Editorial: Weather hype was over the top

A car is crushed by a fallen tree during the impacts of Cyclone Cook -- but the storm was not as bad as we had been led to believe.

IT WAS the storm that was supposed to top the Wahine disaster weather in ferocity, but it never happened.

Certainly not in Whanganui and certainly not in most of the country.

Dire warnings about the strength of Cyclone Cook made it sound like an Easter apocalypse.

There have been road closures because of slips and trees coming down, some localised flooding and some high winds and seas.

It was a storm, yes, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Presumably it could have been and that's why the MetService and Civil Defence issued warnings.

But is there a chance it was overkill?

There is absolutely nothing wrong with being prepared. We should all be. And given it was a long holiday weekend, telling people to stay off the roads if possible in some places around the country was good advice.

And I understand where the authorities are coming from.

There has been criticism recently of agencies not giving people enough warning and advice. But honestly, it was a bit much.

Over-inflated news media reports and websites also don't help.

The issue is that if we go over the top on these events, and the expected calamity doesn't happen people won't believe them in future.

Crying wolf too often will mean when a massive storm is predicted, and it does happen, it will be treated with scepticism.

A bit of proportion is called for.