This is what it looks like when the people lose faith in the institutions that are supposed to make civilization function. The weather has been politicized to the point that every normal occurrence has become the fault of people who have a disagreement with the democrats on tax policy. People no longer trust the “leaders” that went on TV to tell them that they MUST get the jab or else they will be branded mass murderers. When every weather event, from a hot spell to a rain storm to a dry spell is a cataclysmic catastrophe, then none are a cataclysmic catastrophe.
I do wonder how many people stuck in all that weren't let go early from their jobs, as had happened to me a few times.
I put some blame on the Weather Channel. In the last few years, they have become climate change lecturers to the point of overdoing the weather forecasting to the point of hysteria. You can hear and see the excitement in their voices when they are talking about an event that is about to happen. It’s kinda weird.
Re: 84 - I think you are on the right track.
People were bombarded day after day after day about COVID and mask this, vaccinate that, etc. Many people have just tuned out those messages.
The same with weather. Messages such as “once in a generation”, “once in 50 years” etc. storms or other weather events just start to not register. People just shrug it off.
With that said, people need to have good situational awareness. There was a travel ban in place early, early on for the storm. The storm was predicted DAYS in advance. There had been a heavy lake effect snowfall just before Thanksgiving. Some people made some bad decisions and for some, it cost them their lives. Not to mention first responders not being able to get to others who had medical emergencies at home.