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A KPLC TV (Lake Charles, LA) skeleton crew updated a website and kept broadcasting and webcasting through the night, as the NE of Rita's eye clipped the city. Working from the fifth floor of an apparently solid-as-heck hospital (with a line-of-sight microwave link to their broadcast relay), the crew reported on screaming wind and rain, area conditions, and tornado warnings. Reduced to a couple of gravity boom cams, one mic, and a laptop, the crew used hand-written signs in lieu of the usual alerts ticker at the bottom of the screen. Relaying warnings, updates, wind conditions, and even police info, they seemed about the only central information relay in the area.
They kept going on the web through about 2:45AM when local comm links broke down just after the crew commented on how quiet it had become, and surmised they were in a calm zone past the front of the inner eyewall. Then, apparently, the back wall roared in with fresh gusts, and cut off their major comms to the 'net. Later in the morning, they lost their microwave relay link. Webpage updates became sporadic. But by 11AM, they had restored their on-the-air broadcasting and had their website updates going at a good clip again.
The lake is at a level "no one has seen before." And keep in mind, it's still raining in force upstream.
Now, at about 12:45PM, they're working to get the web simulcast back up. These folks remind me of the New Orleans crew of WWL-TV, which at one point were broadcasting from a hotel room. The big difference is this crew found themselves right in some of the worst of it. Winds outside were estimated at well over 100MPH.
Edit: (2PM) - KPLC put up a Flash photo exhibit . It's only half of the Lake Charles area, but seriously -- look at photo 7. Those are huge barges that were torn loose (by tornado, one phone-in witness said, last night on KPLC) and washed up against the railroad bridge.
They kept going on the web through about 2:45AM when local comm links broke down just after the crew commented on how quiet it had become, and surmised they were in a calm zone past the front of the inner eyewall. Then, apparently, the back wall roared in with fresh gusts, and cut off their major comms to the 'net. Later in the morning, they lost their microwave relay link. Webpage updates became sporadic. But by 11AM, they had restored their on-the-air broadcasting and had their website updates going at a good clip again.
12:30 [pm] - Mayor Randy Roach says there is extensive wind damage and that it is practically impossible to get through the city. Storm surge is still a problem. Bord du Lac Drive is flooded over onto Lakeshore Drive. The Mayor urges people to not drive at all in the city at this time. Buses to temporary shelters will be picking people up at the Civic Center between 2 pm and 3 pm. There is a curfew for Lake Charles from 7pm to 6 am. Lake Charles residents should boil all water until further notice.
The lake is at a level "no one has seen before." And keep in mind, it's still raining in force upstream.
Now, at about 12:45PM, they're working to get the web simulcast back up. These folks remind me of the New Orleans crew of WWL-TV, which at one point were broadcasting from a hotel room. The big difference is this crew found themselves right in some of the worst of it. Winds outside were estimated at well over 100MPH.
Edit: (2PM) - KPLC put up a Flash photo exhibit . It's only half of the Lake Charles area, but seriously -- look at photo 7. Those are huge barges that were torn loose (by tornado, one phone-in witness said, last night on KPLC) and washed up against the railroad bridge.
