Was Milton somewhat overhyped ?

R

rgp

Well-known Member
Location
Milford,OH
I mean in the beginning we were told that this storm was going to be much worse than Helene , Cat 5 180-200 mph winds, 14-15 ft storm surge etc, and so-on.

Highest wind [that I heard of] was at Venice 107mph , highest storm surge [that I heard of] was 5.35ft [Siesta Key]

Yes it produced an [imo] unusually high number of Tornadoes , but again I ask , was it overhyped ?

It just makes me wonder if TWC, and others are turning these storms into cash cows , to boost ratings/revenue.
 

Any of the hurricanes / storms can either strengthen or weaken and yet the "news" buys into make it out to be worse then it ends up.

Weather is often a guesstimate sometimes they are right , sometimes wrong. Most prefer to over prepare then under prepared.
 

Louisiana was not properly prepared for Katrina. The mayor waited much too long to order evacs thinking, probably, that it would "turn away." I think forecasters are now doing what they can to "prepare for the worst"... I'd rather hear an upcoming hurricane could possibly hit my area as a catastrophic storm and have it be milder than expected than to hear "oh, it won't be so bad" and face not having been fully prepared and complacent.
 
I agree that the media often adds unnecessary hype to almost any story that they cover.

I do trust the National Weather Service and the other government agencies involved.

It’s impossible to know exactly how these things will unfold but I believe that the government was right in exercising an abundance of caution.

Can you imagine the outrage if the government had downplayed it and it caused much more significant death and destruction.

Damned if you do and damned if you don’t. 🤷‍♀️
 
Aunt Bea said:
I agree that the media often adds unnecessary hype to almost any story that they cover.

I do trust the National Weather Service and the other government agencies involved.

It’s impossible to know exactly how these things will unfold but I believe that the government was right in exercising an abundance of caution.

Can you imagine the outrage if the government had downplayed it and it caused much more significant death and destruction.

Damned if you do and damned if you don’t. 🤷‍♀️
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In deed ..... point well taken.
 
For anyone sitting in front of their TV, eating a bowl of popcorn while watching it unfold like a TV drama . I understand.

But lives were lost, and much structural damage was done…. probably most of it by tornados.
It has affected lives in Florida for some time to come, so I wouldn’t blow it off.

 
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According to major news outlets, many people aren't covered by insurance for the damage that's been inflicted on them from the hurricanes. It might even be the majority of people, but I suspect, those are mostly poor or lower middle class people who are renters. To have a mortgage, you're required to be insured. It's always the poor who are hit the hardest from these calamities.
 
rgp said:
I mean in the beginning we were told that this storm was going to be much worse than Helene , Cat 5 180-200 mph winds, 14-15 ft storm surge etc, and so-on.

Highest wind [that I heard of] was at Venice 107mph , highest storm surge [that I heard of] was 5.35ft [Siesta Key]
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The storm surge did seem to be over hyped, though I guess the flooding from the rain the hurricane dropped was worse (from what the rescue videos on YouTube showed).

But, the news before the hurricane did say it was "worse-case", and also the meteorologist I watched mentioned that they couldn't know ahead of time exactly where landfall would be, and that if landfall was even 40 miles south of Tampa that consequences would be much less dire.

I'm not sure how far south of Tampa landfall was.

Anyway, preparing for the worse case scenario is not a bad idea.
 
It depends on who was doing the overhyping. The NHC was constantly updating information, and did talk about the timing of landfall and something called shear, that would depress the maximum winds. About the only issue, was in the final hours, as the hurricane's forward motion increased and it jogged south.

That the hurricane eye would rebuild and the tropical storm windfield would increase dramatically, increasing the area of surge, as well as broadening the area for tornadoes.

There was somewhat of a disconnect between the NHC predictions and media reporting, in that final day. That difference will not be known... until the "next" one, imho. Which could be even more tragic.
 
I don't think it was over-hyped before when they were advising evacuation. What bothered me was during the raging wind and rain, the newscasters were out there pointing out the raging wind and rain.

In Boston, during the winter months, we have the French Toast Alert. The French Toast Alert System ranks the severity of storms from a scale of one slice (lowest risk) to five slices (severe risk). It uses data from local weather emergency officials who track storms to let people know when they need to rush to the shelves for those essential ingredients.
 
rgp said:
It just makes me wonder if TWC, and others are turning these storms into cash cows , to boost ratings/revenue.
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Tommy said:
Ummm . . . ya think? :ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:
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I think that may hold true for the media, but not for the weather bureau or government meteorologists who have little to gain. And I think it prudent to include worst case scenarios in predictions. If worst case is not included and people get the impression they don't need to leave, and then a worst case happens, people would complain that the scientists were at fault.

We cannot expect the weather, maybe especially with hurricanes, to be predicted with pin point accuracy. That's just not possible. Science deals with probabilities, and we need to recognize that probabilities are subject to error. Having said that, I'm still impressed with how close those guys come to getting it in the ball park.
 
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Yes, people died, were injured, and much property damage occurred not to mention the economic impacts and aftermath that will continue for some time.

But I used to enjoy the live reporting from the depths of these storms as they progressed across land. I didn't see a lot of this kind of coverage this year. I assume those involved understand the risks and take care as best they can to stay safe.
 
That Lady in PA said:
Exactly!
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I never said the damage result was overhyped , those results can't be overhyped, as they are not known , that's the aftermath. I questioned that the storm itself might have been. Did you hear the predictions ? Storm strength , wind speed , storm surge etc. Then pay attention to the actual result of the storm .

The end result of the storm, was mild compared to the prediction.

As has been said, do they error on the side of caution ? perhaps. But what happens if people start ignoring the prediction , because of past inaccuracies ?

IMO, perhaps lower the hype a-bit, that way when [in the future] they say the "big one" is coming , folks might pay attention when needed. Saving lives.

jmo
 

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