CD, the problem is that repeated false alarms have the opposite effect. After a couple of evacuations here on the barrier islands on the east coast of Florida when the storms stayed offshore (Floyd?) or made a last minute turn, people stopped listening. It is hard to spend big bucks on a hotel room, burn a lot of gasoline stuck in traffic jams and have the weather actually turn out to be better than normal because the storm sucked the moisture out of the air.
No, it is far better for local emergency management and local media to establish credibility so that people will listen when they really need to.
When a storm is out there we should all be on our guard and be thankful it was a false alarm . I understand what you are saying though. I got so frustrated last year. I was constanly preparing and then getting back to normal for nothing. Was it really though? Should I should have been counting my blessings instead? This year I find myself thinking, forget about Dean. It isn’t coming here. What if it does though? I’m ready. Why? Because all I hear is it’s “probably” going to Mexico but ..... reminding people of the buts isn’t a bad thing IMO
The other problem is, if you wait until you know for sure where the storm is going to hit, it will be too late to evacuate everyone.