OPINION: Matt Leclercq: Disaster mode in the Observer newsroom

Sept. 22--Sometime after 1 a.m. last weekend, I found the last available couch in the Observer building -- the stiff one in the lobby -- and put down a sheet to try to get a few hours of sleep during the brunt of Hurricane Florence.

In retrospect, it was not the safest spot. The hurricane winds were rattling the 15-foot glass windows that are within shattering distance of the lobby's couch. But I was so exhausted, and all of the other couches and air mattresses were taken. Sleep -- even a couple of hours -- was precious last week, and I knew that our overnight team taking over in the newsroom would stay on top of the urgent updates.

And that they did. The Observer's newsroom operated 24 hours a day while slow-moving Florence pummeled the Sandhills. Our No. 1 priority was to keep people informed in real time, which meant hundreds -- if not thousands -- of updates posted to our website, on all of our Facebook pages and Twitter accounts, and through breaking news emails. That also meant doing live video on Facebook to show scenes of flooding, live interviews with city and county authorities, creating photo galleries and answering readers' questions as they poured in during the storm.

Oh, and we also had to put out a newspaper every day.

It was truly all hands on deck. Our news, sports and features writers went out into the storm to tell the stories of people who were living through it, including Michael Futch, Paul Woolverton, Rodd Baxley, Monica Holland and Greg Barnes (who, with photographer Melissa Sue Gerrits, lived briefly at a fire station to document rescue efforts).

Columnist Myron Pitts, sports writer Jaclyn Shambaugh and multimedia copy editor Kara Evenson pulled shifts operating our social media accounts, including several midnight or 5 a.m. shifts for Myron. Reporters Rodger Mullen, John Henderson, Steve DeVane, Rachael Riley and Nancy McCleary kept a "Latest" feed of updates going on our website, 24 hours a day, when they weren't out doing stories. Columnist Bill Kirby Jr. filed detailed reports of what was happening across the region.

Military editor Drew Brooks was invited to fly with the National Guard to get some of the first images of the devastation from the air. He also went along on night patrols in flooded Lumberton and covered President Donald Trump's visit to Cherry Point.

Photographers Andrew Craft and Gerrits captured incredible images of the flooding, the destruction and the misery of victims in Cumberland and Robeson counties. Photographer Raul Rubiera Jr. documented the daily rising of the Cape Fear River, including with neat before and after videos.

And senior editor Lorry Williams handled air traffic control, directing which reporters and photographers were going where, what we were covering, what we needed online ASAP and what we needed for print editions. We all do two jobs, really -- the live reporting for the web, and the stories we put in print. Scott Parker, Sonny Jones and Thomas Pope made sure we did both well, helping manage our website and putting together the print editions on time (even if we were unable to deliver papers for a couple of days).

As I write this on Friday evening, most of our newsroom's journalists are on Day 11 or 12 of working up to 14 hours a day. We're unshaven and wrinkled, having survived mostly on Cheez-Its, candy, pizza and coffee.

So while it may be hard to think straight right now, or speak in coherent sentences, let me type these words with complete clarity: I could not possibly be prouder of this newsroom and the work it produced over the past two weeks. They were all over this storm, from when it first appeared likely to hit North Carolina until the sun finally broke through the clouds. You could not ask for a more dedicated team of local journalists than the folks with whom I have the honor of working.

Hurricane Florence was a disaster for North Carolina, and many of our neighbors are suffering. Our coverage isn't stopping now that the skies are clear. We'll be reporting on this storm and its aftermath for months, if not years. I hope you'll come along with us.

Executive editor Matt Leclercq can be reached at [email protected] or 910-486-3551.

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