Living in post-Katrina America, when officials issue hurricane advisories, people are likely to take them seriously. Scituate residents, as well as a majority of the eastern Atlantic seaboard, found themselves dealing with such a predicament Aug. 27. As Massachusetts entered a state of emergency and reports came in from southern states like North Carolina and New Jersey where people were going into ultimate-survival mode, it was hard to ignore the hype surrounding the latest media frenzy: Tropical Storm Irene.

    Fortunately, Irene was little more than a bad thunderstorm here in Scituate. The power went out for many homes for almost an entire week, but by the next day after Irene had come and gone, South Shore residents had resumed their normal routine, shopping at the mall, swimming in the ocean, on a sunny warm day. Only one Irene-related death was reported in all of Massachusetts according to an Associated Press, and this was the result of  electrocution by downed power lines, not the storm itself.

Unfortunately, however, the hysteria leading up to Irene had local news stations creating entire segments with alarming titles and severe rhetoric. Boston’s WHDH news station used the words “lashes”, “batters”, and “ravages” to describe Irene’s actions. In addition, all of New York City’s public transportation was brought to a complete halt. Extreme actions like this are more than a great inconvenience, they inspire fear and carelessness, all fueled by a super-charged media.  Not only does this type of over-hyped storm hysteria incite an unnecessarily strong fear in millions of Americans, it cheapens the alarm associated with more deadly storms that truly deserve it.

Should a more destructive storm come our way, perhaps a true hurricane, a blizzard, or the occasional tornado, we could be in real danger. Since the media exaggerates the magnitude and severity of every weather irregularity, people are increasingly less likely to take their warnings seriously. So when Cape Cod vacationers return to their expensive rental homes next summer and get word of another tropical storm headed this way, they may remember Irene, the hyped-up “hurricane” that didn’t live up to the weatherman’s expectations. If this hypothetical storm was in fact a true threat, Massachusetts, as well as many other Americans, would face an enormous, costly, and deadly regret.