"Was Vermont Warned?"

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There are now two news stories (one yesterday, one today) complaining that Vermont was not warned of the danger of Irene. As I state below, my head was down in the data for days and so I cannot speak for anyone else. But, I can state that Vermont was included in the warnings Tweets that I was sending out.



How explicit were the warnings?

For four days, I -- and others -- were warning of the likelihood of flooding in New England. I posted this Saturday along with map outlining, in red, an area of "major flooding" that included Vermont.
Calling, in advance, for evacuation preparations for a 200-year flood plain width around rivers is indicative of an extreme hazard. I know the NWS had a flash flood watch out for the area. When I wrote about all of the hazards meteorologists were trying to think through, this was one of the hazards I was talking about.

So, as tragic and devastating as the record flooding has been, it is not accurate or fair to say there was "no warning."

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