By: E&P Staff Nearly every newspaper in Hurricane Charley's path across Florida managed to publish regular, or even special, editions on Saturday, though some were delayed. Many featured dramatic photos of the storm.
Newspaper web sites, meanwhile, provided vital emergency information and incredible photos by local residents.
The Orlando Sentinel, besides covering severe local storm damage, also reported local closings, as well as news that attractions at nearby Disney World would open Saturday, with no or minor delays.
The Charlotte Sun-Herald, near the hardest hit areas on the west coast, was forced to evacuate from its building near Charlotte Harbor, Buddy Martin, the newspaper's managing editor, told the Associated Press. The paper's phone lines went out.
Martin, who was home when the storm hit, said he had been unable to reach his colleagues late Friday and believed they were operating from a local telephone company owned by the newspaper company. The newspaper's Web site appeared down Saturday morning.
But at The News-Press in Fort Myers, near where the eye came ashore, executive editor Kate Marymont reported surprisingly little damage. "We had staffers who sat here plugging away, covering this, knowing from their neighbors their roofs were gone," Marymont told the AP. The News-Press received some damage.
The Herald Tribune in Sarasota reported "numeous fatalities" in the Charlotte area.
The Tampa Tribune had prepared a secondary newsroom at the University of South Florida, and other emergency plans, but the storm veered south.
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