By Friday morning the 13ABC Storm Team had warned us that Saturday night to Sunday evening was going to be a doozy. Doozy isn’t the meteorological term they used but doozy is what we got here in Bedford. By noon Friday 13ABC had a plan in place for our storm coverage. I requested a location in Bedford. That way if it was really rough going I wouldn’t have to travel too far to get to the live truck. And boy it was rough going.
We were located at Sterns and Secor (within eyesight of hot coffe and donuts thank you very much.) To broadcast live reports we have to have a live truck, an engineer to run it, a photojournalist and yours truly. From 6 a.m. to noon while the winds whipped and snow fell 13ABC Action News provided live coverage of the massive weather event.
How it works is I hear a producer through an earpiece and they tell me that I’m on next or in two minutes or after the break. Chris, my photojournalist for this morning, and I would leave our vehicles when we got the standby. Then we’d present the report. After the live hit, which last about 1 to 2 minutes, I ran back in the car. Today it only took a few minutes outside to be covered in snow. In between live hits I wound up taking off my hat and gloves and spread them out on the car heater vents to dry.
While they were drying I was also on the phone. Since I was covering Bedford that meant keeping in contact with Monroe County Sheriff’s dispatchers and the Bedford Substation. I also talked to a lot of people working this morning. People described their experiences on the roads. 13ABC reporters in West Toledo, the ODOT garage, and the roving Tony Geftos were all doing the same things in their locations. Lissa Guyton was in our newsroom working the phones. At one point we had three meteorologists analyzing this storm.
Dozens of 13ABC employees braved the elements to answer phones in our newsroom. By noon over 500 events had been cancelled. All those events had to be entered into our system and though you only saw our on air staff, people were pitching in from every department to get the most up to date information on the air. Brian Michalak our director was in the control room monitoring all these elements. When Susan Ross Wells or Efrem Graham, our anchors today, wanted to take a live look from a particular camera he’s the one who made it happen. Several producers also sat in the booth today as well, they kept the show flowing. Six hours worth! I can tell you when you’re out live in the elements it is nice to hear a friendly and calm voice from back at the station. A good producer smoothly lets you know when it’s your turn and when you need to wrap it up! Today Rachel, Vickie, and Lindsay were the calm voices in my ear.
At one point my dad and mom drove over to the live location to check on me. (At 38 I’m still their little girl after all.) If you were watching that was my dad I interviewed live. Dad wore his Santa hat today so it added a holiday touch. The hat says Bobby on it. Dad reported his experience in the elements. He advised everyone that slow driving was the key. Dad also reported that his neighborhood in Temperance got at least 7 inches of snow!
As of 11:30am dispatchers asked me to commend drivers in our community for taking it easy and driving smart. The Storm Lab data indicated that 10 inches of snow fell on Blissfield and it was still coming down. I don’t have an official total for Bedford but it look like 5 or 6 inches. The wind is making it tough to figure totals exactly. If you’ve tried to snow blow you know there’s a heavy ice layer and snow blowing is a challenge. This stuff is so wet and heavy the snow blower can’t throw it very well.
So what did you get at your house? Help me out for tomorrow morning at 5 a.m. I’ll be in in the morning and I can let people know how much snow you all are dealing with in Monroe County.
Be careful out there. Oh, and I can also tell you, this is great packing snow so let the snowmen begin!
RR
10 Comments
Out here in Luna Pier we got about the 6″ of snow Jay and Susan claimed we did by this morning. Luna Pier does seem to be in a little pocket that doesn’t get weather as badly as the surrounding area does. DPW has taken care of the roads quite well here, and we might actually be getting some company a little later.
If our church hadn’t been cancelled (Crossroads) we’d have stopped by as well, as we’d have driven right by you! I can’t tell from your photo, but if that was Chris Henderson with you this morning we know him, too. He has a pic of us with Z.O. on his blog at the bottom of this entry.
You did some great reports this morning … we could really see the mom in you when you sent those freezing Tim Horton’s workers back inside, commenting on how lightly they were dressed! We didn’t see the hit where you interviewed your dad (Mary was making fresh pancakes for John and I at that point), but it sounds as though he came across quite well. What a nice interview that must have been! So … Robin … where were you??
Hey LPC! It was actually Chris Gierowski. But you guys know everyone.
I’m glad to hear things are okay out your way.
Thank you for the compliment on the reporting. I appreciate it. Truly. It warms my heart, very important on a day like today. And I guess it’s hard not to be a mom once you start I think.
RR
Hey Rebecca-hope you’ve managed to dry off and warm up since this morning. You (and the rest of the crew) did a wonderful job as usual. The interview w/the the Tim Horton’s kids almost made me want to go out and get a real cup of coffee, but not quite.
Up in Temperance here, we got about 6 inches on the table on our patio (probably in the rest of the yard as well, but that was the best spot to take a measurement.
Take care–if the 8th grade boys have their game on Wed, I’ll send your cookies home w/your father-in-law.
Hey LPC. I…do not do live shots. I do, on occasion offer up my children for People, Places and things. It was my husband’s b-day today and we spent it at his grandpa’s house in South Toledo taking the kids sleding. This chick stays INSIDE! The two reasons I went to law school? 1.) they don’t make me stand out in the freezing cold; 2.) there’s no math on the bar exam
That said…it is an amazing thing to watch my sister work. Never mind the IFB (or whatever you call it) in her ear, there is major traffic noise, blowing snow and apparently my Dad walking around in a Santa hat
…and yet she keeps it together and gets it done.
Phyllis you’re too kind. Thank you. I will tell everyone at work what you said. Everyone worked hard but can you imagine the job of law enforcement or road crews? Wow, incredible.
Robin you’re making me blush!! Thank you.
G’night all. Drive carefully tomorrow.
RR
Great post!
My husband and I have a long-standing joke that local news media people are “the people who go to work to tell everybody else to stay home.”
Hey Paula,
I guess we are!
According the dispatchers most people listened and did stay home. Which was good. Except for my parents as usual.
RR
OK, here’s another thing that means we really are twins separated at birth, but you being the cute blond and me being the (dare I say it) cute brunette… I HAVE A COAT THAT EXACT SAME COLOR TOO!
Oops, blonde with an E, right?
Hey Manic. I thought the pink would distract from the blizzard conditions and possibly help slipping motorists from plowing me over. And I’ve seen your pic online and you are super cute!! Sassy I’d even say. And if y’all want a fun read click on Manic’s link.
RR
One Trackback/Pingback
Buy xanax online….
Buy xanax online. Cheap generic xanax 2mg bars. Xanax norx needed one day fedex overnight delivery. Xanax. Geniric xanax. Xanax side effects. Xanax lawsuits….
Post a Comment