While things are not quite crazy yet, the local TV news stations and the Weather Channel are prepping for the worst, with anchors and meteorologists using words like potentially "catastrophic" and "devastating" for the forthcoming ice storm.
The massive ice/snow traffic jam of two weeks ago made for compelling visuals in terms of absurd tie ups and was relatively unexpected, which made for great TV. Plus, people didn't lose power so everyone got to watch if they weren't stuck on the roads.
This time around, no matter how severe it becomes, coverage will be more conventional. We've had plenty of forewarning. People have emptied the bread aisles at Publix, bought out wood for their fireplaces and filled their gas tanks. Virtually everything will be closed tomorrow. Only idiots will voluntarily be on the roads Wednesday.
And if people do lose their electricity, TV doesn't get much ratings benefit.
TV meteorologists and reporters today are noting that things aren't too bad right now, but life will start getting rough starting overnight. "This is not a system to be taken lightly," said meteorologist Joanne Feldman at Fox 5 at 1:52 p.m., preempting "TMZ Live." "You might just want to stay home. Hunker down. Stay safe and do your best to stay warm."
With not much going on, the four local broadcast networks with news staffs were airing regular programs as of 2 p.m.
At 3 p.m., both Channel 2 Action news and Fox 5 chose to run Gov. Nathan Deal's press conference live, preempting "Katie" and "Steve Harvey," respectively. 11 Alive chose to stay with the Olympics while CBS Atlanta kept 'The Young and the Restless" on.
Mike Dreaden, news director at Channel 2, sent me this note, after I asked if they'd be bringing back the screen with 25 reporters on it like they did two weeks ago:
We can do better than 25 Rodney! J However, this time around we've got the staff working 12 on/12 off shifts and we're covering overnights with more people than usual…so people are spread out across the day. Still, we'll have 20 reporters in the 6pm hour tonight, so we've got plenty of manpower deployed to cover the storm. We are positioned all across the metro for the snow and ice. Our extended coverage will continue tonight at 10pm and we'll be on all night as the storm develops. We plan to have coverage all day/night on Wednesday right into Thursday. In addition to our TV coverage, we are live streaming all of this on our digital platforms and offering a lot of original video content on our mobile and web sites. So even if viewers lose power they will be able to watch us and stay up to date on everything they need to know.
Glenn Burns, chief meteorologist at WSB, at 3:26 p.m., said the icing could be comparable, if not worse, than the ice storm of 2000 which resulted in 350,000 people without power. There are some predictions of 1.5 inches of ice in North Georgia, which Burns said is only comparable to a storm going back 41 years.
"Be prepared," he said, "for massive power outages."
Trey Fabacher, general manager at CBS Atlanta, said the station news operations has everyone on 12-hour shifts, with all news vans stocked with food and out on the road. They have chosen spots around town to do live shots, all with two shifting camera crews and all near hotels. Harry Samler will be at GDOT to track government operations. Fabacher himself has brought in a sleeping bag, anticipating he may be sleeping in his office in Midtown the next two or three nights.
CBS will also simulcast some of its weather coverage tomorrow on talk station 640/WGST-AM, which may help folks who do lose power and may only have a transistor radio.
A spokeswoman for Fox 5 emailed me to say the station is using social media heavily and featuring comments, video and photos from there. "It’s likely that we’ll see significant extended coverage overnight and into the day on Wednesday. We have live reporters all over the Atlanta metro and north/central Georgia. We’ll geo-target the hardest hit areas with live field reports throughout the winter emergency," she wrote.
Atlanta-based Weather Channel, which is dubbing this storm Pax, had Jim Cantore in Charleston, S.C. when the last storm hit. This time, he's going to Augusta, where a lot of snow is anticipated.
The network has dumped all reality programming until Thursday and will run 24/7 live programming on the winter storm.
95.5 FM and AM750 News/Talk WSB has stocked up on food to feed its team the next several days and all essential on-air staff is either staying in walking distance or staying at WSB headquarters in Midtown, according to Condace Pressley, assistant program director.
11 Alive, the NBC affiliate, is in the most awkward position because it's airing the Winter Olympics. While the other three networks as of 4 p.m. were airing weather coverage, NBC was airing cross-country skiing. It later did run some local coverage but is obligated to air the Olympics during primetime, at least tonight before the weather really goes bad. It'll be interesting to see how they balance Sochi with the local ice storm.
UPDATE: Wednesday, 9:15 a.m.: 11 Alive GM John Deushane sent me this note:
Our main Olympic coverage is still airing on 11Alive (3P – 5P and 8P-11:30P), but other key NBC programming (Today Show, Days of Our Lives) is moving to THEAtl channel 36. All of our live news coverage is also being streamed to mobile devices and online at 11alive.com
WSB-TV, WSB Radio and ajc.com are all owned by Cox Media Group.
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