Six hours before Irene hit land (and that would be right on top of us), we were already seeing 50+ winds. The winds around here are not the big issue based on strength alone. We have no lunar tides in the Pamlico Sound...only wind tides. North winds bring water in and south takes water out (this is the southern end of the Sound). When the winds hit 90+ from the north, we had water coming in strong. That's major to us. I can't help that the news shows focused more on NYC, but we needed to see the track and forecasted intensity. IF we had only done TS prep, there would be lots more damage. We had a Cat 1 directly on our heads...the hype (if you want to call it that) probably saved lives...property for sure. This "event" went on for several days and covered hundreds of miles and millions of people. Maybe a TS in NYC isn't very newsworthy, but the other 70-80% of the coverage was important.