Hurricane Irene

We should give them their own thread and let them duke it out.

It was pretty anticlimactic here too, though I know the Hudson flooded. Some rain and a couple power outages, that was really it for me.

Mr.Doobie wrote:

Harley Quinn hyenaholic wrote:

Wow, America makes a calamity of everything.

Christ, you should have seen yourselves wetting yourselves over this a few days ago! You were bitching about batteries and bottled water like you were all gonna die tomorrow.

You're all pathetic!

Ooooooooo, Harley's gettin' feisty.

Careful, Doob, Harley's proven to be rabid when she gets riled up.

I'm glad it didn't turn out as bad as it was predicted (still, 18 people dead is a terrible thing). I noticed there's been a lot of talk about how the precautions were overkill and it was a waste of government money. What's wrong with them? There's nothing bad about being Batman-level prepared in case something happened. It's just a good thing that nothing bad did.

34 dead as of this report.

Quote :

New York - 8
New Jersey - 7
North Carolina - 6
Pennsylvania - 5
Virginia - 4
Vermont - 3
Connecticut - 2
Delaware - 2
Maryland - 2
Florida - 2
Massachusetts - 1
New Hampshire - 1

Authorities are trying to determine whether an additional death reported in New York is connected to the storm.

Raine wrote:

I'm glad it didn't turn out as bad as it was predicted (still, 18 people dead is a terrible thing). I noticed there's been a lot of talk about how the precautions were overkill and it was a waste of government money. What's wrong with them? There's nothing bad about being Batman-level prepared in case something happened. It's just a good thing that nothing bad did.

I remember that argument. I think the last time I saw it was in relation to swine flu...

I mean, it's not as though all those precautions might have possibly helped prevent any injuries, deaths or damage, right? Gawd, why do we have them?

Anyway, everyone knows all that if you want to avoid earthquakes and hurricanes what you need to do is stop those gay people marrying.

Raine wrote:

I noticed there's been a lot of talk about how the precautions were overkill and it was a waste of government money. What's wrong with them? There's nothing bad about being Batman-level prepared in case something happened.

Yeah, too bad our government was not as prepared when all those black people were the ones in danger of being flooded out.

I don't know, D.C. was hella prepared and D.C. is 51% minority. Well, D.C. is also hella paranoid about every single thing. Especially things involving nature.

Reepicheep-chan wrote:

Raine wrote:

I noticed there's been a lot of talk about how the precautions were overkill and it was a waste of government money. What's wrong with them? There's nothing bad about being Batman-level prepared in case something happened.

Yeah, too bad our government was not as prepared when all those black people were the ones in danger of being flooded out.

Exactly. There are no black people in DC or New York or New Jersey.

Mikey Go WOOGA wrote:

Exactly. There are no black people in DC or New York or New Jersey.

Oh, Mikey, you're such a nut.

EileenK98 wrote:

We should give them their own thread and let them duke it out.

"Harley vs. Penguin, live only on pay-per-view!"

WD40 wrote:

Raine wrote:

I'm glad it didn't turn out as bad as it was predicted (still, 18 people dead is a terrible thing). I noticed there's been a lot of talk about how the precautions were overkill and it was a waste of government money. What's wrong with them? There's nothing bad about being Batman-level prepared in case something happened. It's just a good thing that nothing bad did.

I remember that argument. I think the last time I saw it was in relation to swine flu...

I mean, it's not as though all those precautions might have possibly helped prevent any injuries, deaths or damage, right? Gawd, why do we have them?

Amanda Marcotte had a great response to the "overkill" complaints:

Pandagon wrote:

Mayor Bloomberg evacuated to a Cat 1 hurricane. And until literally a few hours before it hit, Irene was a Cat 1 hurricane heading for New York City. His response was exactly what it should have been: no more, no less. People who weren't in immediate danger weren't evacuated unnecesssarily. But people who were in danger were. Balancing the need not to displace people unnecessarily with the need to keep people from drowning to death isn't an easy thing to do, and one should err on the side of caution. With what looked like a 50/50 chance of a Cat 1 hitting the city, Bloomberg evacuated the Cat 1 areas. It was the correct decision. That we got lucky doesn't change this.

I get why assholes enjoy screaming "overreaction". It makes you feel superior, like somehow you have magical powers and just know better than scientists and experts that Irene was absolutely not going to be any worse than it was. But your pleasure at feeling like you magically knew before what you know now is toxic. It feeds the narrative Republicans are trying to shape up, that we don't actually need government to prepare for extreme weather events like hurricanes. But I would argue Republicans got their chance to try that theory out, and Katrina demonstrated that they are completely fucking wrong. Obviously, Irene wasn't as bad as Katrina. But the problem with Katrina was that the conservative philosophy was in play---which is to assume the best possible outcome---and the worst happened. The liberal solution, to prepare for the worst and hope for the best, was in play here, and the result is that the death toll and damage was minimal. And if the storm had been worse, it would have still been minimal because we were prepared.

So hey, the Red Cross called. They are desperate for blood, plasma, and platelet donation right now. The supply was really messed up by the earthquake/storm, and they need to replenish. Remember that blood donations are not just for injuries, some people need it for chronic medical conditions. (Especially platelets) Anyone who can donate, please do. Even if you can just toss them $5, they'll be grateful.

Urgh, I want to Lapin. Every time I give blood I have a worse reaction to it, and no amount of hydration seems to help >.< And no, that is not me making excuses, I am actually bummed out because I want to give blood. I only need one more donation to make a gallon!! IDK, I may do it anyway, if my iron is high enough for them to accept.