For journalists left in storm's wake, the beat goes on

[TexasStooge]

Many in dark about their own homes work to bring news to others

By MICHAEL GRANBERRY / The Dallas Morning News

NEW ORLEANS, La. - Charlotte Porter longs for the moment she can go home and sleep in her own bed. But Tuesday, with a choke in her voice, she said she wasn't sure that either possibility stood much of a chance.

Ms. Porter, 50, lives in New Orleans. She's the Associated Press bureau chief for Louisiana and Mississippi, the states hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina.

On Tuesday, members of the news media struggled fiercely to do their jobs and keep their composure, with many having no idea about the fate of their homes. For many, their spouses and children had been flown out of state while they continued to work with almost no sleep manning telephones that worked haphazardly at best.

Reaching reporters, even by cellphone, had become almost impossible for Ms. Porter, since the New Orleans' 504 area code was virtually out of commission.

"Nobody here has ever faced anything like this," she said from Baton Rouge, La., 90 miles from New Orleans. In the past 24 hours, she and her staff have moved twice.

"Even longtime staffers of mine say this is the worst they've seen since Hurricane Betsy in 1965," she said.

"It's completely unprecedented."

Most of the hundreds of journalists covering the storm – whether at newspapers, radio or television stations or wire services, have been on the go since Monday.

Ms. Porter's crew headed first to Hammond, La., 55 miles away, to the offices of the Hammond Daily Star.

And then the Daily Star lost power, and the roof started leaking. The Star had to cancel its Tuesday edition.

So she and her staff moved again, this time to Baton Rouge, where they were welcomed by the Baton Rouge Advocate.

In New Orleans, the Times-Picayune was forced to evacuate its offices, and almost all of the city's TV reporters have had to go elsewhere.

Ms. Porter said she left behind a handful of intrepid reporters in soggy New Orleans.

On Tuesday, one of those reporters, Adam Nossiter, was doing his job by boat while cruising the streets of the Big Easy.

For Brandon Walker, an 18-year-old intern working for WBRZ-TV in New Orleans, the ABC network affiliate, it was all a remarkable introduction to the world of big-time news.

"We're working hard to keep our composure, but a lot of people realize, when we get the all-clear to re-enter the city, a lot of people may be without a home," he said.

From purely a professional standpoint, he said, it's far worse than he ever thought it would be.

""Our nerves are just shot," he said. "And people forget: We're human too."