I produced this compilation for THE GOVERNORS' AWARD presentation at the 25th Annual Midsouth Emmy Awards.
All four Nashville TV stations were given the award for their outstanding service to the community.
In May, Nashville and NEWS 2 (WKRN) came to grips with a once in a half millennium event, the Nashville flood of 2010. The flood killed dozens, caused billions of dollars in damage and left victims homeless and emotionally scarred. The staff at WKRN left their own damaged homes to deliver countless hours of life and death information. NEWS 2 was reporting live from flooded interstates and neighborhoods. NEWS 2's weather team became the viewers lifeline for information as they continually tracked the storm. The station reported live from the flood using microwave and satellite trucks, and also utilized traffic cameras and UStream to bring images of heroic rescue efforts. NEWS 2 built a network of media platforms to cover this once in a lifetime event which included the over the air channel, the Nashville WX weather channel on local cable, wkrn.com, and a simulcast on a local radio station.
When floods threatened Middle Tennessee, WSMV began wall-to-wall news and weather coverage of every element of the breaking event. The Channel 4 Weather Team was on the air continuously, while the station faced the challenge of hockey playoffs and the Kentucky Derby. Monday, May 3rd was the first morning middle Tennessee woke up to see the historic flooding from the Cumberland and Harpeth Rivers as they flowed far outside their banks, drowning much of the midstate. The morning show ran for 5 hours, nonstop, all ad lib, with no commercials as WSMV brought viewers the latest live looks both from the air and the ground. WSMV stayed on the air for days of wall-to-wall coverage, with life-saving information. Their coverage branched out to tell powerful stories of survival and recovery. Only WSMV-TV and the Channel 4 I-Team uncovered something that may have made a disaster even worse. The investigative team discovered that a series of confusions and miscommunications about how much water the Army Corps of Engineers released into the Cumberland River. Those reports helped spark a Congressional investigation and hearing.
When the rain and storms began on May 1, WTVF was on the air with tornado warnings and other weather watches. The coverage not only brought viewers information about the flooding issues and road closures, their crews delivered unbelievable stories of devastation and rescues, with sights that were unimaginable before the flood. As the storms continued, WTVF stayed on the air for 13 hours non-stop. They were back on the air very early Sunday prior to the start of the morning newscast as more severe storms developed, and the waters kept rising. They were on the air for 20 more hours Sunday. During the coverage, their basement level newsroom started to flood as storm waters backed up into drains forcing the staff out of the newsroom. All equipment started to be moved while on-air coverage continued. One million gallons of water was pumped from the newsroom over several days forcing it to be gutted with newsroom staff moved to temporary locations for months. While the weather team fronted the coverage, this was a total team effort.
The 1,000 year flood in Nashville could not falter the strength of FOX 17 (WZTV). At 8pm Sunday night, Metro Police told them to immediately evacuate. The station backs up to a levee of the Cumberland River. FOX 17 was now in imminent danger. After non-stop coverage for 2 days, they had to pack up their gear and leave without airing the 9pm newscast. During the time Fox17 was evacuated from the station, crews were dispatched from staffer's homes and allowed 2-3 hours in to put stories and newscasts together. Tuesday afternoon, they were allowed in for 3 hours. They had to rent a bus to shuttle their staff in since multiple vehicles were not allowed in and out of Metro Center. FOX 17 put together a 90 minute newscast in 2 hours. They went live with it while simultaneously taping it and left it to air in place of the 9 and 10pm News. Like our united city FOX 17 proudly says WE ARE NASHVILLE!
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Nashville Flood Story.m4vby carriganshaun6,656 views
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