Gustav - Live Webcam/Chat
Our internet and news teams are bringin’ it. Makes me so proud to work with these people. Internet guru Brad Pollitt set up a webcam at my desk, where Meteorologist Joe Haynes and I chatted live with commenters for more than an hour just now. What a great exchange of information!
We’re cranking up the webcam again Monday morning, so watch www.ktbs.com for the Gustav-live webcam/chat icon. When it pops up, jump in and we’ll do our best to answer your questions as you comment. We’d also love to hear how you’re affected by Gustav.Â
HRB, could use some Houston perspective before the power goes out!  Hope to see you in the morning. Stay safe.Â
September 1st, 2008 at 2:10 am
Hey, I found more live webcam here:
http://www.123-cams.com/news/Gustave-webcam-tracking.html
Tomy
September 1st, 2008 at 7:47 am
Amazing job last night with the chat. KTBS seems to have the best coverage! Thanks a million.
September 1st, 2008 at 6:20 pm
Thank you, Bruce! I’m supposed to be resting because I
September 1st, 2008 at 6:28 pm
Haaaaaaaaaa…there’s proof…because I haven’t had much sleep! Needed that laugh. Back with live webcam/chat at 7am Tuesday until this beast has passed or dissipated. We’re about to get hammered tonight (and that’s not a party term)…Joe’s forecast at 4pm indicated 1am to morning to be the roughest from the hurricane in the ArkLaTex. Be on the lookout for tornadoes and flooding and please be safe. Joe and Gerry May will be on air all night long.
I’ll see you online in the morning. I’m live at my news desk via webcam and chat at www.ktbs.com.
September 1st, 2008 at 6:30 pm
Keep your hair safe Sherri…
September 1st, 2008 at 7:03 pm
Ha…Patrick! Good anchor joke there!
September 1st, 2008 at 7:36 pm
Houston is high and dry and looks like we’ll stay that way
September 1st, 2008 at 7:54 pm
“You look pretty” on your webcam, gurkles!
September 1st, 2008 at 9:44 pm
I thought it was very cool to chat with you and Mark today. Talk about getting a personal forecast! Thanks for taking care of us but don’t forget to take care of yourself!
September 2nd, 2008 at 9:39 am
I sometimes get these spam pop-ups from “CamWithHer”? Sher, I had no idea!!!
September 2nd, 2008 at 10:55 am
I think Sherri should do a SherriCam on SherriTalley.com!
September 2nd, 2008 at 11:33 am
I try to be fair about local media…having said that…We was getting our Eddie Izzard on when around midnight we had a light flicker.
We cut off the DVD and KTBS’ed it up. Just for fun we flipped to the other folks and while they had little updates they had chosen to stay with regular programming. The Shreveport Times had updates but NOBODY had wall to wall coverage like KTBS! You folks rock!
I felt safe knowing my “good buddies” (familiar trustworthy faces) were on the job. That’s the big advantage television has over traditional print media. While those reporters and photographers do a fine job most of the time we have no idea who they are and in a time of crisis we want a friendly, informed face.
I was also watching when Chrissi Coile came in and Gerry got to go home. You all are the hardest working peeps in show business!
Thank you for being on the air when we needed you the most.
P.S. Your promos with the webcam were fresh and quite eye catching. The only way you could have been any cooler was if you were riding your bike and text messaging at the same time…
September 2nd, 2008 at 3:51 pm
When can residents start returning? My cousin is staying with us and takes I-20E to 55S to get home, do you know when this will be open? Thank you for all your hard work! We really appreciate it!!
September 2nd, 2008 at 5:29 pm
Hey Bryan. Stay with www.ktbs.com for the latest. After 7.5 hours on the live webcam today, we took a power hit at the station. That fried my computer and we had to shut down the webcam.
I’m home now and not monitoring the situation to give you an accurate answer, but our staff is, so keep checking on www.ktbs.com. When the offical okay is given, it’ll show up there.
The last I knew when I left the station was that Jindal was saying maybe Thursday. Is your cousin going as far south as New Orleans?
Many people are already returning, but to areas where there aren’t many resources (gas shortages, no power, trees and power lines down, and a lack of hospital and other emergency personnel). It’s a risk. I’d wait for the parish okay, but sure understand someone wanting to get the heck home.
I’m happy you appreciate our work. I’ll pass that on. A lot of weary journalists and personnel need to hear that. Tell your cousin to be safe.
September 2nd, 2008 at 5:31 pm
Thank you, Kathryn! What a testimony. I’ll pass your words on to the others. We appreciate you, too.
September 2nd, 2008 at 6:34 pm
Sherri,
I have been watching the coverage of our ungreatful evacuies. What do they want, should we move from our homes and let them move in. This is a perfect example of government dependantcy created by the Democratic Socialistic Policies.
Nothing will make these folks happy, nor will they ever be greatful for the hard work and generosity provided by VOLUNTIERS.
September 2nd, 2008 at 7:36 pm
LindsAY - Did you see me .. I was on the web cam today. Giving some updates. Then they picked on me b/c I did not takeover for Sherri’s lunch break ..;(. LindsAY tell them producers have a job to do!
September 2nd, 2008 at 9:15 pm
That site was great……..need to have it all the time with scrolling ads at the bottom to pay for it..Sports, WX, and regular news.
It really made a lot of people feel better about their situation. Hope that is does not get lost..
GREAT JOB to all involved with the site.and please return!
September 2nd, 2008 at 10:33 pm
Do you know anything about power in Baton Rouge? I spoke to my son yesterday and he was without power- with relatives in assumption parish who also were without power. I cannot reach him today- am wondering if his cell phone battery is dead with no way to recharge it. Any info you can give me would be appreciated
September 2nd, 2008 at 11:31 pm
I am here in Bossier from Baton Rouge. i have talked briefly to family and friends still in the Baton Rouge area. They tell me this has been the worst storm ever to hit the area. I am wondering why there hasn’t been more coverage on the BR area. Everyone is focusing on New Orleans and they didn’t take a direct hit. I am tryin to find out about school closures and power outages. The WBRZ station has not updated their website since Sunday, September 31st. I would appreciate any info you can find out for me. It is almost impossible to reach anyone in BR. Thank you, Kristy
September 2nd, 2008 at 11:55 pm
kristy-WBRZ was streaming on the ktbs.com website. KTBS had it on the ‘Streaming News’. I haven’t checked if they still are or not. Ed Walsh was reporting live from BR for days. Hope this helps.
September 3rd, 2008 at 10:04 am
kristy, storm experts agree with your family and friends…they’re saying Gustav did more damage to Baton Rouge than did Hurricane Betsy in 1965.
cbp is right. We had BR covered for you via reporter Ed Walsh, two other crew members, a satellite truck, Jindal’s live news conferences broadcast from BR on our station and streaming on www.ktbs.com, I was on our site via a live webcam and chat from my desk dispensing info. from BR as it came in. As that subsequent rain band came through BR, our storm team focused on that as well..on TV and the web.
I sure wish we could have done even more for you, as we recognize the stress, fear and frustration in times like this.
Cell phone service is rough in many areas. Crews are on that. Stay with www.ktbs.com. We’re updating that as fast as the news comes in.
Take care.
September 3rd, 2008 at 10:07 am
Bryan, Pam and Kristy…Gov. Jindal is addressing many of your questions right now. You can watch his live news conf. streaming now on ktbs.com. http://www.ktbs.com/layouts/KTBS-3-News-Live-Coverage
September 3rd, 2008 at 1:37 pm
I was just watching the rebroadcast of the earlier news broadcast, having just awakened after my 3rd 6pm to 6am shift at the old Sam’s Club. While I feel like the State dropped the ball by not providing showers until yesterday afternoon, the complaints you see made on the news by the evacuees are borderline ridiculous.
That one man saying he had a baby and didn’t have the right stuff to feed it is ridiculous. You wouldn’t believe the baby supplies we have: Disposable diapers in every size, baby wipes, baby food of every flavor, boxes of baby cereal, juice, baby formula in every brand and type, etc etc.
The evacuees have been provided with hot meals from Picadilly cafeteria and in addition to this, plenty of snacks, bottle water, etc are available. The State of La put all September Food Stamp Benefits on the La Purchase cards on the first of the month, rather than using the usual mail code that staggers the benefits so those in Shelters who were on assistance, have their food stamps, too.
This boy named Robert, he looks to be about 7 or so, has stayed up with us every night, just talking, playing and ‘helping’ us. When we ask where his mother is the answer is always the same, “outside smoking”. Last night I asked him if he had left the shelter yet and he said, “Yea, today we went to Church’s, Burger King, the Dollar Store and Stage”.
Wal-Mart is also a very popular destination.
While there are a few nice, grateful evacuees, the bulk of them do little but complain and keep asking where Fema and the Red Cross are as they want their money. When we explain that for the most part, they only lost power and their house is probably ok, they go off in a huff.
Thankfully, we have a strong presence by the SPD and the Air National Guard and they are quick to step in when a problem erupts. Night before last, I believe we had 5 people arrested.
I totally agree with the evacuees who say that the showers should have been in place before they arrived but other than that, their needs have been met. I don’t know how they will manage to get back on the busses to return home with all of the stuff they have managed to accumulate.
I see that KTBS has a poll going about whether or not the state run shelters fell short in providing for the evacuees…I don’t want my comments with my name posted there or on TV but the comments without my name are ok
Hopefully they will all go home soon. Although 83% of NO is without power, they seem to think they’ll be better off there than with us.
September 3rd, 2008 at 2:39 pm
Re: Mary’s post above. During hurricane Katrina, I volunteered at a shelter at a church. When arrangement were made for evacuees to move to motels, one family has so much stuff in large garbage bags they had acquired at the shelter, that it took a large van, and two pickup loads to move them to a motel and then complained that the room was too small to hold all of their things. They even packed up the air mattresses AND the pumps and took with them. They were given 3 cooked by volunteers meals a day, all the clothes they could carry, a nurses station, prescription medications supplied by Walgreens or Walmart, snacks and hygiene supplies. One man came into the nurses station and wanted his teeth cleaned and was shocked when we weren’t providing that. We did have a local dentist who was doing emergency dental care. What has happened to this country where everything is expected to be supplied on demand? What happened to “ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country?” Granted there were people who were very grateful, but many were not and never even said “Thank you.”
September 4th, 2008 at 12:06 am
Win, there is much talk of bringing back the webcam on a more regular basis and of course, for breaking news like Gustav. Here’s a write-up on our efforts.
http://www.thepomoblog.com/archive/webcam-from-the-anchors-desk/
September 4th, 2008 at 9:30 am
mojavegirl, we, too, are hearing a lot of stories of ungratefullness and the sense of entitlement among many evacuees. Then, they’re balanced by gratitude among others. Maybe those who think they deserve handouts will learn something from others they spent time with during this evacuation. It takes a lot, though, to change a person’s perspective.