storm theory
Mass evacuations, states of emergency, and over reporting weather in general seem to be oriented toward conditioning us to accept whatever they say. If you notice, even earthquake and volcano reporting by the USGS is done with an agenda in mind (often under-reported).
Typhoon Jebi a few weeks ago was supposed to kick Guam in the ass, but they got barely a whimper. Typhoon Manghut right now has everyone in Philippines freaking out, even though it will barely cross the norther tip of Luzon. Hurricane Florence, "the storm of the century" or whatever, is only showing 40mph gusts just an hour inland where some relatives live.
Drudge had it right. Fake news is fake. Oh, the storms are real. But I'm convinced the true level of impact will ALWAYS be under or over-reported, depending on the agenda-du-jour.