Crane Collapse From Milton Hits Building Housing The Tampa Bay Times

Crane Collapse From Milton Hits Building Housing The Tampa Bay Times — The New York Times A Crane Hit Their Building, but the Journalists Were Out Reporting Reporters at The Tampa Bay Times are covering their second hurricane in a month. By the time Hurricane Milton caused a construction crane to crash onto the building that houses The Tampa Bay Times late on Wednesday, the newsroom’s journalists had already evacuated, fanning out across the region to cover the storm. “Most people have been working around the clock, up all night,” said Mark Katches, the editor of The Tampa Bay Times, calling from a suburban hotel that a handful of editors were using as a makeshift newsroom. “We’ve got people dispersed in safe locations across the state,” Mr. Katches said. “Some people even left the state. Many people on our staff have lost power or internet, but somehow we’re managing to produce pretty impressive public service journalism.” He said no one from the news organization had re-entered the building to examine the condition of the newsroom. Milton, which made landfall close to the nearby community of Siesta Key, Fla., on Wednesday, is the second hurricane that the 80-person staff of The Tampa Bay Times has had to cover in the last month. Hurricane Helene drenched Florida’s Gulf Coast in late September, leaving parts of the region swamped with floodwater and without access to basic utilities. It has been a challenging time for the newspaper, which has won 14 Pulitzer Prizes and is known for its hard-hitting investigations into prominent local and state institutions. In August, the newspaper announced that it was reducing its staff by 20 percent through buyouts because of the economic challenges faced by many local news publications. Although the buyouts took a toll on employee morale, Mr. Katches said that the company’s journalists had rallied to provide strong coverage of the storms. All of the publication’s coverage is getting published online only for now; Wednesday’s print edition was not delivered because of the storm. Mr. Katches said the newspaper’s coverage on Thursday would focus on assessing the damage from Hurricane Milton. The storm destroyed the roof of nearby Tropicana Field, home to the Tampa Bay Rays professional baseball team, and collapsed houses across the region. As of Thursday morning, Mr. Katches said, some employees for the newspaper were still unaware of the conditions of their own homes. “It’s not like you just have a story that’s important to cover. Your lives are on the line and your family’s lives are on the line, and you’ve got to take care,” Mr. Katches said. “Everyone here is here because it’s a calling for them.” The company’s journalists are spread out in “go teams” that include reporters and photographers in rented S.U.V.s. They’re sending in their articles, videos and images using mobile hot spots. On Thursday morning, the handful of editors with Mr. Katches were fielding that coverage with limited electricity in the hotel. “We’re using cigarette lighters and going in shifts into our cars to charge laptops,” Mr. Katches said. “That’s what we’re doing until they turn the lights back on.” Benjamin Mullin reports on the major companies behind news and entertainment. Contact him securely on Signal at +1 530-961-3223 or at benjamin.mullin@nytimes.com. More about Benjamin Mullin Tampa Bay Times More on Hurricane Milton  —  Roof of Tropicana Field Destroyed: The St. Petersburg stadium, home to M.L.B.’s Tampa Bay Rays, was being used to house emergency workers. Video showed parts of the fiberglass roof blowing in the wind. —  Florida on High Alert: Hurricane Milton threatened nearly the entire state as it blew in from the Gulf of Mexico, yet another case of a menacing storm putting many of Florida’s 23 million residents in danger. —  Can Electric Vehicles Catch Fire in Hurricanes?: E.V. batteries that are submerged in saltwater can catch fire after the floods subside, but experts say it’s a rarity. — FEMA’s Severe Staffing Shortage: Fewer than 10% of the agency’s disaster workers are available to respond to Hurricane Milton and other calamities.