By: E & P Staff It took a lot of extra effort, but the Charlotte Herald Sun, near the epicenter of Hurricane Charley's weekend attack on Florida, made it to the streets on Saturday.
One staffer likened their experience to "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride," a theme park ride across the state at Disney World.
When the Herald Sun came out Saturday, around noon, the banner head read: "Catastrophic Charley Cripples Charlotte." A note on the front page of the daily read: "Like many of you, our electricity is still out, and we were unable to bring you the Sun on time and in the exact format you are used to reading. We apologize for the inconvenience and hope you and your loved ones weathered Hurricane Charley safely. Please bear with us as we work through the hurricane's aftermath."
But it was lot more complicated than that.
On Friday, about 20 staffers decided to ride out the storm at the newspaper's office, a half mile from Charlotte Harbor, after others headed home. When the 140 mph winds passed, the staffers lugged equipment across town to a phone company that happens to share the same ownership as the newspaper.
"There was never any doubt we were going to publish," Executive Editor Jim Gouvellis told the Associated Press. "We had a lot of worry about their families while trying to put the newspaper out."
Using generator power, staffers laid out the Saturday paper on disc.
About 1:30 a.m. Saturday, with Web access restored, the paper was sent to The Bradenton Herald. A staffer drove there with a backup disc, too. The Brandenton paper then printed 40,000 copies of the Sun after completing its own press run.
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