Hurricane Earl's aftermath news update, Rhode Island, Sept 4, 2010: "Gigantic, monsterous Earl, 'just like the Great Hurricane of 1938' " did no structural damage to southern New England and blew by almost unnoticed, except for the warning headlines, which kept tourists away for the Labor Day Weekend. Thousands of dollars were lost to tourism as a result of lack luster Hurricane Earl.
Rhode Island, particularly, the southern end and coastline of RI, depends upon tourism for its economic stability. The Queen Mary 2, Cunard Lines' premiere ocean liner skipped its Newport port-a-call and sailed onto New York, abandoning Newport's shops and restaurants. Earl chose to arrive about the same time most New Yorkers get to Newport at the end of the work week, this one, Sept 3rd and the beginning of the long 3 day Labor Day weekend; end of summer tourists were swept up by the winds of Hurricane Earl predictions to cancel weekend reservations to historic Newport, Rhode Island and beaches were closed as a result of water contamination on Saturday.
The Great Hurricane of 1938, the worst natural disaster in American history, forced the loss of hundreds of Rhode Island lives and property in the billions of 2010 dollars, mainly because of a lack of communication. Earl's damage was in dollars to tourism in a Rhode Island economy, already in the tank. The irony lies in the strength of today's communication technology...too much hyperbole or is it just that no one can truly predict the course of Mother Nature and her weather?
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Comments
Better safe than sorry is my opinion, although the media does overly dramatize certain events.
Geeze, we never know what the weather will do. They say the weather is as changable as a woman, Lol! Shame it ruined vacations though!
Thank you for the weather report on Earl. Good he created only minimal damage.
Great article, reporting on the weather is tricky, so glad everyone is safe.
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