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Saturday, July 4, 2009

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Whither the Weather: Covering Acts of God

So many news articles are the same; only the names are changed. With this template from MICHAEL Y. PARK, you won’t even have to pack a slicker the next time you’re sent to cover a natural disaster.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Michael Y. Park is a freelance journalist living in Brooklyn, N.Y.
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struck the ern U.S. yesterday, homes, highways, and entire towns that lay within its swath of destruction.

Government officials said there were deaths, mostly , mostly from . The number of wounded from the disaster, which was classified as a class event, was estimated at .

“This is truly a sad day in the history of our great community,” said from the battered during a press conference at a few days after the tragedy. “But we will band together to rise again and rebuild to make City the great metropolis it’s always been.”

Financial damage from the event was estimated to be $, according to government officials, but that number is expected to rise. Much of the industry that the region relied upon was damaged, leading economists to believe that the price of will rise in the coming months.

“Though production will fall because of what’s happened, I don’t expect the rising price of to adversely affect the market in the long-term,” said broker .

Forecasters from had mistakenly predicted that the would , causing little damage.

The toured the sites of the devastation, stopping to offer solace to resident , who waited in line for a Red Cross meal at a local church that had lost its steeple.

“We’re going to make everything all right again,” the told the -year-old . “You can count on us.”

“I lost my house, I lost my job—I even lost my ,” said. “And the tells me to count on them?”

then pledged to try and make it to City, where family would hopefully have a spare room.





—Published June 8, 2007