Chapter 2: Putting Fault Lines to work -- A “weather eye” on the news

A severe ice storm hits Central Texas in January, paralyzing the city of Austin—the state capital--and surrounding communities.

Andy Alford, an assistant metro editor at the Austin American-Statesman, has just returned from the Maynard Media Academy at Harvard University, ready to put new skills to use. She later e-mailed her Media Academy colleagues around the U.S., deconstructing how “the Statesman” covered the story:

“I'm just so proud of my paper that I want to share. I left Boston only to arrive back home a day in advance of an ice storm. (Not such a big deal to you Northerners, but a sign of the apocalypse to a town where the average high in January is 60 degrees.) Central Texas shut down: The airport ground to a halt — the schools, city and state government, trash collection, post offices, even some hospitals all shut down for three days straight. We covered it all at a frenetic pace, even having reporters and editors sleep in nearby hotels to be sure they could make it to the newsroom at the crack o' dawn to keep it up.

“On the third day, the metro editors met to discuss what else we could be doing to cover the storm. Still full of my Maynard experience, I raised my hand and suggested that we look at our coverage through the Fault Lines prism.

“Here is the story that resulted from that discussion”
 
Weather empties wallets, fills shelters      
By Andrea Ball, Suzannah Gonzales                 
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Friday, January 19, 2007
 
Check to check. Day to day.
That's how things are for single mom Rita Rouhani, a 49-year-old longtime waitress at Arkie's Grill.

For Rouhani and co-worker Janna Herring, the winter storm meant two days out of work at the diner on East Cesar Chavez Street. About $100 a day in tips — lost.
It's going to hurt. Rouhani's mortgage in Bastrop County is $767, and her utilities are another $260. This week she's made $176.
 
"If you want to make your bills, you've got to work," said Herring, 31.
 
For most people, five days of icy weather amount to an unpleasant inconvenience, an annoying time without lights, child care or transportation.
 
But harsh weather — and the cash crunch that comes from days out of work — can mean overdue bills and late rent. For isolated seniors, canceled meal deliveries can bring hunger. And for homeless people, the cold can cause hypothermia or death.
 
This week, local nonprofit groups and government organizations worked overtime to help Central Texas' most vulnerable citizens. They opened extra shelters, checked on home-bound seniors and gave the homeless dry socks and warm blankets.
 
When bad weather hit on Saturday, Austin's shelters started filling up.
 
Tuesday was the biggest shelter day, with 881 people seeking warmth, said Helen Varty, executive director of Front Steps, which runs the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless. Now the ARCH is asking people to donate blankets, socks and other supplies to help the homeless during the cold spell.
 
"We need anything to keep them warm," she said. "Sleeping bags are great; winter coats are great. Rain coats are really handy because they keep you dry."
 
Meals on Wheels and More canceled its 2,100-daily deliveries Tuesday and Wednesday, said executive director Dan Pruett. But throughout the year, the agency gives its clients three shelf-friendly meals — such as tuna or canned stew — to be saved in case of such emergencies.
 
When Meals on Wheels staffers returned to work on Wednesday, they were greeted by 400 voicemails blinking on the phones, Pruett said. Not one of them was from a person asking for food. "Most of them were saying, 'Please don't come, we don't want our volunteers taking any chances on getting hurt,' " Pruett said. “It was the sweetest thing."

By Thursday, Central Texas life was easing back to normal.
 
Kids returned to school. Most flights departed on time. Austin's ice storm emergency operations center disbanded.
 
But for those living from paycheck to paycheck, the storm continues to reverberate.
 
Three days without work meant $250 less for Jorge Gonzalez, who usually takes home $450 a week.
 
He's worried about the rent. His apartment on East Riverside Drive, where his wife and younger brother also live, costs $680 a month.
 
The 25-year-old was laying bricks behind Güero's Taco Bar on South Congress Avenue on Thursday.
 
Carpenter Jose Luis Lope, 32, spent much of Thursday bouncing around different homes in Austin working small jobs to make up for the about 80 percent of weekly wages he lost in the last three days.
 
The freezing rain and ice delayed a major project for Lopez, who has three children and says he usually earns about $450 a week working for Heinz Construction Service.
 
"I've got to be doing little jobs and things like that," Lopez said. "I've got to somehow get on track."
 
Already, people living on the edge of poverty are feeling the pinch.
 
The Hays County Area Food Bank — which was closed for three days during the storm — fielded several calls Thursday from people who were unable to work during the storm and needed food to last until their next paycheck, said executive director Pat Tessaro. The agency distributed to twice its usual number of clients Thursday and was expecting another big crowd today.
 
It's the electric and gas bills that worry James Patterson.
 
The Round Rock resident, like many others, was unable to get to work at the routing department of Sears until Thursday. His wife, Hannah, was also home-bound instead of working at Hastings Communications Service. Between the two of them, he said, they probably lost about $500 to $600 in pay during the storm.
 
They also used more gas and electricity than usual to keep their house warm.
 
"We do pretty good to keep the bills up and current, but there's not a whole lot left afterwards," Patterson, 30, said. "We're probably going to have to write home to some family and call in a few favors on this one."
 
Officials at the Austin-based nonprofit Caritas, which provides emergency rent and utility assistance for the needy, expect calls for help to increase over the next few weeks.
 
"I would anticipate that at month's end or early next month, the people whose income was affected by the weather will probably be looking for emergency help," said Beth Atherton, the agency's executive director. "That's what we're here for."
 
Despite the crimp the storm put in her budget, Rouhani of Arkie's Grill is staying positive. At least she has a warm house and electricity, she said. At least she didn't wreck her car in the bad weather. And at least everyone around her is safe.
 
"Sometimes you just have to look at it that way," she said. ". . . There's always a bright side to things."
 
Reporters Molly Bloom, Miguel Liscano and Katie Humphrey contributed to this report.