I find the discussion and pictures associated with Hurricane Irene amusing for a combination of forecast accuracy, administrative and management response, and the resulting affect among the general public.
First, we see that the forecasts were accurate in terms of the magnitude and direction of the storm. I have been astonished how accurate weather forecasts usually are, despite public perception that the forecasts are somehow unreliable.
This leads me to the second point: the stellar administrative response of the various governments from the local to federal scale. These administrators really are in a lose-lose situation because, while the American public generally distrusts them, they are expected to protect their citizens through a combination of foresight and logistical excellence.
Finally, irritability. I really couldn’t think of a good word to reflect what I see in the public, but it’s something like “Aww that wasn’t that bad. They made that seem like it was going to be terrible.” and so on… It’s as if folks were inconvenienced for being warned about the storm and having received guidance for what to do.
My amusement with this situation is in the fact that the public generally don’t credit their *administrators* (not quite leaders, not quite government) when they are successful in their job, but attribute the favorable outcomes to a poor (overly pessimistic) forecast. Thinking about this, I’m glad that most of the folks responsible for the actual response in these situations are not political appointees, because the prisoners’ dilemma might ultimately lead to worse and worse outcomes.