I'm not talking about what people did to prepare - I'm writing about the idiotic over sensationalized reporting

NHC downgraded Irene to a Cat 1 storm six hours BEFORE it hit NC - they clearly stated that the pressure was rising and no further intensification could occur. The NHC discussion stated that IRENE would be a RAIN event not a wind event - yet the national news kept going on - for another 24 hours about wind.

News is supposed to be about FACTS - not a reporter standing on the beach announcing "IF the winds were to blow harder and IF the waves were bigger I'd be underwater" - Well Yes IF those things happened it might be news but they did not happen and we knew they were not going to happen.

The latest coverage of the FACTS of the Vermont flooding is significant and important - but sensational footage of a little storm runoff over the streets in Manhattan is BS - I daresay - tens of thousands of streets are flooded each spring in summer by thunderstorm runoff and it is not national news. Just 'cause the rain has a name (Irene) doesn't make it any more important.

Latest NBC poll - 48% of respondents thought the news coverage of Irene was over-hyped.

As my hero Joe used to say 'The facts ma'am - just the facts'