasting, had the scaremongering not taken place i feel many more would have been killed or seriously injured. Some large trees came down in parts of Dublin that would be along very busy pedestrian paths.