Keeping Pace
Yesterday we featured The Des Moines Register's superb multimedia package, "Parkersburg Tornado: The Aftermath." Today we highlight a narrative from the Register's storm coverage, Ken Fuson's "Solidified by Sandbags."
Fuson begins as the Cedar River starts to crest in Cedar Falls.
City officials put out a desperate call for help: They needed sandbaggers, and a lot of them, to fortify a two-mile stretch of the levee.
He introduces the sandbaggers by tracking one of the bags. The bag sets the pace as it pauses at each volunteer. There's no time for long paragraphs.
Josh Bey, 26, a real estate agent, stood at the head of one line, scraping shovelfuls of sand from the pavement. Three scoops to a bag.
His goal? "To keep every drop out of Cedar Falls' Main Street."
Lori Dunt, 40, who works in pension administration, was next in line. She held open a bright orange bag as Bey deposited another shovel's worth of sand.
She grew up in Cedar Falls. This was home.
Dunt tied the bag. Kaci Yant, 25, a nurse, picked it up - each one weighed between 35 and 40 pounds - and sent it down the line.
desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080612/NEWS/806120355
As Fuson shows, covering a disaster can take great skill. Are there any stories about disasters, natural or otherwise, that you'd recommend? Leave us a comment if you have one to suggest.