As Irene rumbled up the East Coast on Aug. 26, we got to witness some very difficult risk-management decisions playing out in a very public sphere.
On the Friday before the storm's anticipated Sunday morning arrival, Mayor Mike Bloomberg issued New York's first-ever mandatory evacuation for residents in low-lying parts of the city—an order that affected some 370,000 people. Around the same time, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), in a decision not made but heartily endorsed by Bloomberg (and N.Y. Governor Andrew Cuomo), announced it would be shutting down the region's entire subway and rail network at noon on Saturday.
In retrospect, the evacuations were clearly unnecessary. By the time Irene reached the city, Irene's strength had dwindled to the level of a tropical storm and no longer packed a life-threatening (or emergency-vehicle-blocking) punch.
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