It has been a long weekend for multimedia newsroom alum Meagan Kelleher in Lake Charles, La. She's been through the worst of Hurricane Rita while working as the web director at Channel 7. Here's her update for those who have been following the storm. I have left in her shorthand. Adds to the feel :
Been in Christus St. Pat hospital since Wed. or Thur. before storm hit. Our station has set up here with a bare bones broadcast that we also streamed over the web. We are still here today (Saturday), but might move back to station today. During the storm was surreal, some of the loudest noises I have ever heard. We have one computer with one airport card, that is the only thing keeping us going on the web. We have gotten over 1,000 emails on our ritakplc@gmail.com account from people all over the world. Brazil, London, Japan, Canda and France are just some places that have been watching our broadcast. My aparment is ok, no damage, but I can't say that for all employees. So much of the city is flooded, there are downed trees everywhere, all the bayous have risen above the bridges. My cell phone broke, so I have no contact with anyone except borrowing people's phones to call my parents. People won't be back into town for another 7 to 10 days, and we won't have electricity for maybe even longer. We all feel really gross, obviously haven't showered since Thursday. Since we don't have chryon operations we have been writing everything on paper and putting them in plastic placards then zooming in on it. We have one stick mic and one camera, and no air conditioning. Sleeping on the tile floor is not fun, because everything is damp. I am so incredibly proud of everything that KPLC has done for the people of Southwest Louisiana. I am glad I got to be a part of it. It was the most challenging, scary, fun, depressing and rewarding experience I have ever had. Meagan
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