On Disaster Reporting

Disaster reporting is not just for journalist like CNN’s Anderson Cooper who have a lot of resources provided by his network so he can do his job even in the most chaotic areas.

When I arrived to Port Au Prince, just 2 weeks after the earthquake there, the last couple of hotels that were open for business had been taken over by the big TV networks. There were no rooms available for independent journalist like myself.

The same situation happened in New Orleans when I was on the ground to report on Hurricane Gustav. Hours before the hurricane was to land, I sat on a sidewalk across the street from the Marriott on Canal Street trying to make sense of the words told to me by hotel staff: “All the rooms have been taken by TV networks.”

Here is when resourcefulness comes in. Instead of arguing my way to get a hotel room, I contacted friends, fellow independent journalist, my editors and their contacts to help me find a place to stay. Within one hour I was being picked up on Canal Street by a group of human rights activists that hadn’t evacuated New Orleans. They had a generator at their homes, charged laptops, and food and water stored to endure Gustav.

In Haiti, I landed at the airport and met a group of medical workers from Miami who had flown in to provide their services to the thousands of people in hospitals who were injured by the quake.

I told one of the nurses that I was planning to camp out at the airport until I was able to get a room at a hotel, but she told me that I could stay with them. For five days I stayed at a bread bakery, sleeping on the floor, but glad that there was clean water to drink and a shower. I was eventually able to secure a place to stay at the base of the Brazilian UN Forces.

Independent or freelance journalist can cover disasters of all sizes as long as they can adapt, be flexible, and be prepared to accept and seek the help of others.

I have countless experiences to tell from which I have learned immensely and have more than often, saved my life and kept me safe. My main goal is to start filing stories within 24 hours of arrival to the affected area and so far, I’ve been able to do that.