There's a world of difference between 2 inches of a snow and a category 1 hurricane for chrissake.
I'm sure most Canadians and Northerners would say a category 1 hurricane is a much bigger deal than a surprise snowstorm. And most Southerners would find the snowstorm more daunting than a weak hurricane.
Really? So cat 1 hurricanes usually result in 0 death toll and minimal property damage in the south? Give me a break.
What??? Did I say that? I just read over my posts and I don't feel like I even remotely implied that.
All I'm saying is, "Regions are well equipped to handle extreme weather that's common for the area. The North can handle snow and ice storms without missing a beat. The South has no choice but to absorb hurricanes every year. However, when one of those weather events hits a region where it usually doesn't, even a weak example can wreak havoc. For example, a relatively small snowstorm made Atlanta grind to a halt, and a relatively weak hurricane that hit NY and NJ turned into the 2nd costliest natural disaster in U.S. history. Said snowstorm wouldn't have impacted a Northern city nearly as bad, and said hurricane wouldn't have had nearly the impact on a Southern city."
I can't for the life of me understand why that (obviously true? or not?) point bothers you so much.
Wind and category strength were a non factor- Sandy had +10 ft tidal surges and that is a problem anywhere. Conversely, it was the ice that was the problem in Atlanta and not the snow at all.