First Person: FloodWatch

I was just finishing up some duties in the WNEP newsroom early Monday morning when the phones, e-mails, and social media started blowing up.  Hours of steady rain was causing flooding in the Tremont and Pine Grove areas.

Photographer Lou was called in early.  He arrived at the station in minutes, and we were soon on our way south on Interstate 81.  Scenes like you see above were not uncommon.  Half of Pine grove was under water because of an overflowing Swatara Creek.  The rest was swamped by water running down from the mountains.

We drove as far as we could, and then it was a long walk to where the real action was.  Thankfully, a Newswatch 16 fan in a high clearance pick up truck spotted Lou and I.  He drove us to where we needed to go.  He also waited until we had done some interviews and gathered additional video-- and he drove us back to our car.

I had most of the story written in my head during the drive back.  It was then time to bang out a script on my laptop and transmit it back to the station.  It didn't take long.  Let the pictures tell the story, and what a story it was.  After writing and approval from producer Teresa, I recorded what they call the voice track and handed everything over to photographer Lou, who edited on a laptop in the back seat of the car.  Lou finished, and the video was transmitted back to the station for airing on Newswatch 16 at Noon.  By the way, it was amazing to watch Lou squish himself in to the back seat of the car to edit on the laptop.  When you factor in his photographer gear, my equipment bags, assorted rain gear and other stuff, there wasn't much room.  I should also point out that I'm thrilled management has invested in the equipment that makes shoots like this ridiculously easy.  In the old days, you'd need an extra truck and the person to run it.  Now, it's a laptop and internet access.

While Lou edited, I exited the car for a cold bottle of diet cola.  I really wasn't all that thirsty.  I just wanted something cold to put on my numerous mosquito bites.  The critters love heat and humidity, and I was a tasty target.  Considering people were losing their homes, a few bug bites, in the greater scheme of things, were incredibly minor.

By now, the water was receding a bit.  Roads that were impassable were now open.  We found a place to do our noon live shot.

I introduced the taped piece, and right in the middle, it started to rain.  Actually, rain is an understatement.  It poured.  It was like standing in the shower at home.  The water was warm, and it wasn't stopping.

After the noon report, I was replaced by Newswatch 16's Jessica Albert, and I headed north on Interstate 81.  More on that journey in a future blog entry.

Part of what we do is finding problems.  The other part is looking at solutions.  Pine Grove has been flooded many times before.  It's a pretty little town.  Dredge the creek?  Move people away from the water?  I'm not sure.  The state has allocated $3 million to try to fix the problem, but I don't know what you can do to prevent days and days of rain.