- August 28, 2011 • 2:30 pm PDT
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A lot of people are having a laugh at the perceived disparity between the East Coast's frantic preparations for Hurricane Irene and the storm's relative lack of force. But just because entire buildings weren't washed away along the seaboard doesn't mean that the precautions were all for naught. Irene did indeed kill people, including an 11-year-old boy who was struck by a tree, and, as you can see from this slideshow of post-hurricane pictures from New York City, it had the potential to kill more. Just ask anyone who lived through Hurricane Katrina, which struck New Orleans six years ago today: Superfluous measures are always preferable to too few measures.
photo via (cc) Flickr user NASA Goddard Photo and Video

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