ABOUT THE OVERDONE NEWS COVERAGE OF IRENE...

...if it didn't happen in New York city, then it didn't happen, right? Click right over to Caminante's blog, Vermont's Own, for a report on the State of Vermont after the minor little tropical storm paid them a visit.

The state of Vermont woke up this morning to a new reality that turns the joke, ‘You can’t get there from here’ on its head. All of a sudden, we truly can’t get there from here. Whether it is from the south or the east or the north or west, either there are no options at all or extensive detours. The north, south and west will open up soon enough once the flood waters recede and repairs made but the eastern entry points, notably Route 4, will take much, much more time to be restored to pre-Irene status.

Below are a few pictures to help you get the picture in Vermont. Click on the pictures for the larger view.

Not pretty.

Pretty ugly.

Read Caminante's post, see the rest of her pictures, and weep.

Senior pundit George Will's utterly loathsome words:

“Florence Nightingale said, ‘Whatever you say about hospitals, they shouldn’t make their patients sicker,” he said. “And whatever else you want to say about journalism, it shouldn’t subtract from the nation’s understanding, and it certainly shouldn’t contribute to the manufactured, synthetic hysteria that is so much a part of modern life. And I think we may have done so with regard to this ‘tropical storm,’ as it now seems to be.”

It's way past time for Will to retire, don't you think?

And finally, Rmj at Adventus' brilliant find - this old cover from The New Yorker.

KVETCHING ANYONE?

On Facebook, I noted a number of instances of kvetching that the media over-hyped the threat posed by Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene. As I watched the news coverage of Irene, I did not at all see the coverage of the storm as overdone. Predictions of paths and intensity of hurricanes are not precise, even with the technological resources now available to track the storms.

Some who were only mildly affected by Irene seemed almost to be a tad disappointed that effects of the storm were not more serious in their area. Since I live near the coast in south Louisiana, I've endured the watching and waiting many times, and I've never thought news coverage was overdone, and I'm no great fan of TV news. Each time the worst effects of the hurricanes or tropical storms by-passed my area after we appeared to be under threat, my reaction was one of relief and gratitude, while at the same time I felt great sympathy for those who were affected badly by the storm.

From CNN:

Flooding emerged as a major concern Monday for states hit by Irene, which hit the East Coast as a hurricane and then a tropical storm over three days.

Even as Irene weakened to a tropical storm, authorities warned that its impact was not waning, especially in Vermont.

"Many Americans are still at serious risk of power outages and flooding, which could get worse in coming days as rivers swell past their banks," President Barack Obama said Sunday, adding: "The recovery effort will last for weeks or longer."

Officials said the storm had knocked out power to more than 4 million people and was responsible for at least 21 deaths.

Never, ever will I forget the commentary after the worst of Katrina had passed through New Orleans that the city had, in effect, 'dodged a bullet', only to have the levees break and flood large areas of the city, killing nearly 2000 and wreaking massive destruction. The kvetching has now died down as we know more of the devastation that resulted from Irene, but what I read pained me at the time.

Let us pray for those who were killed in the storm.

Let us pray for those who grieve for lost loved ones.

Let us pray for the safety of those who may yet be in danger from flooding.

Let us pray for those whose homes were destroyed or massively damaged in the storm.

Let us pray for those who lost their businesses or their jobs.

Let us pray for those without electrical power, especially those who may be without power for days or weeks.

I've only scratched the surface in listing those who are in distress from the storm. Pleas pray for all who were harmed in any way by Irene.

Click on the link below to watch a slide show.

Photos: Hurricane Irene Aftermath | Denver Post Media Center — Denver, Colorado, Photos and Video

Do read Rmj's post at Adventus, titled 'Still the view from Manhattan'.

HURRICANE IRENE - MY PRAYERS AND MY THOUGHTS ARE WITH YOU

O God, creator and preserver of all mankind, we pray for all in the path of Hurricane Irene, especially for the sick and disabled and those who care for them; for all who watch and wait in uncertainty; we ask you to comfort and relieve them and bring them safely through the storm. And this we pray for Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen.

UPDATE: I posted a later image from Weather Underground.

UPDATE 2: I'm keeping the prayer post at the head of my blog for now.