Peter the Meteor(ologist) - 2. Hurricane A'comin'

The night is calling, I have to go
The wolf is hungry, he runs the show
He's licking his lips, he's ready to win
On the hunt tonight for love at first sting

Here I am
Rock you like a hurricane

Scorpions - 1984

4

Tony drove up route 35 until we hit the town limits. At that point, I hoped one of them knew where we could go, "Do either of you know anything about the area? Because I sure don't."

"Nope." "Same here."

"Okay, let's just go through once on the man drag, see what's here."

I made a few mental notes as we passed through town. When we got to Halfmoon Reef Lighthouse, I was able to see from the map on my phone that there wasn't much more before we crossed the bridge over Lavaca Bay.

"Turn in at the lighthouse. I want to see if we have a view toward the gulf here."

We didn't. But we soon hit Broadway Street, which ran parallel to 35 and ended at Lighthouse Beach.

"Okay, we'll come back here for the closing shot. Welsh wanted a summary with the bay behind me. I think this will be perfect."

The cameraman, Paul, agreed, "You're right. It'll be a great shot."

"Good. Let's head back south, stop at the Tractor Supply. I can ask someone there how business has been with the coming of the storm. Then, maybe the middle school across the street from it will be letting out. I have to think it will be used as a shelter. Then, I think we head toward Bayfront Peninsula Park, and try a find a couple homeowners working on preparations."

Tony, the sound guy, had been on location many times before and agreed. He pulled into the Tractor Supply.

"I'll go in and see if I can find a manager, you guys pick your spot. I'll be back shortly."

I went inside and asked the cashier if I could talk to the manager. She paged him.

When he arrived up front, he introduced himself, "Irv Underhill, store manager. How can I help you?"

"Hi Irv. I'm Peter Noonan from KDF-TV down in Corpus Christi. I'd like to ask you a few questions about the upcoming hurricane."

"Yeah, sure."

"Can we go outside? I have a camera crew setting up."

"This gonna be live?"

"No, recorded. KRIS channel 6 will run it on their six o'clock news. Perhaps other stations, and I'm sure we'll run it at nine on 22."

"Okay, maybe I'll get to watch myself on TV."

We stepped outside, Tony handed me a mic, and I waited until Paul gave the go.

"Hello Corpus Christi, Peter Noonan here, with KDF-TV weather. We're talking to folks around Port Lavaca to get their impressions about the hurricane. I'm now with Irv Underhill, manager of the Tractor Supply Company store here. Irv, have you seen higher traffic since the hurricane turned this way?"

"Yes. Some of the uptick is folks wanting to make sure their propane tanks are full. A lot more wanted generators; at least until we ran out a short time ago. Business has been buzzing since we opened. Lots of people heard a report that the hurricane was going to turn toward us. Apparently, that was right."

"Do you think the town will be prepared for when it hits land?"

"I'm sure we will. We may not have been hit directly recently, but we've had our share of bad weather. We'll be okay."

"Thanks, Irv. I'll let you get back to your customers."

"You're welcome. Bye."

I nodded to Paul, and he stopped recording. Tony said the sound was good.

"Okay, let's head across the highway to the school."

When we got there, we had to get let in, so I hit the bell.

"Yes?"

"Hi, this is Peter Noonan from KDF-TV. I'd like to ask the principal, or someone, about storm preparations."

"Okay, come on in, the main office is just to your left."

We walked into the office and a tall woman walked up to us.

"Hi, I'm Principal Dolores Tanner. How can I help you?"

"Hi, Principal Tanner. I'm Peter Noonan, staff meteorologist at KDF-TV in Corpus Christi. I'm thinking that the school might be used for a shelter when the storm hits?"

"Yes, it's been used a few times in the past."

"Excellent. Would you mind answering a few questions on camera?"

"Will this be on TV?"

"At least some of my interviews for sure will be on KRIS 6 at six o’clock, and KDF 22, at nine tonight."

"Okay, go ahead."

"Paul, anywhere special?"

Pointing, he said, "I like the view outside the offices over there. I think you can stand in front of those windows."

We did, and I started. Not knowing how it would be edited, I introduced myself again, "Hello Corpus Christi, Peter Noonan here, with KDF-TV weather. We're talking to folks around Port Lavaca to get their impressions about the hurricane. I'm now with Principal Dolores Tanner at Travis Middle School. Principal Tanner, the school has been used as a shelter in the past. Are you expecting to have that role again?"

"Yes, along with the Elementary schools. We've had people bringing in supplies all day. Water, batteries, spare flashlights, things like that."

"Does the school have backup power, in case power is lost?"

"Some, it provides minimal lighting in the hallways, cafeteria, and gym. Plus, refrigeration in the kitchen."

"How many people can you accommodate in those spaces?"

"We've had as many as five hundred here."

"I expect the rest of the town's eleven thousand or so residents hole up in their homes?"

"Yes, I suppose, or at one of the elementary schools. Others, at home, at least the ones who haven't evacuated."

"Thanks for your time, Principal Tanner. I'll let you get back to your preparations."

"You're welcome."

Another nod to Paul, another okay on the sound from Tony, and we headed into the neighborhoods, looking for people preparing their homes. I spoke to three others, answering similar questions from them about being on TV. I didn't know what might be edited out, so I had to let them know it was possible their interview might not make it.

5

Since we were close to Bayfront Peninsula Park, we checked out its potential as a closing shot. We parked down by the pier. Paul thought the waves breaking over the pier would be a better backdrop than Lighthouse Beach, so we set up at the end of the parking lot, with the pier behind, and Matagorda Bay in the distance behind me.

"Peter Noonan here with KDF-TV weather. We're now at Bayfront Peninsula Park, here in Port Lavaca. As you can see behind me, the waves are already hitting the pier hard here. The town is getting prepared and hopefully will be ready for what Mother Nature has in store for them. It’s already starting to get ugly, so let's take one more look out toward the bay here, with the gulf beyond. You can really see the wind and waves picking up. This is Peter Noonan, for KDF-TV weather; goodbye, and be safe."

We got back into the van and hadn't driven two minutes when the skies opened up. Port Lavaca grudgingly welcomed the leading edge of Lorraine.

Tony groaned, "I can't see for shit. I have to pull over."

"Like I tell the viewers, be safe. You're driving, do as you see fit."

We hadn't reached the main highway yet, so Tony pulled into a restaurant we were passing. If we were stuck here for long, we wouldn't starve.

Paul echoed my thoughts, "Hope you guys like Mexican food. We might be here a while."

I agreed, "Well, we're right next to the Budget Inn. If we're really stranded, we won't have to sleep in the van."

We all pulled out our cell phones and checked out the local weather. Yeah, we were going to be here a while. I decided to give Steve Peller, the chief meteorologist, and my boss, a call.

"KDF-TV Weather Center, Steve Peller speaking, what can I do for you?"

"Hi, Steve, Peter. You could cancel the hurricane."

"Yeah, let me get right on that. How did the trip go? On your way back?"

"We were, until the skies opened up and it seemed like a thousand gallons of water hit us all at once."

"Yeah, I've been watching the storm front. Was hoping you'd get out of there ahead of the storm."

"Butchering a line from Gordon Lightfoot, we'd have made Mesquite Bay if we'd put fifteen more miles behind us. We may have gotten far enough south to keep going. Visibility right now is about six inches."

"Did you get some good footage?"

"Let me put you on speaker and let Paul answer that. Steve wants to know if we got good footage."

"I think the rookie did pretty good, Steve. Tony’s transmitting the video files now. They should be on the server within five or ten minutes, unless we lose service."

"Great, I'll look for them in a bit. Lorraine picked up a little speed, so her eye should hit land a little north of Lavaca in about twenty hours. Maybe around eleven AM tomorrow. You got somewhere to hole up for a couple days?"

I answered, "We're in a restaurant parking lot across the street from a Budget Inn. As long as they're not sold out, we'll be okay."

"I hate to put it this way, but you may get a chance to go live if you're stuck there. It'll be a great opportunity for the station. I don't think anyone else had enough time to prepare a team to head up that way."

"We'll do whatever we have to."

"Okay, Pete. Keep me informed. If you do have to stay, and I can't see that not happening, we'll see about getting you on KRIS 6 News at Sunrise, tomorrow morning."

"Sure thing, I'll let you know how things go."

Steve was right about holing up. Fortunately, Casa Jalisco was open for breakfast today, so there were people there. We booked three rooms at the Budget Inn, and went inside the restaurant for an early dinner. We also bought ourselves a couple bottles of beer each for when we got to the motel. Tony braved the hundred yard drive to the motel's parking lot. We were soaked just walking to and from the van. We may have drowned if we tried hoofing it.

I touched base again with Steve after we checked in.

"I was about to call, Pete. I just arranged a live feed for you on the nine o'clock news tonight. Jerry should be talking to Paul right about now. Hopefully there's a place you can set up to give us a one-minute update."

"I'm sure we'll be able to use the lobby if nothing else. We can use the windows as a backdrop."

"Awesome. We're opening with the storm, so figure about 9:02 or three we'll switch to you."

"We'll be ready."

6

We met in the lobby at quarter to nine. The manager was somewhat stranded as well. There was a small break in the storm's severity expected within the next half hour, so he planned on leaving as soon as it looked like he’d have ten minutes to get home. He’d already approved our using the lobby. A few other motel guests saw the camera and hung around the lobby to watch us.

Nine o’clock arrived and the front desk had our station running on the lobby TV, watching until we were on.

“Good evening, Corpus and its neighbor’s residents. I’m Inez Gonzalez. We’re going to start the night with the weather. Here’s chief meteorologist, Steve Peller.”

“Thanks Inez. Well, Corpus is going to be spared the brunt of the storm, but we had team in Port Lavaca this afternoon. We’ll play those interviews and then go to Peter live in a moment.”

There were a few excerpts of the afternoon’s interviews. Parts of Irv’s, and Delores’ made it, plus one resident.

“We’re now with Henry Lumas, one of many residents here in Port Lavaca getting ready to face the storm. Mr. Lumas, are there any different preparations are you making to get through this storm?”

“Well, since we heard from you last night that we may be in the path, thanks for that, by the way, just typical severe storm preparations. We’ve boarded up the windows, made sure we had plenty of fuel for the generator, and as you can see my sons finishing, sand-bagging all the entrances.”

They cut to the closing at Bayfront Peninsula Park, then we were live.

“Hello again KDF-TV viewers. We’re now at the Budget Inn, here in Port Lavaca, and as you can see behind me outside, it’s definitely hurricane conditions. The winds are currently from the southwest at thirty miles per hour, gusting up to sixty-five. Those gusts are expected to nearly double to almost one hundred and twenty before Lorraine’s done with us. We’re already seeing some flooding, and the storm’s already done extensive damage in a number of spots. The worst so far is that the pier we were at earlier is no longer there, having been washed away due to the eight-foot waves that we’ve seen. But the residents are well prepared, so hopefully after the storm passes, we’ll find everybody alive and well. This has been Peter Noonan with KDF-TV weather. Goodnight, and be safe.”

After going through the rest of the weather report, Steve was in my earpiece, "Excellent work Pete. Jerry has worked his magic with KRIS. You'll be live again tomorrow morning at eight. I hate to ask you this, but he'd like to see you outside for a short summary. Wind speed, wave heights, and anything you can glean from the people there about how the town is faring. If that looks good, you'll be getting more screen time. Jerry wants to make you our go-to guy for hurricanes anywhere along the Texas coast."

"Wow. Yeah, sure. There's a bit of an overhang outside the rooms here, Paul and Tony can be somewhat under cover, and I'll stand a few feet out in the storm. There are train tracks, a barn of some sort, but also power lines across the street. Bad for the residents, but good for us if those lines are down."

Power lines being down were only part of what the camera did pick up the next morning.