re: So the media is blowing their load on this hurricane

Storm surge is going to cause destruction. If they don’t tell people how bad it’s going to be then some will stay and either drown or need to be rescued. Then there will be outcry that no one warned them.

The last thing anyone needs to be doing is rescuing a bunch of people in dangerous conditions. It’s better to go worst case (which may very well be the case here) and have people evacuate.