Really.
We have a hurricane moving INTO the Mid-Atlantic instead of a N'oreaster paralleling the coast.
We have a windfield of tropical storm-force winds that extends out 500 miles.
Some areas will see sustained winds of 50+ mph for nearly two full days. Areas with large, mature trees, many still with full leaf cover, with adjacent power lines.
Meterologists who don't hype weather events are saying this will be bad. The totality of this storm is unprecedented in modern meterological history.
Yet you see it as no big deal. We'll see.
After all, it was only a year ago at this time that we had a powerful northeaster dump up to a foot of snow in most of interior New England, where many of us lost power for a week or more. I had six inches of slush with downed trees all over my backyard and lost power for four days. I don't remember that being portrayed in the media as an apocalypse. I just fired up the generator, took some cold showers and ate a lot of canned salmon sandwiches for a few days.
Also around Halloween, we had that "Perfect Storm" back in 1991. Five days of rains and severe coastal damage. Not to mention those fisherman that perished and had a movie made about them.
So yes, this will be another big storm, but not the end of the world. I have more cans of salmon (Alaskan sockeye!), plenty of canned sardines and a whole mess of cans of Progresso soup, mostly the chicken and sausage gumbo, which is my favorite.
I don't need to rush to the supermarket like a maniac and clear the shelves of milk and bread - and batteries. I still have batteries from the Y2K scare. They supposedly expired in 2005 but they still work fine when I slide them into my flashlights and transistor radios.
It's just a storm. I live in New England. I'm used to storms. I've got the candles ready to go, lots of beer and some good books to read.