Big storm results in smaller newspapers
Three years ago next week, members of The Enterprise learned how to make do, as a bare-bones staff weathered Hurricane Rita in the heavily damaged downtown newspaper office, then hit the ground running to get the news to the public.
We’ve learned a lot since then, and we’re still learning.
We now have a closet full of hurricane supplies, some of which (like tarps) we’ve already pulled out a few times at the threat of tropical weather. This time, as Hurricane Ike headed our way, we emptied that closet and made use of most of the stockpile of supplies.
Staff members, in tandem, produced daily print editions as well as continually updating our Web site, BeaumontEnterprise.com
Reporters, editors and an on-line team, for two days after the storm, operated from desks set up in our parking garage and an adjacent office on laptop computers powered by inverters attached to the batteries of running cars. Flashlights and batteries of various types and sizes were abundant. When cell phones weren’t working, we had a mere three land-lines on which we could rely.
Saturday and Sunday nights a slimmer than usual Enterprise was printed at our sister paper, The Houston Chronicle. Several nights, copy editors, those who design and produce the printed pages, worked from the fully-powered office of the Jasper Newsboy, also owned by The Enterprise.
Reporters and other staff members handed out papers when they could. Because only a limited number of carriers had returned to deliver papers, some customers made the trip to our office to pick their papers up themselves. Only about 20 percent of carriers have returned thus far, but some other employees have been delivering routes and efforts are being made to return to normal delivery service as soon as possible. Customers who missed papers and don’t want to pick them up or have them delivered later, may request credit for issues missed.
As a business and a community, we’ve weathered another storm together. Together we now seek a return to “normal” life in the hope that our storms, at least for this season, are over.
We’ve learned a lot since then, and we’re still learning.
We now have a closet full of hurricane supplies, some of which (like tarps) we’ve already pulled out a few times at the threat of tropical weather. This time, as Hurricane Ike headed our way, we emptied that closet and made use of most of the stockpile of supplies.
Staff members, in tandem, produced daily print editions as well as continually updating our Web site, BeaumontEnterprise.com
Reporters, editors and an on-line team, for two days after the storm, operated from desks set up in our parking garage and an adjacent office on laptop computers powered by inverters attached to the batteries of running cars. Flashlights and batteries of various types and sizes were abundant. When cell phones weren’t working, we had a mere three land-lines on which we could rely.
Saturday and Sunday nights a slimmer than usual Enterprise was printed at our sister paper, The Houston Chronicle. Several nights, copy editors, those who design and produce the printed pages, worked from the fully-powered office of the Jasper Newsboy, also owned by The Enterprise.
Reporters and other staff members handed out papers when they could. Because only a limited number of carriers had returned to deliver papers, some customers made the trip to our office to pick their papers up themselves. Only about 20 percent of carriers have returned thus far, but some other employees have been delivering routes and efforts are being made to return to normal delivery service as soon as possible. Customers who missed papers and don’t want to pick them up or have them delivered later, may request credit for issues missed.
As a business and a community, we’ve weathered another storm together. Together we now seek a return to “normal” life in the hope that our storms, at least for this season, are over.
posted by Sheila Friedeck at 12:46 PM
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