alt Hacker NewsThis is how everything works. Systems that aren't designed to handle an event are unlikely to handle it well. Where I live, we got 4 inches of rain in 20 minutes yesterday. That was a Tuesday. From the time I've spent out west, I believe in that place it would be disaster level flooding.
We're likely to see more of this with climate change, right? Major snows in areas that can't handle it. Typhoons|Cyclones|Hurricanes hitting areas that can't handle it, etc.
It is a big deal when an area gets a weather event that is not normal for that area because they cannot handle it and don't have the tools or people with experience in the area to deal with it. I think the freaking out is justified because it may help save lives - people in the affected area are more likely to hear about it and hopefully react accordingly.