Typhoon Wipha has been downgraded to "Tropical Storm" from "Super Storm set to cause the destruction of the Financial Hub of Shanghai and end life as we know it!" The FORECAST from Hong Kong pretty much confirms this. Wipha hit China's Southern Coast today about 240 KM from Shanghai. What does the MSNBC headline read? "TYPHOON WIPHA SLAMS INTO COAST NEAR SHANGHAI!" followed by the tagline"2 million evacuate after forecasts call storm the most powerful in a decade!" Then in the article about halfway down it says, "The storm's eye made landfall near Cangnan in southern Zhejiang province, some 240 miles south of Shanghai, and was losing force as it moved north along the coast, state media reported."
Way to work up a frenzy with a misleading title. I live in Shanghai, the media here has been pumping this storm for the last day pretty hard. Schools have closed, business have told their employees to stay home. It has definitely affected people, but come on MSNBC if you're going to report it like its destroying Shanghai, at least make sure its going to hit Shanghai and be the "Super Storm!" it was supposed to be. All you've done is needless worry the hell out of my mother. Thanks for that.
CNN, you're no better. "Typhoon Wipha slams into China" with the intro, "SHANGHAI, China (AP) -- Typhoon Wipha slammed into the coast south of Shanghai early Wednesday as authorities moved 2 million people following forecasts it would be the most powerful storm to hit eastern China in a decade."
In the middle of the article, "There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage caused by the storm on mainland China." Then towards the end, "Wipha, a woman's name in Thai, was upgraded from a tropical storm Monday. With wind gusts of up to 265 km/h, local meteorological officials said it would be the most destructive storm to hit the Shanghai area in years if it followed a course northward that would take it just (over Shanghai.)"
Monday? CNN's front page story about the IMMINENT DOOM STORM OF THE DECADE! was essentially updated 2 days ago? The baby eating storm of destruction has been downgraded to a tropical storm today. Granted, things could still change and God could read CNN and MSNBC and say, "Hey, I need to get on the ball here, they're expecting a doozy so I better deliver."
Yahoo can't be left out of the mix either, "Typhoon Wipha hits southeast China reads the World News Front Page Headline. At least the Yahoo article got it mostly right by not making it seem like the Typhoon was already in Shanghai.
The storm will be here later this afternoon, and it will be a good one, this is true. We'll get some nasty winds, some flooding, pretty strong rain, and it will be tough to get a taxi in central Shanghai.
But seriously guys, keep up to date on your news reports. I want to go home from work just as much as the next guy, but there's no need scaring the hell out of my mother. That's just uneccessary.
If things do get Super Storm crazy around here, and the CNN and MSNBC's misleading articles with pictures of 5 chinese people on a 3-wheeled bike peddling through a flooded streets end up actually happening on more than 2 streets in Shanghai, then I'll print out this article and take a picture of me eating it.
UPDATE: Shanghai Daily has THIS update on the storm that says, "TYPHOON Wipha will be as close as 100 kilometers to Shanghai on its way north, Xinhua news agency reported today. Wipha was downgraded to a severe tropical storm at 7am today after landing in Wenzhou City, 420 kilometers south of Shanghai, at 2:30am, said Zhu Jiadong, forecaster of Shanghai Meteorological Bureau.
The typhoon was moving northwest at 25 kilometers per hour, 300 kilometers away from Shanghai at 9am, the report said.
The bureau said wind force in Shanghai will be strengthened to around 80 kilometers per hour around noon. The typhoon will move to the sea after reaching north Jiangsu or south Shandong provinces, the report said. Rain and winds in Shanghai will weaken by midnight, the report said."
What does CNN and MSNBC still say? CNN has the same story I posted earlier, still on the front page, with information from as early as...Monday. I checked CNN and it was last updated at12:00 a.m. EDT, Wed September 19, 2007.
MSNBC updated their Super Typhoon of Death article by adding, "But Wipha was fast losing power and appeared unlikely to live up to forecasts that it could be the most powerful storm to hit eastern China in a decade. By Wednesday morning, the Meteorological Bureau in Zhejiang province, where Wipha made landfall, reported that it was downgraded to a severe tropical storm when its sustained wind speeds dropped below 74 mph."
But they still can't let go of the idea that Wipha might not be all that bad, "However, the storm was expected to pass Shanghai, China’s biggest city, later in the day and still carried the potential to cause significant damage through flooding and strong winds."
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Have you ever been driving late at night and you pass someone broken down by the side of the road? Do you get that little pang of guilt in your chest as their flashing hazard lights diminish in your rearview mirror?
