idiot or fear monger?

For days, the local television weather gurus and their talking head counterparts in the news departments have been predicting that a huge storm, a classic "Nor'easter," was going to strike our neck of the woods today. As the big storm approached, the chatter on the local television stations got louder and louder striking fear into the hearts of the citizens and causing a run on bread, milk, and gasoline at the local convenience stores.

Meanwhile, the National Weather Service has been downgrading the storm for the past two days. If you compare the NWS forecasts with the stories coming out of the local television stations, you would think they were talking about different weather events.

So, why are the television stations sticking to their stories and still predicting a big storm?

Are they just fear mongers, who are trying to scare people to such a degree that they will stay tuned to the local television stations so not to miss any of pearls of wisdom dripping from the local newscasters' mouths and more importantly, the countless advertisements and commercials that surround those rare pearls?

Anyway, this morning, I am eating breakfast, reading the newspaper, and listening to the local news on WVIT - Channel 30. WVIT is still playing up the storm big time and they have a reporter named Amy down on the shoreline in New Haven reporting on the weather conditions on/in Long Island Sound.

Amy is really agitated about the deteriorating weather conditions and to make her point, she says that two hours ago (at 7 AM) the beach where she was standing was not covered with water, but that now (at 9 AM), that same spot is inundated with surging water!

I shout back at Amy, "It's called 'high tide,'" but she does not hear me and prattles on with her report. (High tide in New Haven was at 10:02 AM today.)

So, was Amy just doing her job and being a good little fear monger for WVIT or is she just an idiot and does not know about high tides?