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Tues.: Hey, Toto...
posted at 2009-05-05 21:05 | Last modified 2009-05-06 16:04
I can't remember the last time the press corps was so popular...
I was closed up in my office recording stories about 6:30 tonight when I heard a weird squawking sound. When I opened my office door, I was told a tornado was headed straight for the legislature building, and everyone was being instructed to take cover.
First thought: Oh, crap, I still have to file. Second thought: Where exactly are we supposed to go?
One reporter suggested we head for the basement. But someone else pointed out that the press room is probably safer -- first floor, interior, and windowless. So we stayed put, and it wasn't long before everyone else in the building joined us.
It was a pretty festive scene, if you don't count the tornado warning. We had visitors from both chambers: Sen. R.C. Soles with his staffers and some folks from the Senate Clerk's office, plus Senior House Budget Chair Mickey Michaux (he's in the photo above, talking to reporters). Speaker Joe Hackney was there briefly with some of his staff. Guilford Rep. John Blust was on hand, too, along with House Clerk Denise Weeks and her office, gathered around Paul Woolverton's desk to watch the WRAL webstream.
When WRAL said the tornado had moved east of downtown, Rep. Blust and I headed for the lobby to check out the aftermath. Rounding the corner, you could see the heavy lobby doors being sucked open by the pressure differential. The GA Police guard yelled at us to get back to the pressroom, which we did, post haste.
Back in the pressroom, an observer in a downtown skyscraper was telling WRAL he'd watched the funnel cloud pass directly over the legislature and head east toward the Governor's Mansion, where it dipped for a moment but apparently didn't touch down.
About ten minutes later, we got the all-clear. And no, we didn't sell a single Press Corps t-shirt. But we did enjoy the company.
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