Oh really? We were fortunate in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and northward; Irene could have easily continued on as a Category 1 and there would have been lots more damage. Maybe you weren't seriously affected, but many were. 15 people died. The Carolinas got hit very hard, billions in damage, and parts of New Jersey are also in a bad way. Millions are without electricity still; even here in my town almost 10,000 won't have power for several days, and every neighborhood has damage major or minor. A tree landed on the house of one of my neighbors causing serious damage; they'll be out of the house for weeks, others have thousands in flood damage. Even the "minor" damage to the waterfront and the roads here in town will take $500k to $1million for the town to repair - money that could be better spent elsewhere. Multiply even that little bit by hundreds of towns on the north east coast and you're approaching a billion dollars. On a personal note I was flooded in '07, with nearly $100k in damages. I think that I had every right to quietly panic, my family and my business were at risk; I very easily could have been out of business permanently or even sustained serious damage to my home again.
There was actually very little panic, and the the media over-hype probably saved a lot of lives and property damage; everyone was well prepared. As much as I dislike the media they do a good job when it's a natural phenomenon and not politics.
