Last Friday, while Hurricane Matthew was barreling up the coast of Florida on its way to hitting Georgia and the Carolinas, I followed many of the area’s TV stations coverage on their respective Facebook pages in a post titled, Follow Local TV Coverage Of Matthew All Day. I looked for posts that showed conditions as […]
Last Friday, while Hurricane Matthew was barreling up the coast of Florida on its way to hitting Georgia and the Carolinas, I followed many of the area’s TV stations coverage on their respective Facebook pages in a post titled, Follow Local TV Coverage Of Matthew All Day.
I looked for posts that showed conditions as they existed outside in the elements, or video of damage. I avoided any in-studio from the anchors or meteorologists or Facebook Live posts as I just wanted to give readers a sense of what it was like in a hurricane.
Some of the posts were from WESH, the NBC affiliate in Orlando owned by Hearst. But there was excellent coverage provided by every local TV station.
My editors forwarded a note they received from Dennis Wharton, NAB’s executive vice president. In it were comments from viewers who sent emails to WESH thanking them for their coverage. Here are a few:
Murray Baldwin — I want to thank all the team at wesh 2 for doing such a great job through this tough time. I felt I was so well informed about what was going on in the state. I want to thank you. It must be hard for all to work through the night and day keeping us informed and not being with your families. Fantastic job I appreciate all you do.
Andrew Phegley — Thank you for the wonderful job you guys did with coverage of Matthew…helped a first timer like me have piece of mind…I’m a fan of WESH now and forever thank you again!
Sam Thomson — I just wanted to say thank you so much for your amazing coverage of hurricane Matthew. We are on holiday here from Scotland and you really helped ensure we were prepared especially since we are staying in an apartment and not in a hotel/resort. Your app is absolutely fantastic too
Billy Tison — I want to thank you for the coverage that your team provided during Hurricane Matthew. Your coverage outdid anything I have seen from the Weather Channel or anyone else for that matter. Tony Mainolfi, Eric Burris, and Amy are to be applauded for the job that they did keeping us up on the track of the storm, and your reporters in the field brought personal feelings to what was going one. Excellent job WESH 2.
Jessica & Cody Brown — Hi guys, we have some pictures we’d like to share with you from downtown Orlando. Thank you for all your hard work and continuous coverage of Hurricane Matthew!
Jennifer Shannon — We have been watching you guys thru the entire storm. Just want to say thank you for the great updates and coverage. My family and i seen a interview with Claire Metz she interviewed a guy named Dan with his 45 foot boat tied to the palm trees at the marina. We were just wanting to know if he made it thru the storm. He was going to stay in his boat. We have been thinking of him and praying for him all night.
Rose Caminero — Thank you for your coverage. We have no power right now so we are getting our information through your face book live.
Bonnie Haynes Bryan — Thank you guys for your continuous coverage! And no commercial interruptions makes it very nice. You guys are doing a great job!
Lisa Amber Eggleston Helser — THANK YOU FOR YOUR ENDURING COVERAGE OF THIS HURRIVAIN/STORME FROM A NATIVE BORN NY TRANPLANT TO TAMPA~ THANK YOU FOR YOUR DEICATION TO THE PEPLE OF FLA NEW N OLD KEEP UP THE AWSOMW WORK.
James Angel — I just wanna say thank you for having your live coverage online… I live in Virginia and it makes it easy to keep up with what’s going on with my friends and family in Titusville.. thank you!
Brion Daugherty — After 20 years in Melbourne, my company moved me to New Mexico. I still keep in touch with my many dear friends there.
Thank you for your hurricane coverage last night and this morning. I watched, glued to my computer screen. You kept me up to the moment on what my friends were experiencing. Because of your efforts, I was able to assess for myself (rather than depend on CNN) how things were going. Your years of experience with this kind of weather truly showed through. Great job!
I especially commend Adrian Whitsett on the excellent reporting he did from Eau Gallie. He was clear, concise and very well organized. He was telling me what I needed to hear without a bunch of hype.
Kory Oransky — Please give Mr Adrian Whitsett and his broadcast crew my deepest thanks!
I am an American who is living in Nagoya, Japan. My family moved here in late July from Melbourne, Florida.
Anyway, we came across his report (the one where the transformer blew up) when we were trying to find out how our old neighborhood fared during Matthew. I couldn’t believe Mr Whitsett was broadcasting maybe 50 yards from our old house! (The backyard borders on an office complex, and we are across the street from Eau Gallie High School. Hop the fence, cross Commodore, and you’re there at the school.)
We are renting out the house and were hoping that our tenants would be ok. I still haven’t heard from them, but I am a lot more hopeful that they are ok after seeing the report.
Thank you again! I know that wasn’t your intention when you made your report, but you helped us to rest a little easier here, half a world away.
I hope you and your crew stayed safe during the storm and returned to your homes safely afterwards!
Steven Davis — Just want to say thank you so much for the wonderful weather coverage you did I am new to this area and I thought you did an outstanding job you needed major shout out thank you so much.
Cindy Cline — I want to thank Greg Fox for helping clear roads in Flagler County. My husband is a firefighter and what Greg is doing is helping my husband to be able to take care of people in need. Greg Fox should be the man of the week! Thank you, sir. It just goes to show that you are here for the benefit of the people, not a story. Thank you again.
Dan Kaloski — I’ve lived in central Florida for 25 years and had never seen Amy Sweezey’s coverage before today. I just need to say that I think Amy has done a fantastic job covering the storm and earned me as a WESH 2 news viewer. KUDOS to you Amy and thank you for your excellent coverage!!!
Pam Jenkins — I live in Charlotte but my Mom and Aunt live in Port Orange and lost power around 4am. Last night I found your station by a Google search and have been watching your live feed. I spoke with them briefly via cell phone a few min ago. Their fence is down, water coming into the fireplace but they are good. I gave them an update thanks to your live feed and The Weather Channel. Thank you for your coverage. It is helping to keep people informed.
Petra Hobson — I would like to send a BIG THANK to all the staff at WESH 2, for a great outstanding job to inform us with updates and tracking HURRICAN MATTHEW . I was born and raised in Germany never had to worry about a HURRICAN , my husband and I moved to The Villages ,Florida in 2014 from Virginia. And I have my MOM visiting right now from Germany and this was our first experience with a such a strong hurricane , so thank u again to all of u at WESH 2 NEWS u all made it possible to put at a bit at ease .WHAT A GREAT JOB, love u all.
Tony Ashberger — this is why i luv wesh 2 so much out of all news broad casters you are the one that stays on the air to keep us safe all of you are aw some evry body runs them self in to the ground to let us know whats going on to me you rank #1 an more please be safe out there all of you an thank you so much for a damm good job.
David Jones — Thanks for the awesome coverage all night…..I felt much better getting information from you all, as a veteran of Andrew….you’re coverage is as important as anything else . Thank You…!!!
Larry — I just wanted to thank you all for your fantastic coverage of Hurricane Mathew. We have family in Brevard county and your reports and live views have given us a real glimpse into the storm.
Your whole team are super stars! Keep up the great work.
Linda Wilson — How can we thank you enough?! Your entire staff are fantastic giving themselves to keep us up to date with this devastating storm. So thoroughly advising us of all the latest issues. Those in the studio are well informed and those out in the danger of the storm are amazing. We always look to Wesh2 for complete coverage of all daily situations. Thank you, thank you!
Art Burke — My wife and I are in Leesburg and haven’t been hit too badly by Matthew. But I watched your excellent coverage all night – great job and thanks for being there!
Joe Zambito — I found your station this morning from the Tampa area on bright house cable I want to thank you guys for the best coverage I could possibly find on the Internet or on TV. It was real weather real life stuff not like that book crap I’m getting on the weather channel. Over here we’re getting a lot of fluff and we can’t get a real idea how bad it is on that coast. We are in emergency response group for insurance companies and it is important we know extent of the damage to be able to react to the specific areas. Thank you so much. And congrats to your crew. Keep that storm offshore.
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