On the Naples Daily News’ home page, there’s a colorful map tracking power outages across the region — each color represents estimates of how long it will take to restore power. Orange fills most of the map, representing people, homes and businesses that can’t expect to see power restored for at least the next week.
Wendy Fullerton Powell is one of the hundreds of thousands of Florida homes without power. Hurricane Ian’s violent storm surge severely damaged her house and neighborhood. “They’re getting more and more neighborhoods up and running by the hour. They’re doing a hell of a job,” she lauded the power company and coordinating officials.
As executive editor at the Naples Daily News, Powell leads the newsroom’s journalists as many of them report on the storm’s wrath while attempting to recover and rebuild their own lives. E&P spoke with her by phone the Saturday after the storm. While she recounted her team’s experiences covering the hurricane, she watched in the distance as helicopters continued to evacuate residents from islands off the coast.
“A lot of our staff has been affected personally by this. Many have homes that are uninhabitable. They’re looking for places to go, and we’re trying to help them. We’re storing some of their stuff in open spaces in our newsroom. As I’ve been saying all week, this is not just a story we’re telling; it’s a story we’re living.”
USA TODAY Editors Wendy Fullerton Powell, Cindy McCurry at the forefront. In the background is Mark Bickel giving directions to reporters from the Palm Beach Post.
Before the storm, the news publisher produced hurricane guides for readers and subscribers.
For the journalists at the Naples Daily News, Hurricane Ian became a focal point. “Everybody’s a hurricane reporter,” Powell said.
They discussed practical matters, like where to take shelter and get supplies. They planned out some coverage topics and assigned them according to geography, forming “geo teams.”
“In the past, we’ve tried to have reporters out on some of the barrier islands, but during past storms, there was a concern for their safety, so we didn’t do that with this storm,” the executive editor said.
It was a wise decision because many of the causeways and bridges sustained damage, cutting off access in and out of the worst-ravaged coastal communities.
In past hurricane events, members of the newsroom would congregate to ride out the storm and plan their post-hurricane coverage.
“We had been in a building that acted as a shelter for our newsroom during all other storms,” Powell explained. “We’d invite everybody in the newsroom, their families and pets. We’d have food for everyone.”
This storm saw the staff decentralized, and as internet and mobile access was interrupted, it became particularly challenging to keep in touch with one another.
Powell lives in one of the evacuation zones, so she was following the forecasts closely. Initially, she thought they might be spared; the models had Hurricane Ian tracking north. But the 11 p.m. local news on Tuesday night told a different tale. She and her husband scooped up some belongings and their dog and drove to a friend’s home inland.
Safety is paramount for the reporters covering the storm, Powell said. They’re asked not to put themselves in harm’s way for the sake of any story, and “that doesn’t make them any less of a journalist,” she added.
They’d booked hotel rooms to serve as office space during the storm, but they proved best-laid plans, for the area hotels were without power and running water. They were able to embed reporters with the local public radio station.
Powell recalled feeling like the storm was without end. “It went on and on. It was relentless. I've covered hurricanes before and lived here for 33 years, but this was something we’ve never experienced before,” Powell said.
She expects Hurricane Ian coverage will be “above the fold” for the foreseeable future. Naples is still very much in the throes of rescue and recovery. The storm will impact the local economy, tourism, unemployment, equity and accountability, real estate and more.
“We already had a terrible housing situation here prior to this, and it’s 100-fold worse,” Powell said. “All of those stories are in the works.”
Liz Freeman, Kate Cimini, Harriet Heithaus and Amanda Inscore at Heithaus's kitchen table. She has power & internet (USA Today Network)
She’s in awe of the newsroom staff. “They are an amazing team. They’re running on adrenaline. We’re all adrenaline junkies in these moments. But at some point, that’s going to wear off, so we have to be very, very cognizant of their mental health and their physical health, making sure they take breaks,” Powell said.
“They’re talking to people who have been absolutely devastated. We’re hearing harrowing tales of how they survived and about those who didn’t survive. It gets to you. It totally gets to you,” she said.
A Sunday night headline on naplesnews.com reported that 58 people had been confirmed dead.
She also expressed gratitude for the journalists from other USA Today Network news outlets who traveled to Naples to support them in the storm’s immediate aftermath.
Asked about how neighbors are helping one another in their shared time of crisis, Powell recounted how she and her husband that morning helped an elderly neighbor gather some belongings from her flooded home and pack her car, so she could drive to family awaiting her in Georgia.
“Chad Gillis, one of our reporters, did a great story from the Island Park neighborhood of South Ft. Myers, where a man named Mike Murphy owns a marina in town,” Powell said. “He is credited with saving 27 residents and some of their pets, pulling them out of their homes as the waters were rising.”
Access this Hurricane Ian image gallery from the USA Today Network
Gretchen A. Peck is a contributing editor to Editor & Publisher. She’s reported for E&P since 2010 and welcomes comments at gretchenapeck@gmail.com.
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