Remembering Hurricane Isabel - On Paper!

As I mentioned last month, I covered Hurricane Isabel in 2003, not only in the headlines on AccuWeather.com (which were a relatively new way for us to get weather news out on the Internet), but also via a post-storm summary in our AccuWeather.com Premium "What's Up" Newsletter. I wanted to include a link to that full report this week, as we remember Isabel nine years ago (we have other memories of Isabel, including YouTube videos, on the AccuWeather.com anniversary story).

Inside the "Hurricane Isabel Review" are never-before-seen radar animations, satellite images and summaries. I'm also giving you access to these never-before-released Forecast Model Images from Hurricane Isabel's approach, as well as a screen capture of the front of the AccuWeather.com Professional site from which they were obtained:

Elliot Abrams brought in some newspapers (which he got from a relative who worked at the Virginian Pilot) which I scanned in. Here are a couple of my favorites:

I have to admit, being brought up in the "paper" era, there's a certain thrill I get at seeing the front pages from disasters passed -- the big fonts and color pictures were such a stark contrast to the black and white text until the Internet began.

Even at this point in the Internet, most of these front page archives -- pieces of historical art, if you will -- have been lost. Sure, you can see the entire New York Times online, but most smaller newspapers (and large newspaper archival systems) don't have the means to archive more than text stories or web versions of their stories. People are usually searching for what was written, but what of what was published?

A lot of the missing information is due to commercial copyright issues (even those surrounding the ads). For the weather enthusiasts though, I'm working on a larger newspaper archive for personal use, as I aim to reduce clutter in my house by digitizing the front pages. If you're interested in helping, contact me via Facebook.

I particularly like this last one, entitled "Beauty of the Beast." As reporters, we have to think about new angles from the storm that can produce content for consumers, and taking a look at the beauty after a major storm is a great idea.

In order not to minimize the value of the Internet, I will tell you that you can see nearly every newspaper front page on Earth today (but no archive) by visiting the Newseum's interactive "Today's Front Pages" map. I encourage you to check it out; it's really neat.