By Nicole Majewski

Two WBEN radio announcers experienced the devastation of Hurricane Katrina first-hand this summer in Baton Rouge, La., and New Orleans. 

Barbara Burns and Steve Cichon, both anchors and reporters at WBEN, were stationed in Baton Rouge to help WWL 870-AM in New Orleans stay on the air.  They arrived in Baton Rouge on Aug. 31, and stayed in various parts of Louisiana for about a week.  Cichon departed on Sept. 9, and Burns left on Sept. 11. 

Although they stayed in a fully stocked RV while they were in Baton Rouge, other times Burns and Cichon didn’t know where their bed or next meal was coming from.  In some instances, they slept on the floor of a sheriff’s barracks and on the floor of the radio studio. 

“We were chatting with one another, saying ‘Where are we going to eat?’ Burns said. 

She also said showers were hard to come by — they had three showers in 12 days. 

Cichon said upon their arrival at the New Orleans Convention Center, the rotting garbage smell was so strong it made him want to cry.  He said there were four helicopters overhead, and the streets were in such disarray that a bus driving through the streets was plowing through the garbage.  Random cars, including a Cadillac, were strewn about on the streets with their doors and gas caps open.

              They also met people in the city who refused to leave, including an elderly man named Benny Bush, Burns said.  Bush was well-dressed in khakis and told them he was staying in his house because he had things to take care of.  He said he was told a helicopter would pick him up. 

Cichon and Burns wanted to take him out of the city, but they knew that it wasn’t their job to do that. 

“There’s always the helpless people and the desire to help them,” Cichon said. 

Burns said that Entercom, WBEN’s parent company, tapped into the staffs of the larger news stations around the country to get extra personnel for WWL.  She said their co-workers at the station thought her and Cichon were crazy for going on this assignment. 

As part of WWL, Burns and Cichon helped residents of New Orleans keep in contact with each other, and informed about what was going on in different parts of the city.  They visited some of the affected areas like Washington Parish, Jefferson Parish and downtown New Orleans, speaking with the people there and putting their stories on the air. 

“WWL became a lifeline of information,” Burns said.  “It became 24 hours of emergency information, shelters, where to go and people looking for others.”

They also reported their experiences back to Western New York on WBEN many times a day, specifically on the morning show. 

“We were each live on the air several times a day, when phones were working and we could, and also fed back recorded stories when we could,” Cichon said. 

Burns said the damage from Katrina is severe, but can eventually be repaired.

“It’s bad but not unrepairable,” she said.  “It’s going to take time and money, but there are neighborhoods that will be totally razed and demolished.”

Contact Nicole Majewski at cerealboxes84@yahoo.com