28. The Boy Who Cried Wolf

Ever since Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy wreaked havoc on large swaths of people in the United States, it seems that politicians are much more adamant in their warnings about potential weather events. We have become acclimated to hearing elected officials make pronouncements about “life or death” instances and to heed the warnings that are being disseminated.

In reality, these potential emergency situations are very serious and one of the major functions of government is to ensure the safety and well-being of its citizenry.

It is a lot easier to ask the public to evacuate certain areas prior to a storm than react to someone having a heart attack or a woman in labor, in a location which has become isolated due to flooding or a blizzard.

Elected officials are doing the right thing when they heed the advice of the National Weather Service and a legion of weather forecasters making dire predictions… but, how many times can they make these pronouncements when the dire weather doesn’t actually come?

If the public begins to think that the National Weather Service and our elected officials are ‘just making a big deal out of nothing again’, then we may end up in an even more precarious situation for the public’s well-being.

It is my sincere hope that we can get better forecasting and modeling in the months and years ahead, because it truly is a life or death situation. Let’s not forget that in the Boy Who Cried Wolf, the wolf does indeed show up, but by that point no one believed him.