Hurricane Frances was a long haul for millions of Floridians, including hundreds of staffers at local television news outlets.
"What day is this?" asked Phil Metlin, news director at WTVT-Ch. 13, on Monday afternoon as the hurricane, downgraded to a tropical storm, finally moved out of the area. "We're all so tired."
"We've had snowbirds that didn't stay as long as this storm," said Forest Carr, news director at WFLA-Ch. 8.
While Hurricane Charley blew through the state in not much more than one eight-hour shift, Frances had news crews in emergency mode for days.
Tampa Bay area stations WTVT, WFLA, WTSP-Ch. 10, WFTS-Ch. 28 and 24-hour cable news outlet Bay News 9 each fielded around 100 news staffers in the studio and across the state.
Sports reporters interviewed storm refugees, investigative reporters sloshed through flooded mobile home parks, and news photographers doubled as reporters.
"During a situation like this, everyone in the newsroom is a journalist," said Lane Michaelson, vice president and news director at WTSP.
All five stations placed employees on shifts of 12 hours on, 12 hours off. But often, those 12 hours on stretched to 13, 14 or more.
"We had Dave Bohman in Melbourne, and one day he was on live at 5 a.m., and he was on live at 11 p.m. That's 17, 18 hours," Michaelson said. "I talked to him, and he's like, "I'm here now, what's another seven or eight hours?' "
News directors and station managers said safety is a major consideration during storm coverage. "I didn't send people out to play in the storm," Carr said. "The mission is to cover the storm."
Metlin at WTVT said some reporters are so eager they may need to be reminded to stay safe.
"You tell them, it's just pictures. But you know, the adrenaline gets into these people," he said.
No news staffers were injured during Frances, but two stations lost vehicles. Metlin said a WTVT photographer driving in Polk County was hit by a wind gust and pushed into a wall. And a WFLA news truck was crushed by a piece of roofing that peeled off a building in Vero Beach, Carr said.
During Charley, WTSP evacuated from its bayside studio on Gandy Boulevard in Pinellas County. This time, "the water got to within a couple of feet of our parking lot," Michaelson said, but they stayed put.
As Frances approached, each station weighed when to switch from regular programming to full-time storm news. The first was Bay News 9, the 24-hour news outlet. "That's what we're built for," said Elliot Wiser, vice president and general manager.
Wiser said he was particularly proud of the coverage provided by Bay News 9 en Espanol, the Spanish-language version. "It's one of the few Spanish news channels that goes around the clock."
Even as stations wind down their coverage and dry out their cameras, they're all preparing for the possibility of yet another hurricane.
Bill Berra, news director at WFTS-Ch. 28, said reporter Don Germaise had been in Melbourne since Wednesday, but as he drove home Monday he stopped to cover a couple of stories in Polk County.
"He told me he wants tomorrow off," Berra said. "He said he needs to repack his hurricane gear for Ivan."
