Lindsey Mastis

I was standing in the newsroom and was just about to get into a lengthy conversation about Libya and whether the “rebels” would eventually be called “liberators” when someone said “the windows are shaking.” I thought that person was losing her mind until I felt the earth start to shake. I knew it was an earthquake.

I ducked under my desk and waited to see whether the shaking would get worse or stop. I noticed that no one else was getting under their desks. Instead, they stood around wondering whether it was a Metro accident, a bomb, an earthquake, or something else.

This was my third earthquake, and I’m pretty sure it lasted the longest. Every single phone in the newsroom started to ring. I grabbed my IFB (that’s the thing reporters and anchors put in their ear so they can hear the producers) and asked whether I needed to get on air. Then I saw JC Hayward.

She told me that she was in her office when it hit. She was then trying to leave. But she wasn’t going anywhere. Instead, she would be anchoring for the next few hours.

I was ushered out with a photographer in a live truck. At the first stop light we switched seats so he could film all the people from the evacuated buildings. I drove directly to the US Capitol. Hundreds of people were standing around. People that work on the Hill were wondering whether it was an earthquake– or a repeat of 9/11. Tourists wondered whether they could get on the Metro.

We were up and running in a matter of minutes at the corner of Maryland and 3rd. It’s right in front of the Museum of the American Indian. One of the kids that was in the museum at the time told me he pulled a lever and thought he caused the building to shake.

I interviewed a man from Voice of America live. His first thought was of a terrorist attack. He was actually relieved to learn it was an earthquake. I think that’s very telling. It’s obvious that Washington, DC, is on edge as the 10th Anniversary of 9/11 approaches.

After an hour, people started to leave. The roads were jammed. And every few minutes an ambulance, firetruck, or police car was trying to get through. The earthquake was over. The chaos was full-on.

The only people I saw making it successfully out of the area were people in pedicabs. We tried moving our live truck around the block. It took us 30 minutes to go half way. Crazy.

I continued giving live updates and when the traffic cleared, we headed to Anacostia where Mayor Vince Gray was monitoring emergency services. I interviewed him live. He was at the new MLK Memorial when he felt the quake. He said no one was seriously hurt. Good. But there was still a lot that had to be done to make sure Washington, DC’s buildings were safe.

As the sun went down– things seemed to calm down. But this would be considered just a small portion of an intense, important, and incredible week.

I first want to address the critics that say the Washington, DC, area overreacted to Hurricane Irene. There have been 54 storm-related deaths and an estimated $10 billion or more worth of damage… so far. This was no small event. It wasn’t just little rain and some wind. This is a storm that destroyed homes and took lives. I personally visited areas that were flooded; saw homes crushed by trees; vehicles totaled by trees; and spoke to people with tears in their eyes as they tried to clean up.

We were on air for 31 hours straight. It cannot be proven– but I hope our coverage helped save lives. People often die in their cars driving down the street in our area, even when it’s just a regular storm. If our coverage could help prevent that– then good. That’s why my colleagues risked their safety. They stood in the hurricane because if they didn’t, people wouldn’t believe it was dangerous. I understand this quite well, being from Missouri (the “Show-Me” state).

I’m proud of our coverage, and I’m proud to be a part of it. Before the hurricane, we were all asked to work. I packed a bag– enough for three days and extras in case I had to travel out of state. Saturday morning, I got up and tried to prepare. But I couldn’t stop watching the storm roll in. I was relieved when they asked me to come in early. I got in at 1:30 I think and went right to work.

I was the reporter assigned to cover the aftermath– so I was kept inside during the hurricane. As hard as it is for a journalist to stay put, it was a good idea. I’d be refreshed enough to work like crazy after the storm passed.

I spent the evening, night, and morning sharing photos and stories from viewers live on air. We got a bunch of amazing photographs from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and even e-mail. My favorite was a picture of a crawfish in a parking lot puddle. The person that took the picture didn’t know how it got there. There was no creek anywhere nearby.

I got to work with my friend (and current WUSA 9 Foursquare mayor) Tom. He produced all the fullscreens– and kept me going, thanks to his jar of Salsa Con Queso!

After 12 hours of work– we all started getting goofy. Topper even wore a safety vest on air (to win a $20 bet). And we aired a song I really like (but is also getting a lot of “what were we thinking” comments). It’s the Hurricane Irene song written by a viewer. (And just to prove that our coverage helped keep people out of the storm) — he didn’t want to drive in for a live performance because of the conditions outside. We interviewed him live over the phone instead.

Me and Tom worked together for about 15 hours straight. At 5 a.m., I drove down the street to a hotel. When I got into my room, I noticed the carpet was wet. Real wet. When I stepped on it, water went over my feet. The rain from the hurricane leaked into the hotel room. I let the front desk know– but I was too tired to switch rooms. I slept for four hours (one full sleep cycle), and then went back to work.

I was teamed with a photographer (we call him “Sach”) and together we headed down to Lusby. We met up with Chris in a satellite truck (from our sister station in Tennessee), and reported on flooding. I brought boots with me. As I waded into the water I soon realized that the boots are not waterproof. (Funny, I wore them during the last few snow storms and never noticed any wetness).

My feet were already soaked so I just went on with my work. We found a house destroyed by a tree and surrounded by water. It’s unlikely that the house can be saved. And across the street from that was a home for sale. Truly sad.

Because our satellite truck used a different tape format– we had to go old school. Sach edited linear tape-to-tape. (This is how I learned, but I don’t exactly remember how to do it now. Sach was super-fast!)

After our 6 p.m. live hit, we traveled over to Leonardtown. We had to work fast because the sun was going down and when storms hit, people are out of power. Those people go to bed when the sun sets.

We found a home with a bunch of massive trees that simply uprooted. One huge tree hit the house. It looked like a child came by and knocked over a bunch of blocks– but the blocks are trees. We couldn’t even get the homeowner to talk to us on camera. He was obviously upset. Very upset and sad.

As we drove around, we noticed issues with the power lines. Many of the utility poles snapped in half and the lines were laying across the road. We hate getting near these things even when they are off– but we had to show everyone what happened and why it would take so long to get power restored.

We even went to the shelter at the high school– and they were out of power. They had a generator that powered some lights. An hour and a half before we went live out there– the power to that building was restored. Yey!

After our 11 p.m. hit, Sach and me drove back. Chris and the sat truck went to a hotel. We didn’t get back to the station until about 1 a.m. I was back in the next morning at 9:30 a.m.

Monday I went with Victor back to Lusby. I heard about some homes near the cliffs that were evacuated and later destroyed by trees. I couldn’t find any homes that were damaged. Good!

We went to St. Leonard instead and found some of the worst damage. Trees from across the road fell on houses, vehicles, and power lines. The power company hadn’t been to the neighborhood since the storm (that’s two days!). Neighbors got their chainsaws and cut up the trees that blocked the roads. They cleaned up their yards and removed trees from the top of their cars. One family told me that they even moved the power lines themselves so cars could get through. So dangerous!

But they were all in good spirits. One of the women was seven months pregnant. But she was out there helping her neighbors as best she could. What amazing people!

We’re still covering hurricane aftermath. Altogether– WUSA 9 was live for 31 hours straight. I’m proud to be a journalist. I’m proud of my WUSA 9 family. And in the end– I’m just hoping that we helped.