A 4th to remember

Work on the 4th was fairly typical for a weekend. I was the only reporter around after 6pm... and also the only one to edit the rest of the show. Being used to this, I shot a VOSOT for 5:30 and 10 and a separate PKG for 10 early in the afternoon so I could have time to do all of the work (no break of course). That's about when hell broke loose. A thuderstorm and hit Billings and a man was struck by lightning... this occured about five minutes after a motorcycle accident where the victim was having CPR preformed on her... remember, I am the only reporter and the show isn't anywhere near ready to go. Luckily, the anchor and director were able to go to the sites while I collected info and handled about 10 phone calls from concerned viewers about firework displays being cancelled. With about 30 minutes left until the show absolutely nothing was ready... Long story short- we somehow got the show off. I was supposed to go live in the newsroom about the lightning situation, but the camera died, and we didn't have enough people to man the camera's and the audio board anyway, so it kinda worked out... really hectic. but hey, that's the news, right?