Lynn Martinez Birthday yesterday
And it wouldn’t be Deco Drive if they didn’t salute her with a cheap present and visit from Belyks Nerey and birthday wishes from people like Gwineth Paltrow, Bill Kamal and others
Video – 10MB XviD
We lucked out only with minor trees being damaged and not much else. Down the road in a nearby complex there’s at least 5 huge ficus trees down, some on buildings and the roof shingles had come off too. I thought this thing would never end, Saturday was a horrid night the electrcity held on great and at 11:59 it just gave up and went off. Outside was pitch dark, save for the reflecting light from nearby cities who had power, the wind was noisy and gusting like mad. It was like having someone outside of your home that wants to destroy it badly enough that it keeps on trying without giving up, at times even trying harder and harder. The sky was lit with blue light from transformers that were blowing constantly with every time the wind gusts were picking up. Then at around 2am the wind began picking up more and more and got to the point where you could hear trees snapping, big trees that looked like straws getting bent and broken. Indoors with the vaulted ceilings we have I could hear the wind right on the roof trying to get thru the roof tile, and the more it wasn’t able to move them the more it pressed it felt like the roof would just go “I can’t take it anymore” and fly off. Vicious, very vicious, it was like mother nature was so pissed off at us it slowed the hurricane down on purpose and let the winds go up just to see how much we could handle and then for a side dish it knocked the power off so we could feel even more vulnerable.
One thing is sure though, radio may be an old and not a fad technology but it’s the only one left when the power goes out. I depended on the Internet and all the live radar info to keep an eye on the approaching feeder bands that were about to slam us and knew almost to the minute when to expect a nasty wind to slam us, but once the power went out it started feeling a bit vulnerable not being able to tell what was coming our way.
Then last night we were so bored and desperate for electricity sex wasn’t even an option anymore, we actually went out at 9:30pm to go to Walmart Supercenter. Of all the 5 years in So Florida we’ve shopped at Walmart all but 5 times and always when my boyfriend’s mother is here. That’s how desperate we were to get out of the darkness around us and find some light just to remind ourselves there’s life out there. We spent an hour and a half walking around the store shopping for nothing, because there wasn’t much left anyways, not even cheap candles.
I guess it’s safe to say we’ll be making major purchases like battery powered TVs, my boyfriend’s even thinking about solar powered stuff that’s how outta the ballpark he got not having electrcitiy.
Now we’ll have to eat pizza for who knows how long untill they re-stock the supermarkets. But at least we have a place to sleep without getting wet, and that’s lucky
And for the Nth fucking time Please do not email me asking what malls are open, or that something’s wrong with your whatever THIS SITE IS NOT AFFILIATED WITH THE TV NEWS STATIONS!
Those who asked for promos, sorry that would be the last of my concern at the moment, I have to work, clean junk emails, find food that’s not flooded with melted ice or spoiled and make plans for the next hurricane. If and when I have any hurricane promos they’ll be posted on the site so keep checking.
WPLG Bahamas crew on CNN Larry King tonight
WPLG’s crew, or at least Bill Damas will be on CNN’s Larry King tonight to talk about the hurricane and what they’ve experienced
Judy Echavez hit by debree
Judy Echaves was hit by debree while covering the hurricane in the Bahamas. Channel 10 lost connection with the team as the hurricane hammered the island and 12+ hours later they were able to send a report in which Judy said she was hit on the back by what looked like a piece of wall or wood knocking her “wind out”. She’s said she’s been putting ice on her injured area but otherwise appears just fine.
I’ll make a best effort to record the report and post it here. Thankfully we’re only getting wind gusts here and very little rain, my cable and cable TV are holding steady, knock on wood.
Update 5:03pm
Judy Echavez live from the Bahamas after being off the air for over 12 hours with no connection to WPLG and getting hit wiht a dura rock on the back, cracking her ribs – VIDEO 26.5MB MPG format 8 minutes long
Update 1:44pm: Judy Echavez is live on WPLG right now, she was hit by a dura rock a cement looking material, she looks ok but her breathing is paced and by her account she might have a cracked rib or more. Editing the video now from her report
TV Stations in hurricane mode
Sun Sentinel
TV stations gearing up for Frances coverage
TV stations gearing up for Frances coverage
By Jack Zink
cultural affairs Writer
Posted September 2 2004
Although many of South Florida’s television stations have not yet gone to continuous on-air storm coverage, most have already reached full-time staffing to deal with Hurricane Frances.
The first to go to “wall to wall” broadcast coverage is Miami’s WSVN-Ch. 7, which planned to do so at 3 a.m. today, spokesperson Lily Pardo said late Wednesday.
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Other stations from Miami through the Palm Beaches plan to hold off on that decision until after the posting of a hurricane watch or warning.
Miami’s WFOR-Ch. 4 was already in “extended coverage” mode Wednesday but kept the prime-time window open for the Latin Grammys.
News director Shannon High-Bassalik said that decisions will remain fluid, and that tonight’s prime-time programming will depend upon the proximity and direction of the storm.
News directors at most stations said that President George W. Bush’s acceptance speech at tonight’s Republican Convention windup could be dumped.
“The storm is more important to our viewers and their livelihoods,” said WTVJ-Ch. 6 President and General Manager Ardyth Diercks, echoing station officials in the Palm Beaches as well as Miami.
The region, including Martin County and the Treasure Coast, is expected to be dealing with the storm’s aftermath by Sunday. But Frances has already forced the cancellation of South Florida’s participation in the annual Jerry Lewis fundraising telethon.
Muscular Dystrophy Association officials contacted the Palm Beach and Miami-Dade stations early Wednesday and told them not to bother trying to staff their local segments of the telethon. WPEC-Ch. 12 in West Palm Beach was already considering bowing out.
“The crews that have to construct the telethon set are the same people that have to be here for our hurricane coverage,” said WPEC station manager Donn Colee.
With Wednesday guesses putting landfall around Vero Beach, stations in the surrounding area were already stockpiling food, buying mattresses for their staff and sandbagging their doors for an expected windy siege. WPTV-Ch. 5 was setting up a second-floor conference room at its West Palm Beach headquarters as a barracks for up to 80 staffers.
Miami’s WPLG-Ch. 10 and WFOR-Ch. 4, meanwhile, each sent a team to Marsh Harbour on the Bahamas outer island of Abaco earlier this week, which could take the brunt of the storm some time today. WFOR also sent a news crew to Nassau, the Bahamian capital.
This report is supplemented by material from the Stuart News. Jack Zink can be reached at jzink@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4706.
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Copyright © 2004, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
