Some thoughts after Dennis:
*NHC hits a home run on their forecast track. They called Pensacola FOUR days in advance. Great job in not waffling run to run changes in model output. VERY GOOD JOB.
*Alabama Power gets the service restored to my house after only 12 hours! The linemen at Alabama Power have a thankless job... all they hear are complaints while they are away from their families doing everything they can to get the lights back on for us. VERY GOOD JOB. Yes, I understand there are still many people in the dark as I write this, but your time is coming.
*Our Saturday experiment of long form coverage on our digital channels 33.2 and 40.2 was a big hit. We had some problems getting a clean signal to the Charter cable head end (they carried the coverage on their channel 99 across north and central Alabama), but they was fixed about half way into the show. We were on the air from 6:00 until 9:30 p.m. non-stop on the digital channels, with just periodic updates on our main ABC 33/40 stream. People could get wall to wall weather coverage, or watch regular programming; it is your choice. The future is now; once digital HDTV receivers are in a majority of homes, we will no longer have to worry about cutting off someone's favorite program. Thanks to ABC 33/40 GM Mike Murphy for making this happen this weekend.
*Lots of folks want our long form coverage streamed on the Internet; I am working on that this week.
*Was Dennis a "bust"? No doubt there was not as much inland damage as expected. We can be thankful for the fact that the core of hurricane force winds within Dennis was only about 40 miles at landfall (Ivan's hurricane force winds extended out over 100 miles), and the fact that Dennis literally flew through the coast and the state of Alabama at a forward speed of 20 mph. That really lessened the damage and the rain totals. EVERY hurricane is different.
*This blog was a huge hit during Dennis. We had a total of 71,342 users on Friday, July 8, a new record. The numbers stayed well above 50,000 over the weekend; that means lots of people outside our regular service area are reading. We appreciate it.
*I also thank everyone who watched our coverage on ABC 33/40-TV yesterday and last night. Our ratings peaked at 23.7 rating and a 32 share at 7:45 p.m.... almost DOUBLE the audience of the other local stations combined. We understand we have a very serious responsibility during events like Dennis and we sincerely appreciate your trust.
*On a sad note, please pray for Brenda Ladun and her family; her father died suddenly early yesterday morning.
*NHC hits a home run on their forecast track. They called Pensacola FOUR days in advance. Great job in not waffling run to run changes in model output. VERY GOOD JOB.
*Alabama Power gets the service restored to my house after only 12 hours! The linemen at Alabama Power have a thankless job... all they hear are complaints while they are away from their families doing everything they can to get the lights back on for us. VERY GOOD JOB. Yes, I understand there are still many people in the dark as I write this, but your time is coming.
*Our Saturday experiment of long form coverage on our digital channels 33.2 and 40.2 was a big hit. We had some problems getting a clean signal to the Charter cable head end (they carried the coverage on their channel 99 across north and central Alabama), but they was fixed about half way into the show. We were on the air from 6:00 until 9:30 p.m. non-stop on the digital channels, with just periodic updates on our main ABC 33/40 stream. People could get wall to wall weather coverage, or watch regular programming; it is your choice. The future is now; once digital HDTV receivers are in a majority of homes, we will no longer have to worry about cutting off someone's favorite program. Thanks to ABC 33/40 GM Mike Murphy for making this happen this weekend.
*Lots of folks want our long form coverage streamed on the Internet; I am working on that this week.
*Was Dennis a "bust"? No doubt there was not as much inland damage as expected. We can be thankful for the fact that the core of hurricane force winds within Dennis was only about 40 miles at landfall (Ivan's hurricane force winds extended out over 100 miles), and the fact that Dennis literally flew through the coast and the state of Alabama at a forward speed of 20 mph. That really lessened the damage and the rain totals. EVERY hurricane is different.
*This blog was a huge hit during Dennis. We had a total of 71,342 users on Friday, July 8, a new record. The numbers stayed well above 50,000 over the weekend; that means lots of people outside our regular service area are reading. We appreciate it.
*I also thank everyone who watched our coverage on ABC 33/40-TV yesterday and last night. Our ratings peaked at 23.7 rating and a 32 share at 7:45 p.m.... almost DOUBLE the audience of the other local stations combined. We understand we have a very serious responsibility during events like Dennis and we sincerely appreciate your trust.
*On a sad note, please pray for Brenda Ladun and her family; her father died suddenly early yesterday morning.
on July 11, 2005, 2:01 pm
Wayne
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