As Ivan the Terrible Approaches, Newspapers in Path of Hurricane Hope to Publish, not Perish

By: Joe Strupp As Hurricane Ivan slams into the Gulf Coast, newspapers from Louisiana to Florida are already feeling the wrath, while also trying to put out newspapers, if only on the Web (in one instance). Some are publishing Thursday editions on Wednesday afternoon and then hastily relocating to higher -- or at least safer -- ground. Others are loading up on supplies, water, and food.

Peter Kovacs, managing editor at the Times-Picayune in New Orleans, said his paper has 50 air mattresses ready for staffers who may be stuck for several nights, many with evacuated families. ?I?m blowing up some air mattresses I have from when my kids went to camp,? Kovacs said. ?We have TV sets and we?ve shown movies during past hurricanes, but this is going to be much more ferocious than the other ones.?

The Mississippi Press in Pascagoula, according to photographer Carisa McCain -- one of the few staffers in the building Wednesday morning -- plans to flee its building and set up a makeshift newsroom in the nearby police station. ?We cannot stay in our building, it will be under water,? she said. After the paper puts out its Thursday edition this afternoon it will move only "essential computers" to the police building, she said.

Not far from Pascagoula, The Sun Herald in Biloxi, Miss., already explained to readers in Wednesday?s editions that they would not receive a Thursday paper. Instead, they can get a Wednesday "extra," with 12 pages of hurricane news, distributed to shelters and other gathering places this afternoon. ?We had people in at 5 a.m. today for an 11 a.m. press run on that extra,? said Executive Editor Stan Tiner on Wednesday morning. ?By 1 p.m., we expect to be getting a pretty good blow.?

After the extra edition is out, Tiner?s staff plans to leave the building and file stories via laptops and cell phones to web blogger Don Hammack. He will then post stories at www.sunherald.com, from a Civil Defense Center in a neighboring county.

?We will abandon this facility, but we have people in position in different areas for news coverage,? Tiner stressed. ?We don?t know when we will publish again. If we can get a paper out, we will. But we are expecting an extremely long duration, maybe 31 hours.?

Tiner said most staffers are able to work, after taking care of their familes. ?My son and daughter-in-law and grandchild are leaving and they wanted me to go,? he said. ?But I told them I had to stay.?

Kovacs said the Times-Picayune is planning to put out both a Thursday and Friday edition, with an early 6 p.m. press run set for Wednesday night. ?That is with the hope that we can do it before we lose power,? he said.

Along with air mattresses and entertainment options, the Times-Picayune also has stocked up on six days worth of food in the cafeteria, with an emphasis on cold cuts, water and other easy-to-prepare edibles. ?This is a pretty hurricane-proof building,? Kovacs added. ?I think the windows are bulletproof.? But New Orleans, located below sea level, faces a nightmare flooding scenario if worse comes to worst.

Over to the east, staffers at the Mobile (Ala.) Register are moving computers and other supplies from the third-floor newsroom (which has large, wide windows) to interior meeting rooms without glass. ?We have 25 PCs moved into those windowless rooms,? said Mike Marshall, editor. ?If we get the full brunt of this, we do not want to be hanging out in that newsroom.?

Marshall expects to be able to publish a Thursday edition, but has been in contact with papers in Pensacola, Fla., Birmingham, Ala., and New Orleans about contingency plans if he cannot use his presses. ?Typically, when one of those cities gets whacked, the others endure," he said.

The Wednesday edition was ?devoted to hurricane coverage,? Marshall said. ?Except for some local elections. We have had a few advertisers cancel because they realized there would be no shoppers out.?

Bottled water, food, blankets and pillows also are being brought in for those who may have to spend the night. ?We have no cots or beds, but I?m sure we?ll have a few spouses here,? Marshall said. ?And a few kids and maybe a dog or cat as well.?