Give them a little bit of a break, Val. It wasn't NOAA or the National Weather Service who were running aroung like Chicken Little - it was the media, as usual.
I've worked with reporters way too much, and here's how an interview usually goes...
Reporter: "What's the worst thing that could happen in this situation?"
Spokesman: "That's extremely unlikely to develop."
Rep: "But what is it?"
Spoke: "Well, we don't think that it's likely, but in the worst possible circumstances, it could be very severe."
Reporter (on air, live): "Official sources today confirmed that this could turn into a mega-disaster!"
Yes, that's really how it happens.
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