Covering Disasters: a practical guide

• Fifteen Critical Minutes
  • Advance prep: the reporter's field kit
  • Advance prep for editors
• Disaster strikes:
  • What to grab on your way out the door
  • What to do when you arrive on the scene
  • How reporters and photographers in the field can help editors back in the newsroom
  • How reporters and photographers can help each other
  • How editors back in the newsroom can help reporters and photographers on the scene
  • If it is a local disaster ...
  • Investigating the disaster's cause
  • A word of caution ...
• Winter survival guide
  • How to drive in winter
  • Emergency winter car kit
  • If you fall through the ice ...
  • Preventing frostbite
  • Treating frostbite
  • Treating hypothermia
• Explosions & collapses: Investigating disasters
  • Prepare for the unexpected
  • Cover all the bases on the first day
  • Keep the story moving

Fifteen Critical Minutes

When disaster strikes, our impulse is to get out the door as quickly as possible -- and that's the right reaction.
But in a very short time, you can do yourself a big favor by grabbing the right equipment. If you don't, you can end up hampered for days in your ability to stay in touch with your editor or colleagues in the field. You can end up cold, hungry and wet.
Before you head out the door, consult this checklist and round up as many of these items as you can. Better yet, pull together a reporter's field kit and keep it in your car along with a winter survival kit.

ADVANCE PREP: THE REPORTER'S FIELD KIT

Here is what you can stow in a plastic bag in the trunk now (although if you don't, it's still worth scrambling to pull it together at the last minute):

• A copy of this guide.
• Three sharpened pencils (if the temperature plummets, ink will freeze). Two ballpoint pens (markers run if it's warm and the snow is wet). Include two notebooks.
• A small bag with toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, razor, soap, aspirin and any other small toiletries you might need during a week. A basic change of clothes might be advised. Nearby victims and colleagues will be grateful if you can clean up after 48 hours.
• Pack your field kit in waterproof bags and include a couple extra plastic bags. In floods or blizzards, moisture will short out your electronics eventually. Keep everything in waterproof bags. Plastic bags can be tied over shoes or boots in an emergency to keep you dry. In a real emergency, putting your legs in a large plastic bag can help conserve body heat.
• A $10 pre-paid calling card, available at most drug and convenience stores. It will allow you to easily call home. And, for the occasional hotel that won't let you charge long distance to your room, they are essential.
• The newspaper's 800 number . You can give it to sources to leave you voice mail, use it to check your messages or call the desk and have them dial a long distance number for you. Use it often to save your cellphone battery. Have the number put on your business cards.
• 100 business cards. Litter the town with them. For reluctant disaster victims, being able to call you a few days later when they have their bearings, have gotten angry about something or have heard a fascinating story can pay off in a great follow-up story for you.
• Detailed maps of Minnesota and Wisconsin. North Dakota and Iowa.
• A winter survival kit (you should have one in your car anyway). See the attached information on what should be in it.

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ADVANCE PREP FOR EDITORS

• Review historical records to figure out a list of the worst disasters in Twin Cities and Minnesota history before your next disaster. It's something you can't do on deadline. It makes for interesting reading, and it will help put the next disaster in perspective.
• Keep an up-to-date copy of the staff home phone and address list at home, along with a copy of this guide.

Disaster Strikes:
WHAT TO GRAB ON YOUR WAY OUT THE DOOR

• A high performance tape recorder and video camera from the online staff to collect audio and video. Photographers should take a digital camera.
• Laptop. This is essential equipment. If you are told there are none available, don't give up. Go to the highest ranking editors you can find, call them at home, do whatever you have to do.
• Take along the work and home phone numbers for a tech person so you can get help on deadline if something goes wrong with your laptop.
• Cellphone and beeper. You can't leave the cellphone on for long without running down the battery (take a recharger along if it looks like you'll be gone long). Give your editor the beeper number, and use the cellphone to call back. The beeper also allows reporters and photographers in the field to find each other. Bring extra batteries.
• GET YOUR EDITOR'S BEEPER AND CELLPHONE NUMBER. GIVE HIM OR HER YOUR BEEPER AND CELLPHONE NUMBER (he or she may get breaking information while you are en route that could help you go to the right place or avoid a dangerous situation.
• Quickly check the weather online at www.wunderground.com . In the winter, it could help you understand the risks you are facing.
• If it is spring or fall, take BOTH rain and snow gear to wear, including waterproof boots, because we all know our Minnesota weather can change radically in an hour (a bag of this stuff in the trunk of your car, including long underwear of the highest-tech material you can afford -- try REI -- would be a good idea). If windchill is at deadly levels, be sure you can cover all but your eyes to prevent frostbite. Be aware that exposed skin next to metal (eyeglass frames, earrings) is very susceptible to frostbite).
• Make sure the photo desk knows you are going, even if that means calling photo editors at home at night. A reporter-photographer team is an excellent way to cover a disaster.
• If it looks like you will be marooned with the disaster for more than 48 hours, some bottled water and food might become essential needs that could be hard to get in a town just hit by disaster. Stick some in the car before you take off. Remember that water bottles left in the car in subzero weather will burst when they freeze.

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WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU ARRIVE ON THE SCENE

• Head straight for the biggest mess and look for people who are visibly upset. Officials will be there later, but the victims tend to disappear fast. Interview them and get phone numbers for where they might be later, or for relatives who will know where they are. If this feels intrusive, remember that if you tell their story in a compelling way, help will rain down on them from the rest of Minnesota.
• In your rush to talk to victims, don't forget to look around and record the overall scene. Later, as you are dictating or going over a story with an editor, you can be 100 percent certain you will be asked ``What's it look like there?'' That's a point when some reporters don't know quite what to say. But for those who have looked around and thought about what they are seeing, it makes for very good reading that puts readers on the scene. One of the best observations of the scene of the St. Peter tornado was by a reporter who saw pink house insulation all over the trees and said the town looked like it was covered in cotton candy -- creating an instant image in anyone's mind of the peculiar scene. Look for the telling details.
• Don't be distracted as you drive into town by what might look like interesting but relatively minor damage. This is like stopping at the sale items on the way into Target. That's not what you're there to get. Head for as close to the center of calamity as possible.
• If there is potential for your car to get caught up in the disaster (making it inaccessible to drive), park it in a safe place and start walking.
• One of your first questions should be ``Where is the command center?'' The state of Minnesota sets one of these up quickly, and all major relief organizations work out of it. Ask for directions if you can't see it.
  The second question should be ``Where can I file from?'' Motels will fill up quickly if it's a major disaster. Call and reserve a hotel room right away. Even better, have someone in the newsroom reserve it while you are driving there.
• Befriend anyone from the National Guard or the local fire department. Their vehicles can get you where you can't go in your car or on foot.
• Make the most of the staff on the scene. If one reporter is on the scene, do victims first and officials second. If two reporters are one the scene, divide the jobs into the official (covering the press conferences, tours, updates) and the human (going after the victims, columns, features). Otherwise you will overlap and waste effort. If only one photographer is available, he/she should accompany the reporter going after victims unless the governor or president is arriving to tour the damage.
• The official reporter needs to operate initially as a wire service reporter for the online newspaper -- filing a down and dirty 8 inches ASAP, and write-throughs as warranted. Editors deciding how many people to send should consider sending a reporter assigned specifically to online reporting in major disasters.
• A local phone book is a fine item to have in your possession in a strange city.
• Quickly assess the potential for graphics, contact the graphics department and ask if they want to send a graphic artist or what they will need from you. Remember to record names of streets and avenues in a way that will allow you to fax or email map information later about the parameters of the disaster.

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HOW REPORTERS AND PHOTOGRAPHERS IN THE FIELD CAN HELP EDITORS BACK IN THE NEWSROOM

• Don't disappear for long periods without checking in. Critical times for updates would be as soon after you arrive on the scene as possible, just before 2 p.m. and again at 4 p.m. unless your editor instructs you otherwise. Ask early what your deadline will be.
• Work well with colleagues in the field; the last thing anyone needs during disasters are hot tempers, big egos or whining.
• Remember you are competing with the other media, not each other and not the folks back in the newsroom. Our best coverage has come from professional teams of reporters and photographers who work very quickly but think about what will put us ahead of everyone else in the competing media.
• Don't assume your editors know everything. They are desk-bound. Walk into this like you own it. Be dynamic. You're the street person; don't sit still and await orders.
• At the same time, don't second-guess editors unless you think they are way off point. They may have perspective over the broader disaster that you can't have up close.

HOW REPORTERS AND PHOTOGRAPHERS CAN HELP EACH OTHER

• Have sympathy for each other's different deadlines and needs if you are traveling together.

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HOW EDITORS BACK IN THE NEWSROOM CAN HELP REPORTERS AND PHOTOGRAPHERS ON THE SCENE

• Be decisive and quick in your initial assignment. Get them out the
  door prepared, but quickly.
• Do everything you can to get them the equipment listed above.
• Assign a reporter in the newsroom to work the story over the phone because he or she will be able to cover lots of ground while the reporter on the scene may have trouble moving around. If possible, assign a separate re-write person. You will have your hands full coordinating coverage, so don't even think about being the re-write person yourself unless there is no other option.
• Immediately split off a weekender/investigative team, with a team leader. Get them involved a bit in the daily so they know what's going on. Pick a good leader for this. Don't second-guess him or her.
• Remember that moving around in a disaster is much slower than the pace reporters can move around in a normal city. Likewise, moving from town to town outstate is slower than driving from town to town in the metro area. That's true at any time, but especially true during floods and blizzards when outstate highways often are closed.
• Remember that your reporters and photographers are working in hideous conditions. You are in a warm, dry newsroom, even if you are insanely busy trying to coordinate their work. Keep your temper and keep your focus on what will be in the newspaper the next day.
• Be very available to take their calls. If you aren't available, leave instructions for how you can be reached on your voice mail message. If you need to reach them and they don't have a beeper, leave a message on their office voice mail and arrange with them early in the disaster to check it regularly.
• Wear your beeper and keep it on at home all night.
• Be flexible in coverage plans if journalists on the scene revise their
  initial assessment.
• Find out deadlines as early as possible so you can advise reporters in the field when they need to stop reporting and start writing.
• Let them know how much you appreciate the effort they are making.

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IF IT IS A LOCAL DISASTER…

• Send everyone you can, quickly. Better to initially overstaff than
  come up short.
• Make sure everyone possible has beepers and cell phones. Send one reporter with a high-performance tape recorder to collect audio for the online newspaper.
• Consider appointing a ``bureau chief'' on the scene -- someone who can direct the effort at the site of the disaster and be a point person for you to call.
• Send a graphic artist.
• Make sure photo knows; suggest an aerial shot if appropriate.
• Assign a re-write person in the newsroom, and set up at least two people to take dictation. Have another reporter work the phones gathering numbers on casualties, etc. Ask the re-write person to fire off 6-inch bulletins to the online newspaper whenever possible.
• Keep budgets detailed and up-to-date and keep the Hub (news desk), informed of changes in coverage plans. The Hub is your friend, because if you are on deadline they are the only ones who can maneuver pages, staffing and production so you can go as late as possible. If you keep them informed, they can work miracles with graphics and design that make us all look good the next day.
• If on-scene reporters tell you there's a heckuva human story in the opposite direction of where you are advising them to head, defer to their on-the-scene instincts unless you are absolutely convinced they are dead wrong. Take a risk. Our very best disaster tales have come from unexpected encounters fueled by a hunch.
• If the Twin Cities is devastated by a disaster during the evening or on a weekend, reporters and photographers should head straight to the scene but call the newsroom to tell us you are on the way. If you don't have a cell phone, beg one from a neighbor. If roads are blocked by snow or debris, and you have a modem at home, report and file from home but let the newsroom know you are doing that. Or call in dictation. The important thing is to have a lot of eyes quickly recording the scene and reporting in.

INVESTIGATING THE DISASTER'S CAUSE

• Review ``Explosions & Collapses: Investigating Disasters'' which is at the back of this guide.
• Detach the disaster investigative team from everything else and then trust them.
• Tell them their mission is to find the cause, or if that is known, then find the answer to the biggest question left after the disaster.
• Cover this like a beat. Most of these disasters usually go boom off the regular beat path, and you suddenly find that you're dealing regularly with agencies we seldom talk with, such as OSHA. Develop sources, and dog them.
• When covering unfamiliar territory, call investigative reporters at other papers and ask them how they covered similar stories. Avoid inventing wheels.

A WORD OF CAUTION…

Finally, remember that disasters can be very dangerous situations -- even after the initial danger has passed. Beware downed power lines especially in flooding or wet snow. Do not attempt to drive through flood water, even if it looks shallow. If you get a cut at a disaster scene and aren't sure about how long it's been since you had a tetanus shot, get one pronto. We want the story and photos, but we want you safe, too.

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Winter Survival Guide

How to drive in winter

Some tips to help drivers steer clear of winter driving trouble:

• Vision: Clear snow and ice from windows, mirrors, hood, roof, headlights and trunk. Use low-beam headlights in snow and fog.
• Speed: Posted speed limits are for ideal conditions. Slow down. Accelerate carefully your wheels don't spin and skid. Avoid sudden starts and stops.
• Braking: Don't brake hard unless you have anti-lock brakes. Use firm pressure on brake pedal to just short of lock up, then ease off pedal slightly.
• Plan Ahead: Anticipate ice on bridges, stalled cars, poor visibility. Adjust speed, increase distance from other cars or change lanes. Watch out for other drivers.
• Skidding: Ease off accelerator, don't lock up brakes. Steer car in direction you want car to go, then straighten wheel.

Source: Minnesota Safety Council

Emergency winter car kit

Suppose a storm hit and you were stranded in your car overnight. What would you do?
Keep an emergency kit in your car.
Your kit should include:

• A 3-pound coffee can, candles, matches.
  
• Red bandana and plastic whistle.
  
• Pencil and paper, change for phone.
  
• First aid kit, essential medications.
  
• Flashlight and spare batteries.
  
• Large plastic garbage bags, safety pins.
  
• Bottled water and snack foods.
  
• Blankets, warm boots and clothing.
• Safety flares, shovel, bag of sand.

Source: American Automobile Association.

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If you fall through the ice….

Remember that sixty-five percent of all ice drownings are vehicle related. Be very wary when driving on frozen lakes. The ice, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, must be 12 inches thick to support a car and 15 inches thick to support a mini-van or SUV. If you aren't sure, DON'T TRY IT.

What to do if you fall through the ice:

• In advance: Keep a set of ice claws handy if you are going to be on ice. These can be made by taking two 1 1/2 inch diameter wooden dowels and pounding a 16 penny nail into the end of each so it protrudes and can be used to grab the ice. Connect the two ice claws with a cord.

When you fall through:

• Stay calm to conserve your energy and think clearly about getting out.
• Don't try to take your winter clothing off. It may provide some buoyancy, and can help keep you warm.
• If you're walking on the ice and fall through, try to return to where you fell in. The ice near there is more likely to be able to support you if you can get out of the water.
• Ice near open water is very slippery and hard to grasp. To get out of the water, try kicking as hard as possible with you legs to propel yourself up and onto the ice.

Source: Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

Preventing frostbite:

Frostbite occurs when skin and the underlying body tissues freeze. Usually hands, feet, nose and ears are most vulnerable to frostbite. Sever frostbite can cause gangrene. Get the victim to a doctor quickly.

Symptoms: Skin becomes hard, waxy-looking and stiff, then changes colors and may form blisters.

• Dangerous windchill can freeze exposed skin in minutes. Wear a hat, cover ears, wear gloves, dress in layers.
  
• When driving, dress as if you have to walk - you might.
  
• Don't risk frostbite by going outside unnecessarily.

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Treating frostbite:

Emergency treatment: A person with frostbite on extremities may also be subject to hypothermia. See below for symptoms and treatment.
The warming process: Get out of the cold. Tuck your hands in your armpits. If nose, ears or face is frostbitten, warm the area by covering with dry, gloved hands. If skin tingles as it warms and there is a burning sensation, circulation is returning. If numbness remains, seek professional medical care immediately. Do not rub the affected area. If feet are affected, do not walk on them. Allow them to dangle and wait for help.

If you are unable to get immediate emergency assistance, warm severely frostbitten hands or feet in warm - not hot - water (between 100 degrees F and 105 degrees F). Do not apply other heat sources because desensitized tissue can easily burn. Do not smoke (nicotine causes blood vessels to constrict and limit circulation).

Treating hypothermia

Hypothermia occurs when body temperature drops below 94 degrees F.

• Symptoms: Shivering, slurred speech, abnormally slow rate of breathing, skin that is cold and pale, loss of coordination, feelings of tiredness, lethargy or apathy. Symptom onset is slow. The person experiencing hypothermia may be unaware he or she needs medical treatment.
• High risk: The elderly, very young and very lean people are at particularly high risk. Other factors: malnutrition, heart disease, excessive consumption of alcohol or drugs.
• Emergency treatment: Get the person out of the cold. Change him or her into warm, dry clothing. If you can't go indoors, get out of the wind and cover his or her head and insulate the person from the cold ground. If at all possible, get the person to an area at room temperature and cover him or her with warm blankets. Seek emergency assistance. Monitor breathing and pulse; if either stops or seems dangerously slow or shallow, initiate CPR. Do not give the victim alcohol. Do give the person warm nonalcoholic drinks (unless he or she is vomiting). In most cases, warm baths are helpful for warming the person.

Source: Mayo Clinic

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Explosions & Collapses: Investigating disasters
Tips that will help your newsroom get on top and stay on top when disaster strikes.
Presented by Bill McGraw, Detroit Free Press; Roy Wenzl, Wichita Eagle; David Washburn, The Morning Call (Allentown, Pa.)

Prepare for the unexpected

• Get an existing database or build your own database of buildings, addresses, owners, tenants and types of businesses in your coverage area. City and county building inspection offices most likely will already have a database like this. If not, they will have paper records that you can use to build your own. This may take some time, but it will be well worth it when the newsroom does not have to rely on officials to release this information the day of a disaster.
• Put together a list of independent experts who can be called on a moment's notice and tell us the characteristics and hazards associated with particular types of chemicals. The day of the disaster is not the day to search frantically for someone who knows what hydroxylamine sulfate is.
• Make sure your database library includes disaster-related databases maintained by the federal, state and local governments. It should include, but not be limited to, the following: The U.S. DOT Hazardous Materials Incident Reporting System, the Occupational Safety & Health Administration database, the U.S. Coast Guard National Response System database and a county-level database of companies that use extremely hazardous materials.
• Get to know local emergency management officials before a disaster happens. Schedule a meeting with them and make it clear that the news organizations are on their side in disasters and it is important that newsrooms get accurate information quickly. They need to be honest with us during emergencies. The message to them is: We understand that you may not have immediate answers to our questions, but we need you to communicate openly with us from the beginning.
• Know who is in charge. Pick a leader in advance and stick with that person - committees do not work on deadline. It often should be the head of the police team - these people know how to do these stories.
• Make sure there are enough cell phones (or radios), and enough cell phone chargers and that reporters know how to use them. Give people lessons on how to use and recharge them. Nag if necessary.

Cover all the bases on the first day

• In organizing immediate coverage, think of staffers from outside the newsroom who might have sources. A feature writer, for example, might have written recently about someone involved with the company or government agencies that have to deal with the disaster, such as the fire department. A business reporter might have had lunch recently with one of the company's executives.
• Get the state capitol bureau involved immediately, checking with regulatory agencies for inspections, violations, etc.
• In attempting to piece together what went wrong, figure out first the layout of the plant, machinery, etc. Try to see how it works when things are running smoothly.
• Look to people in the line of work of the people involved in the disaster. If it is a boiler, for instance, check other boiler operators or the union or trade group. These can be relatively small circles of people, even in heavily populated areas. Look for retired employees who might have worked in the place where the disaster took place.
• Look for company officials, union officials and off-duty workers at the hospitals where the victims are taken.
• Make sure reporters covering various aspects of the tragedy write down license numbers so that non-injured participants might be traced and contacted.
• Not everyone can monitor everything every day. Newspapers sometimes turn off the televisions when the news programs end. Keeping at least one TV on at all times, even with the volume off, will enable staffers to see when a local station breaks in with important news.
• Reduce to writing, as soon as possible, the plan for the day and the next day. Start making assignments. Give clear instruction. Begin a story plan and assign follow stories.

Keep the story moving

• Pick good people for a disaster I-team. Detach these people from everything else, and then trust them. But give them a clear purpose.
• Cover the disaster like a beat - check with the principal players everyday. Most of these disasters usually go boom off the regular beat path, and you suddenly find that you're dealing regularly with agencies we seldom talk with, such as OSHA. Develop sources. Dog them.
• When covering unfamiliar territory, call investigative reporters at other papers and ask them how they covered similar stories. Avoid inventing wheels already long in operation.
• For big ongoing disasters, don't burn out the whole staff in the first couple days. Rest people. Rotate.
• Don't assume your editors know everything. They are desk-bound trolls. Keep going to the scene. Walk into this story like you own it. You are the street person - don't sit still and await orders.
• Buy pizza for the staff and bill it to the parent company.

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