AP multiformat team shines in Helene coverage despite challenging circumstances

By Erik Verduzco, George Walker IV, Mike Stewart, Sharon Johnson, Russ Bynum, Kate Payne, Kristin Hall, Gerald Herbert and Stephen Smith

AP delivered standout coverage of Hurricane Helene in all formats despite massive hurdles that include damage to a staffers’ home, limited road and communications access and a sprawling storm area across six states.

Hurricane Helene was a monster of a storm that devastated communities across several hundred miles, and AP chronicled the destruction across multiple locations. We first positioned teams on the Florida coast and in an area of Georgia in its path, then quickly pivoted to expand our coverage into mountain areas of North Carolina that were subsequently decimated.

On Thursday afternoon before the storm hit, Charlotte, North Carolina, video journalist Erik Verduzco drove into Asheville to position himself ahead of the worst of the storm, allowing him to capture compelling video including a liveshot of water rushing through the popular Biltmore Village shopping district. He conducted several interviews, including of a woman rescued from a car swamped with water up to her chest as she left a nursing shift at the local hospital. His interviews and reporting fed the mainbar and sidebars datelined in Asheville on Friday and Saturday when few non-local outlets had made it to the heart of the storm zone. His still photos were widely used, including by the Washington Post.

On Saturday, Kristin Hall embedded with Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee to provide aerial footage of devastated areas, while George Walker made it into the flooded town of Newport and provided all formats reporting. He also got on a plane and delivered staggering footage of the damage from above.

Another key front was the Florida coast where the storm made landfall and to the south in Tampa Bay communities that were overrun with storm surge and floodwaters. Kate Payne, Stephen Smith and Gerald Herbert were the first all-formats team to be deployed in Florida. They spoke with residents in Tallahassee, Crawfordville and Alligator Point about how they were preparing for the storm and covered it through its deadly march north. A separate crew of Russ Bynum, Sharon Johnson and Mike Stewart chronicled the devastation from Valdosta Georgia.

The coverage had massive reach and was the most viewed on APNews and the videos were most downloaded with customers several days running.

The judges on the committee were impressed by the dedication and willingness of reporters to station themselves ahead of the storm to capture some of the most compelling moments in the initial wave of damage, and their commitment to staying the course even as communication was spotty and navigating around the destruction presented challenges for reporters.

For steadfast reporting on the ground as Hurricane Helene made landfall and amid the subsequent surge of damage across several states, Verduzco, Walker IV, Stewart, Johnson, Bynum, Payne, Hall, Herbert and Smith earn this week’s Best of the AP — Second Winner.

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