A ski boat bumping you and putting a small hole in your boat is no big thing unless your boat sinks because of it. Then it's a big thing! Thousands and thousands of people effected make Irene news worthy. Big storms on the Pacific Coast are just inconvenient, most of the time. If you get down into Mexico then Hurricanes become every bit as important to the cruisers there as Irene is to the East Coast. It's all just a matter of where you're standing at the time. I can tell you that a hurricane of any size has a tendency to peak your interest if you happen to be in the vicinity so if they want to report about it, they can go for it as far as I'm concerned.