When it comes to extreme weather, do you take the warnings seriously?

[Cafe Steph]

Winter Storm Nemo Leaves 4 Dead: When Will We Learn?

Posted by Emily Abbate on February 9, 2013

Winter Storm Nemo has officially come and gone. Here in New York City, we have one foot. In parts of Connecticut and Boston where the snow is still trailing off, they have a whopping 38 inches. This morning, more than 650,000 homes and businesses are without power, some of which are in areas still struggling to rebuild after Hurricane Sandy. More than 5,300 flights were cancelled through today.

The most striking news of all of this? At this time, four people are reportedly dead from storm-related causes. One woman collapsed while shoveling her driveway, the other three deaths all resulted from car crashes. It's horrible horrible news.

I can't help but wonder, though, if maybe these deaths could have been preventable.

Weather is no joking matter. Yeah, we've all fallen victim to sensationalized weather reports and have been through some sort of "major storm" that never really happened. However, in light of what happened after Hurricane Sandy and now Winter Storm Nemo -- we all need to take government warnings more seriously.

Many of the deaths from Hurricane Sandy could have been avoided if people actually listened to the government orders to evacuate. Instead, dozens who stayed to brave the elements were drowned by the storm surge in Queens and Staten Island.

Leading up to the snow's impact yesterday, people were told to stock up in advance, get off the roads, and stay put. Instead people everywhere were braving grocery stores mid-snowfall to get things they don't really need, driving over to a friend's house, and finding unnecessary reasons to get on the roads putting themselves and others in danger. The reality: Driving bans aren't just put into effect to protect us, they're put into effect so that emergency personnel and utility crews can get through.

Thankfully so many who ventured out are fine. However, my heart still breaks for the three that are not and their families.

When it comes to extreme weather, do you take the warnings seriously? Have you been impacted by Winter Storm Nemo?

[LillyJDv3.0]

Yes I do... My state was hit by tornados that left a few hundred or so people dead (can't remember the exact number at the moment) almost 2 years ago. Since then I take weather warnings very seriously.

[kam013]

Well, I do take them seriously, but I also take them with a grain of salt.  I have lived in New England my entire life, I am no stranger to extreme weather.  Living on or near Cape Cod we have experienced hurricanes, blizzards, tropical storms, flooding and even a few tornadoes.

The problem is that more often than not the storms are a MISS instead of a HIT, so you become more relaxed about the warnings, because so often they have been wrong.

So I tend to take precautions, but not to the extreme.

[Cutenessmom]

I admit it  I do take things seriously I admit it more in the  summer   than. for Blizzards .. I admit it though  find it hard to  take  the Storm's seriously when, they our named Nemo LOL! If it was called Bob or L5 or something. Please for love of Godz please picked something, more serious named.  I  will take  more seriously  and  not laugh at you when you  report it every five secounds! 

Let's face it  their our idiots who our always  going ot temp fate and do not know ot  FREAKING SLOW DOWN   When it  is ICEY OUT!    We saw this today again...

[Christine9576]

Not really.

[momtoscott]

People in Mass. took the driving ban seriously, with good results: the roads are much clearer here on the South Shore (hard hit) than they might have been.  It's always a good idea to prep for at least a couple of days of fending for yourself; if you don't need to, you have fewer groceries to buy, etc.  Our house didn't lose power, but we got about 30" of snow that we are slowly clearing away, and we certainly weren't able to even get our cars out of the driveway until this morning.  

[trippyhippy]

Never really had any to take seriously. I live at the beach in Southern California. We dont really get extreme westher.

[JP-StrongForTwo]

YES! 

I live in southern arizona. If it reaches 120-130* outside, and there is a warning about bad air quality as well, we are staying the hell inside! People can DIE in that shit. young, old, middle age, EVERYONE. hundreds die every year. 

when i was growing up in WA state and we had snow warnings, my parents always said 'its not a big deal' 

but if we had blizzard warnings, we battened down the hatches LOL (litterally!!)

[shannonnigans]

Why would I take this stuff seriously? Im supposed to trust some meteorologist who is all book learned and had his head filled up with bullshit "science" at some dumb liberal college? And besides, I can take anything nature throws my way, and my family is not going to pack up our beer cooler and leave just because some pesky tornado is bearing down on our trailer. No, I'd rather place my faith and my family's safety in the hands of God, and if its our/their time, well then so be it.

(Yes, this is a goof, lest anyone take me seriously)