48 Hours in the Hurricane

As New York City emerges from two days of Hurricane Irene, I’m emerging from two long days of coverage at NY1.

It started with a stressful trip back to the city after my August vacation in Alberta. By midday Thursday it had become clear that the path of the storm was taking it right into New York and that I’d be spending the entire weekend at work—if I could get there. My ticket on United was a booked months ago by redeeming points on Air Canada and I learned that this distinction leaves you lacking any clout with either airline when you try to reschedule. United got me as far as Chicago, but then trapped me at O’Hare. For some reason all of the other airlines kept flying to New York that night, but United opted to cancel early. Thankfully, there was an American flight leaving just a few minutes after I got the bad news from United and after a seemingly-endless sprint through the huge airport I made it to the gate and made it back to New York.

Thanks for all the kind comments and the occasional criticism about two days of all-out breaking news coverage on NY1. Kristen Shaughnessy and John Davitt were my rock-solid on-air companions for almost 20 hours of coverage and your comments and news tips kept the information flowing at times when we needed it.

Our producers, tech crews, assignment editors and field crews all put in extraordinary effort in a story like this, and I’m particularly grateful to Roger Clark, Rocco Vertuccio, Jon Weinstein, Tara Lynn Wagner, Bree Driscoll, Josh Robin, Michael Herzenberg, Dean Meminger, Jessica Abo and Zack Fink for their rain-soaked reports this morning. (No slight intended if I missed a few names in that list.)

Here are a few of my favorite tweets in response to our reporting:

.@patkiernan @JamieShupak NY1 has the ONLY factual, non-hysterical, non-porny hurricane coverage. Seriously the best.less than a minute ago via UberSocial for BlackBerry Favorite Retweet Reply


Thanks @patkiernan @errollouis and everyone at NY1 for providing excellent coverage with no drama. You made us feel safe and prepared!less than a minute ago via Twitter for Android Favorite Retweet Reply


@patkiernan Was great to have you anchoring.Voice of reason amid the sensationalism.Your iphone vid frm empty train station=instant classic.less than a minute ago via web Favorite Retweet Reply


@patkiernan thanks for getting us through this storm drama-free. i am truly a NY1 fan, mainly because of you. #suckingup #butitstrueless than a minute ago via web Favorite Retweet Reply


@patkiernan is human. the other newscasters are robots.less than a minute ago via Twitter for iPhone Favorite Retweet Reply


Kudos @NY1headlines, @patkiernan @RogerClark41 @joshrobin Kristen Vivian etc for tireless straight-up, antic-free coverage. Appreciated!less than a minute ago via Twitter for iPhone Favorite Retweet Reply



And thanks to Joanna Molloy for a short comment that means a lot. In her Daily News column she described me as “the New York 1 anchor who’s as trustworthy as Edward R. Murrow.” Tough to live up to that but I’m glad we were there to help the city through a crazy weekend.

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