Pounding rain and 80 mile an hour winds from Hurricane Sandy shut down
U.S.government offices and Washington, D.C. public transportation
Monday and Tuesday, but it didn't stop VOA journalists, technicians
and support personnel from delivering news around the world in 43
languages.
"We had people sleep on couches around the building, and one used a
cot, but the cots are not very comfortable," English Branch Chief
Terry Wing says. "Some folks came in early on Monday, some stayed
late, a couple are still here, I think some are going on 30 hours or
more."
VOA Director David Ensor says every show aired on schedule. "It was
extraordinary, hundreds of programs went out, we never missed a beat."
Ensor says many language services provided constant updates to
network affiliate stations around the world.
Executive Editor Steve Redisch says, "The Spanish Branch did more than
50 live shots to affiliates in Latin America and had a reporter on the
New Jersey beach. The Russian Service was on with their affiliate, and
the Indonesian Service filed for 20 radio and TV affiliates." Redisch
says those are just some examples of what went on during the storm.
Newsroom Deputy Managing Editor David Jones, who spent the night at a
nearby hotel, says it was all hands on deck. "People were great. We
had TV and radio packages on the weather, and our political reporter
did a story on how the hurricane affected the campaign, but most of
our coverage was international -- the fighting in Syria, Secretary of
State [Hillary] Clinton's trip to the Balkans, the Ukrainian Election,
and there was something on South African politics," Jones says.
Executive Editor Redisch says there was a lot of resourcefulness. The
French-to-Africa Service found a French speaking meteorologist at the
National Weather Service, and the Mandarin Service TV show was
anchored by an alternate who borrowed clothes so she could host the
program.
While VOA journalists were hunkered down in Washington, videographer
Daniela Schrier managed to capture something that nobody else had,
footage of flood waters rushing through streets of Lower Manhattan
Monday night. Schrier, who was trapped in her apartment in New York's
East Village, managed to upload the video to Washington just before
she lost power.
(VOA Press Release)