A man drags his suitcase down the middle of an empty street after the snowstorm hit in Washington, D.C. Photo by Carol Druga

A man drags his suitcase down the middle of an empty street after the snowstorm hit in Washington, D.C. Photo by Carol Druga. (Click to enlarge)

EDITOR’S NOTE: Many LaPorteans will remember Carol Druga, who was a reporter and editor at The LaPorte Herald-Argus for 12 years. She’s now an editor for The Associated Press, usually down in Atlanta. But recently she was temporarily assigned to the AP bureau in Washington, D.C. And she arrived — guess what? — just days before the epic snowstorm hit. WNLP asked her to write a little about her experience.

By Carol Druga

   So when Beth Boardman, my old boss who taught me, you know, to be a bulldog about most things journalistic, asked me to write about my historic assignment to Washington, D.C., it sounded great.

   In my time in LaPorte at the Herald-Argus — 6 years as education reporter, 6 years as city editor — I dealt with a lot of snow. I mean. A LOT of snow. When I first moved to LaPorte in December 1992, it snowed — at least a trace — for 52 straight days. Told my brother, I’ve moved to Alaska!

Carol Druga

Carol Druga

   Then I laughed when in March 1993, my hometown of Pittsburgh got buried in 2 feet of snow during a storm that moved up the East Coast.

   But Washington, D.C., right now, under 3 feet of snow in six days, is under siege.

   I work for The Associated Press these days. My normal task is night supervisor on the South Regional desk. We deal with big stories daily. Since my time: 12 shot dead in Alabama (that was my second night in that job), South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford’s Argentina odyssey, hurricanes, John Edwards’ infidelity, Tiger Woods, NFL guys lost in the Atlantic, you name it.

   The South Regional Desk has handled it all well. What a great group of smart people. As are folks in the East, Central and West.

   So, my bosses on Election Night said, “Hey, Carol. The news editor in the Mid-Atlantic needs to take family leave; can you fill in for her for about a month?” I was surprised. But said, why not?

   I had been here about a week when the first projections started coming in — 2 to 3 feet of snow in D.C. Maybe more. People scoffed — including staff. I looked at the storm’s track — guess what? Similar to the one in 1993, the one that slammed Pittsburgh.

   Karma?

   I told my staff early — we need all hands on deck. They were all in. Not to gloat — but our coverage was unmatched!

   I walked through the door, knowing no one except by the phone. But as usual, crises bond.

   This week, I sent people to unsafe nether-regions that were still unplowed. Learned that a lot of staffers NEVER drive. They take the subway. But we figured it out.

   With these stories that are so wide-reaching — in this case, up and down the Eastern Seaboard — they end up being a hodgepodge of facts, quotes, facts. Still, the storm stories were the most widely read for days and days.

   When I moved from Indianapolis to Atlanta, I did not throw out my boots. Thank goodness. Now, 2-4 inches of snow is blanketing Atlanta. Doesn’t sound like much. But this snow veteran knows that an inch paralyzes a place that has 4 snowplows for THE WHOLE CITY.

   Two to four inches? Hope the sun comes out quickly, like we were happy to see in the nation’s capital. And it’ll be here for a couple days.

   But it’ll still be cold.
   Directing the news for AP through something historic — you don’t think of it like that when it’s happening. You draw on whatever you have to do the job. But at the end of the day, you say — wow. Cool.

   I know that’s not a great conclusion. But, wow. Cool!