By: Joe Strupp The Galveston (Texas) County Daily News apparently did not let a little thing like losing its roof in Hurricane Ike stop it from covering the storm.
Despite the lost roof and the reduction of communication equipment (at one point down to a single cell phone), the daily paper has not missed an edition, the Houston Chronicle reported Monday. But distribution of the paper has been cut back, although editors promise all editions will eventually be delivered.
"The Daily News printed its Saturday edition Friday in advance of the storm, but the mandatory evacuation made distribution difficult," the Chronicle reported, citing editor Heber Taylor, who was reportedly "blogging as the eye of the storm passed over Galveston Island and the natural gas that powered the generator was cut off."
Taylor has been unreachable Monday, with calls to several numbers at the paper met with a busy signal. The Web site, which has been quite active over the weekend with constant updates, offered only a note to online users this morning that said: "The Daily News Web Edition is undergoing brief maintenance. Please check back shortly."
The Chronicle Monday reported that "The newspaper plunged into darkness, and the wind tore off the roof soon [after the storm struck], allowing in rain that soaked the interior. The storm surge lapped at the newspaper's doorstep."
The Daily News, which ran the headline on Friday, "Yikes! Here comes Ike," informed readers last week that it would delay its Saturday paper until Sunday after delivering the Friday paper early.
Taylor told the Chronicle that he had arranged with the Herald Zeitung of New Braunfels, Texas, to handle layout and with the Victoria (Texas) Advocate to do the printing.
"We haven't missed an edition yet," Taylor said.
The Sunday edition was transported from Victoria late "after uncertainty about whether officials would allow an exception to the city's closure of the island," the Chronicle reported, adding, "Taylor said readers would receive every edition they missed when they returned."
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here