Hurricane Irene Hits The East Coast; Irene Over-Hyped?

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On Hurricane Irene watch, like much of the nation.

As I blog this, it’s 10:54 AM EST, and sun’s shining in Atlanta, Georgia. But that’s not the case just 200 miles away, because Hurricane Irene has reportedly hit the East Coast. The giant – 700 mile wide – hurricane that’s projected to reach Category 1 level (winds of over 100 mph), has actually produced winds in the 60s to 80s for now.

That may be due to a reported development in the eye of Hurricane Irene. According to a number of online watchers of Hurricane Irene, the initial eye was “giving way” to another new one that’s much larger – meaning that it was weakening. But those reports came at 1:40 AM.

Regardless, by daylight, when Irene hit Atlantic Beach, North Carolina, it still packed enough punch to cause flooding:

This blogger has to honestly state, I don’t like that much of the media seems to get a kick out of over-hyping Hurricane Irene. Perhaps it’s to help in getting people in the storm’s path to get out of the way, but still, it rankles me. Yes, we know it can achieve Category 1 levels, but this CNN paragraph seemed to imply some disappointment that it didn’t bring winds over 100 mph:

Somewhat weakened but still ferocious, Hurricane Irene slammed into the North Carolina coast Saturday morning, drenching the coastline and starting an ominous northward march almost certain to bring misery to millions.

“Almost certain to bring misery to millions.”

OK. So what if it doesn’t? Will someone be unhappy? Was it really necessary to write that? Just asking, but I digress.

For the latest, check out this CNN.com page below, which you can see without having to click on a link:

Stay tuned.

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