Fay has been blamed for 13 deaths in the U.S., 11 in Florida and one each in Alabama and Georgia.
The AP article this was taken from was headlined "Deadly Fay Sets Sights on Gulf States" on the Fox front page. Once you clicked, though, the headline inside the article was "Despite Florida Flooding, Some Hopeful Fay's Rains Will Quench Drought". Quite a difference.
Anyway. Every time I see quotes like the above, I think to myself, "Self, wait a minute. The hurricane/tropical storm all by its little lonesome didn't kill anybody. People who were stupid enough to go out in the storm, or who refused to leave less-than-optimal shelter, or who smugly said 'we've had worse storms, and the water's never come up past my doorstep before', and who died as a result, have only themselves to blame." The actual headline should probably be "A Few Stupid and/or Hardheaded People Die in Storm; Vast Majority Who Act Wisely and Prudently Survive."
Frankly, I blame deaths like this on the Weather Channel and local storm reporters who stand outside doing reports during the worst of the storm. Folks...excuse me, certain morons...who see that think, "oh, wow, it's not that bad; let's drive down to the liquor store for some more beer", and then end up drowned in a ditch when the storm surge or the wind knocks them into it. The rest of us look behind the storm reporter and say, "you wouldn't catch me out in that."
I'm not saying that emergency crews and public safety folks who go out during storms like that are idiots, either; they at least go out with a full understanding of how bad it is and how to stay as safe as possible, and one assumes with orders not to take stupid chances.
Terrorists are deadly. Storms are just storms.
