Backstage

House Hunters: Myrtle Beach

Tonight's one of those rare nights I find myself home alone. Between being very busy with WMBF News  & spending the rest of the time with my husband- I don't have a lot of down time. Tonight, however, he's off watching Auburn pound LSU. At least that's what was happening when he left our apartment & I flipped the tv to HGTV.  Appropriately, House Hunters is on.  The show holds particular intrigue for me because we are looking for a house!  We've owned 2 homes since we have been married. The first was a condo, the second a house. I adored our house.  However, from the moment I stepped off the plane for my interview in March, I knew Myrtle Beach was the place for me. So my cute little cottage that we worked so hard to fix up now belongs to someone else.   Jon (that's my husband's name) and I are trying to find a house to truly make the Grand Strand our home. 

Starting today, we are participating in the great compromise.  Jon and I have very different tastes in houses. About the only thing we really agree on is that we want a fenced in yard for our dog. Jon wants a huge garage, I want a formal dining room.  He wants a single story house, I prefer a master bedroom that's upstairs.  So goes the hunt!   If you have any suggestions- send them on!

Jennifer | jdale@wmbfnews.com

   

Remembering 9/11

Where were you on 9/11?  We started asking our viewers that question this morning here on WMBFNews.com.  The answers were fascinating.  We used some ofthe comments on today's afternoon newscasts & will be using more on WMBF News at 11 and WMBF News Today.   I thought I'd share my 9/11 story. 

September 11, 2001 got off to a pretty typical start. I was supposed to take my car in for service, so I called the newsroom and told them I was running late.  The person that answered the phone told me to get back to the newsroom as soon as possible. She said a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center & it was looking to be a busy news day. I turned around and immediately headed back to the station. As I was stepping out of my car, our assignment editor was arriving at work, too. He yelled across the parking lot, " Did you hear that?  another plane hit the World Trade Center".  We ran inside and stood with the rest of the staff in front of the bank of televisions.

I remember standing in front of the tv, watching the smoke pour from the two buildings.  I never thought about the buildings falling.  They were skyscrapers, more than one hundred floors of steel.     I don't remember seeing the first tower fall, but I will never forget what happened immediately afterwards. I remember hearing screaming sobs from down the hall.   One of the ladies who worked in the sales department had a brother that worked in the World Trade Center.  He had called her after the plane crashed to tell her he was ok.  He was some sort of safety director for his floor. He was staying back to fullfill that responsibility.   He was inside when the tower collapsed.

The rest of the day was a blur. The second tower collapsing, the plane that hit the Pentagon, the crash in Pennsylvania- each blow felt like another punch in the stomach after the wind has already been knocked out of you.

When the federal government shut down all the airports, I remember the eerie quiet. My apartment was directly under the flight path to the airport.  I had gotten used to the noise & the quiet was unsettling. 

We may all remember where we were on 9/11, but I hope we never forget what we lost. 

Jennifer |jdale@wmbfnews.com

   

The Power of a Network

My husband and I went out to dinner tonight for his birthday. I won't mention  his age. He robbed the cradle when he married me & he's a little sensitive.  But his birthday dinner isn't the focus of this blog, the focus is what I overheard while we were at dinner.   While we were waiting to be showed to our table, the hostess mentioned Hanna. While we were eating, the televisions were tuned to the Weather Channel.  While we were waiting for our check, the couple behind us was discussing Hanna's forecast and windspeed with the waitress.  All that talk about one topic reminded me again just how important my job really can be. 

For the past few days, my focus has been Hanna.  The WMBF Storm team has been tracking Hanna by the hour.  The WMBF News team has been gathering information about preparations, shelters, evacuations, etc. As for me, I've been planning.  Kyle (our assigment coordinator), Matt (news director) and I have been going over our staff and equipment list, making sure we are ready for a possible storm.  We have been on constant communication with Raycom (our parent company) about our coverage.  We aren't in this alone.  When Hanna moves toward the Carolina coast, you will have the combined resources of WMBF, WECT (Wilmington), WIS (Columbia), WCSC (Charleston), WTOC (Savannah) and WBTW (Charlotte) spread out across the coast getting you the information you need.   If the Governor decides to call a news conference about Hanna in Columbia- you will see it live on WMBF News.  The WMBF News Network has a team of meteorologists, reporters & photographers lining the coast, dedicated to getting you the LIVE, LOCAL, LATE BREAKING details about Hanna.  That's the power of a network.

Jennifer | jdale@wmbfnews.com

Hunting down Hanna

Well as Gustov brings complete havoc to Louisiana, Texas and the rest of the deep south, we're busy keeping a watchful eye on Hurricane Hanna.  If you  haven't been keeping up on your hurricane news, the "cone of uncertainty" has Hanna's projected path hitting the coast of South Carolina.

Now you may ask why we are growing concerned here at WMBF - even if the brunt of the storm is projected to hit in the Charleston/Savannah area.  According to a little chat I had with Jamie Arnold, we'll still be feeling a LOT of Hanna's power - from wind to rain and HUGE waves.

We've been busy discussing the "worst case scenario" here at the station today just in case Hanna would venture a little northward and to the Grand Strand.  As a television station and a liazon of information to residents of the Grand Strand and Pee Dee, we have to be preapred to set up camp here on Frontage Road for wall-to-wall hurricane coverage.

To see how Hanna will be surprising the SC coast, stay tuned to WMBF News and WMBFNews.com where you can find the latest projections, forecasts, and updates from the WMBF Storm Team.

Meghan Miller | meghanmiller@wmbfnews.com

Glued to Gustav

   I have spent most of my Labor Day glued to the television.   Since I work in television, you may not find this unusual.  Today, however, I wanted to see what was happening with Hurricane Gustav. 

   I spent more than 7 years living on the Gulf Coast.  When I saw Gustav's was headed toward New Orleans, it brought back a lot of bad memories. I was working in Mobile, Alabama when Katrina hit in 2005.  Mobile is about 2 and a half hours from New Orleans.  It was about an hour and a half from the place where Katrina's eye made landfall.  My husband and I owned a condo at the time, we lost a few shingles, but were otherwise ok.  Not everyone was so lucky.  Just about everyone we knew was touched by the storm.  One of my best friends, whose parents I love as if they were my own family, lost everything.  I remember standing in their house, looking at the mud on the floor & the water mark on the wall.  They didn't have flood insurance. They were told they didn't need it- they didn't live in a flood prone area.

     As I watched from home today, I couldn't help but feel for everyone along the Gulf Coast.  Mother Nature can be cruel. So far, it looks like the New Orleans levees are holding.   As for Mobile, I just talked to one of my friends who works as a reporter. She's spent the day in the south part of the county. She says some areas were hit hard, but things could have been much worse. 

As we move forward into hurricane season, there's a good chance we may have to deal with tropical weather again. If that happens, You can count on your LIVE LOCAL LATE BREAKING station.  We are dedicated to bringing you the coverage you need to stay safe. 

Jennifer |jdale@wmbfnews.com