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Hurricane Irene is all over the news, so it must really be something.
Actually, not so much. It's just that the media's based mostly on the east coast, so anything that happens there is automatically "news".
Sort of like the recent earthquake there:
Dishes tinkled in china cabinets, a picture fell from the wall in a house beside a country lane in Northern Virginia, the earth moved in Bethesda (thrilling a new bride) and somewhere in Georgetown, a garbage bin tipped over, spilling out three tin cans, a handful of coffee grounds and a dented pizza box. This was serious stuff, as serious stuff is measured by the minions of press and tube.