With this story I certainly don't want to make light of what is happening in Texas, it's terrible to watch and I truly don't want to pretend that I have even the smallest inkling of what the people are going through right now.

All my thoughts and prayers are with the people affected by this, now and for the weeks and maybe months to come.

Any names of others than of the nown newsroom staff are made up, though I did use some statements (content-wise) made by real officials and the media.

For SueG – Stay safe !

Houston – We have a problem

Monday, 28. August 2017

It was the fourth day of the coverage of then hurricane and now tropical storm Harvey, which had brought devastation to the Texan coast and massive rains to areas further inland, especially in and around Houston, the devastating results of which couldn't even remotely be surmised yet.

And it wasn't over yet, Harvey was predicted to move back to the Gulf of Mexico, pick up new energy and then make a second run towards Houston, bringing even more water to the already flooded region.

Sloan, Will and Elliot had been on the air almost all day since Friday, rotating with two hour shifts and only being granted relief by the night and early morning crews. Their goal was to bring pictures and information to their viewers, but they also focused on bringing updates, advise and recommendations from official sides to specifically help the Texan people in distress.

Jim, Don and Sloan's rather new EP Kate took their turns in the control room, but finally Mac had insisted that at least Jim got some more rest and had taken over the Sunday afternoon shift while Will was on the air.

They had already decided on Friday that their three and a half-year-old daughter Charlotte would spend the weekend at Leona's, as nobody knew at that point how the situation would develop, and as it had turned out it had been the right decision. Will had spent most of the last days at work, and Mac also had to be in constant attendance to allot the staff, monitor the field reporters on the ground, negotiate with local affiliates to cut into their coverage and also in case of other problems emerging. Since Friday they had only made it home way past midnight for a few hours of sleep before getting back into the office in the early morning to prepare for the day's coverage.

Luckily Leona had agreed to keep their little girl with her as long as necessary, only visiting the newsroom a couple times a day so that the family could spend at least a few precious minutes together. Charlie loved Leona and enjoyed the time with her, after all she was being spoiled rotten there, but still a few tears were shed everytime they had to leave her parents at work again.

Right now Mac was standing in the control room with the headset on, and as sad as the occasion was, she still enjoyed this rare journey back into the past. „Ask him about private citizens evacuating others with boats and kayaks."

Will tapped his pen to acknowledge he had heard her, and once his interview guest, Governor Timothy Garland of Texas, who had joined him via phone, finished his sentence he did as he was told, the appropriate images of the rescues being displayed behind him. „Governor, one last question: Many people are out on the, well, streets and are rescuing people and their pets who are trapped in their houses with their private boats, zodiacs, rafts, kayaks and even surfboards. What do you say to them?"

„Will, I am glad you are mentioning this. These people are showing the best of Texans and Houstonians, and I cannot emphasize enough that we absolutely need their help. Normally we have about 8.000 emergency calls a day in Houston, today it has been more than 56.000 calls. The official emergency services are working at their absolute limit.
We have called in more members of the National Guard, and the Coast Guard is also helping out with some helicopters, but they are also needed in other areas like Galveston who are severely impacted by the rain and we mustn't forget areas like Rockport. Here in Houston we have so many people in need, waiting in their flooded, often only one-storey houses, that we need our citizens to help each other.
So we ask everybody to please watch out for your neighbours, especially the elder and disabled people as well as families with children. If you have a boat or any floating device with not much loaded draft, please consider helping your fellow Houstonians evacuate their homes. However I also want to urge everybody to always watch out for your own safety."

„Governor, thank you. We know that this is an incredibly busy time for you and appreciate you sharing your thoughts on the current situation. If there is anything you need to get out to the people, please let us know. We will always be glad to have you on and get the important information to the public."

„Thank you, Will, we will surely come back to you."

The split screen with the governeurs picture disappeared and the camera focused solely on Will again who had gotten his next cue from Mac. „We will now go to our correspondent on the ground, Maggi'e Jordan, who is accompanying one of these private rescue parties. Maggie, where are you now and what are you seeing?"

„Hello, Will. Last time we spoke, about an hour ago, I was still reporting from the center of Houston, close to the Spaghetti Warehouse, but we had to leave our location there due to the quickly rising water levels. Chuck and Andy have offered us a ride on their boat to observe them on one of their rescue trips to save people from their flooded homes. Chuck, where are we going now and how long have you been doing this already?"

Chuck, a tall and muscular man in his thirties, cleared his throat. „We've started at 9 o'clock this morning, mostly Downtown Houston and now here in River Oaks. This is our ninth and last trip for today. It's getting dark, 'ya know, and we don't have lights on the boat."

„Tell us about the rescues you have experienced so far."

„Well, lots of stories, lots of stories, really sad... We pulled a women from a roof who spent the night on there with her two little kids. And just now we had a woman in a wheelchair who was sitting in the water up to her waist. We got her out and she's in a shelter now."

„You are doing wonderful work here, like all the other people in boats we see here. I assume everybody is glad and grateful when you come to help them?"

Chuck shook his head. „There was a couple houses... People just didn't wanna leave. We told 'em that they let water out of the reservoirs and the water gets even higher, but no way. We had to leave 'em, just hope they're okay."

„We can only hope that they will not regret this decision. Thank you, Chuck. Will, this is the current situation here in Houston. As Chuck has just said, the city has started controlled and gradual water releases from the Abbot and Barker Reservoirs into Buffalo Bayou, because they are threatening to flow over. This doesn't mean that they are failing, but when they were constructed in the 1950s nobody had ever expected that they would ever need to hold such an enormous amount of water. Take Abbot Reservoir, which is normally a park for people to spend their time with baseball fields and other facilities. The water level there is now at almost 108 feet which is the height of the surrounding dike, so the authorities, in this case it was a decision made by the Army Corps of Engineers, had to take action now as an uncontrolled spill is considered more dangerous."

„This is indeed a very precarious situation. Thank you, Chuck and Andy, for this incredible readiness to help, and thank you, Maggie, for bringing us up to date. We'll be back with you soon."

Once Maggie was off-screen her half of the screen was filled by Amanda Miyou, the station's chief meteorologist.

„Amanda, you are monitoring the whole situation closely, what is the latest development?"

„Will, this is a good question. Tropical storm Harvey is continuing to bring amounts of water to the Houston area that nobody in the US has ever seen before. Just so that the viewers get an idea: So far more than 9 trillion gallons of rain have fallen across the greater Houston area and Southeast Texas. This is an amount that would power the Niagara Falls for 15 days or fill the Great Salt Lake in Utah twice! A huge problem is that Harvey, as we know now, will turn back, make another swipe over the Gulf, where he will gain strength again and especially pick up even more moisture which will fall as rain once it has made landfall again." Amanda followed the predicted movement on the map with her hand.
„The computer models predict that it will most probably turn back towards Houston, bringing about another 20 to 30 inches of rainfall to areas that already have to cope with 30 inches and more. Some models even predict another 50 inches – or 5 to 10 trillion gallons - until the weekend. And that would be in addition to the water being released from the reservoirs."

„This is truly devastating and the numbers are staggering, Amanda. Do you have any good news for the people in Texas?"

„Well, Will, we had a day with less rain today, but if the storm does not change its path this will change again tomorrow, as I have just said. Then it will all depend on how fast it moves and hopefully gets into other areas that haven't had so much rain yet. What we are fearing right now is that once Harvey makes landfall again he will cover an even wider area, possibly extending into Louisiana. It is completely possible that New Orleans will also get 10 or more inches of rain, and that on the 12th anniversary of hurricane Katrina."

„Thank you, Amanda, I hope we will get more positive information from you next time we'll speak." Again alone on the screen Will continued. „This was it for me for now, I'll be back at 8 p.m. with another Newsnight Special when I will be joined by our panel. Elliot Hirsch is next and will bring you more information on the desaster that is enfolding in Houston and its surroundings, the President's planned trip to Texas on Tuesday as well as the latest developments from North Korea."

As soon as Mac told him he was off the air he took out his earpiece, got out of his chair and motioned to the camera that she should follow him. He went straight to his office and as expected she joined him a few minutes later, a questioning look on her face.

Not saying a word Will took her into his arms, rested his chin on her head and sighed before talking. „I enjoyed that, having you in my ear again."

„Same here, it was a nice change and you did good." Mac smiled before turning serious. „Though I wish it would have happened under different circumstances. I just hope our teams out there are alright."

„They will be fine, they know what they're doing."

„Yeah..." Enjoying the hug for another moment she then moved back to look at him. „We have a couple of hours, are you hungry? We can order something from upstairs and eat in my office."

„Sounds good." Stealing a quick kiss he let go of her and moved towards his bathroom. „I'll have chicken and a salad, please. Just let me change and then I'll be right there."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Fifteen minutes later Will entered Mac's office. The TV screen on the wall showed the current program, but the sound was turned off.

The food had already been delivered and Will sat down in front of Mac's desk to start on his meal. After the first bite Mac, still chewing, pointed to the TV. „Maggie's doing good. I'm thinking about getting her back to New York to be able to put her on our panels more often. What do you think?"

Will shrugged. „Jim would surely love you for that. It's fine with me if she agrees to it, she really has grown during her time in D.C. But if she wants to stay there she can still join us via live conference once in a while."

Mac already started nodding before she had finished the next bite. „I'll talk to her after all of this... Gosh, I'm so tired..."

Looking up Will took in her exhausted expression. „You could go home and catch a little more sleep, you know? You don't have to be here around the clock."

The moment Mac opened her mouth to answer him her phone rang and she picked it up immediately. „Yes...? What? We'll be right down."

Abruptly ending the call she jumped up from her chair. „We have lost Maggie, come on."

Completely confused Will wanted to ask her what was going on, but she was already out of the door and he only caught up with her at the elevator. „What the fuck happened? Did they lose the feed?"

„I don't think so..." Mac was repeatedly pushing the button. „They wouldn't call me down for that, and Jim sounded frantic... Damn, where's that fucking elevator when you need it?"

„Calm down, Honey. There is no sense in worrying before you know what's going on." Finally the elevator arrived and the doors opened with a both stepped inside, but before Mac could start pounding the down button Will took her hand and pressed it himself. Once.

„Sorry..." Mac mumbled but still couldn't stand completely still. „Something must have happened..."

The ride downstairs seemed to take longer than usual, and by the time they arrived in the bullpen Will had also started to worry. Ever since the day Maggie had refused to leave him to follow Don to 10 o'clock he'd had a weak spot for her. He had been sorry when she decided to go to Washington D.C. as a field reporter but had also recognized the career opportunities this would open for her.

They immedately walked over to Jim who just ended a phone call when they stepped up. „What happened?

When he turned around they could clearly see the anxiousness in his eyes. „Maggie... We've lost her. She... she... she was about to get back on air and was just bringing controls up to date about her location and what she was about to report on, when... They were on the boat closing in to a house to rescue a family but the boat touched something in the water. It was a pretty hard crash, everything shook and then Maggie fell into the water. We could see her being carried away in the current, and then the camera went dark... Mac, if she..." Jim couldn't go on and swallowed hard, clearly worried about his financée.

Mac's eyes only went wide for a second, but then she was back in professional mode. „Okay, who's out there with her? Justin? Does he still have audio or can you get him on the phone?"

Jim shook his head. „It's dead, Maggie's naturally also. Tess and Kendra are calling all emergency services in Houston and Martin is talking to KXTV, our affiliate down there, if they are having crews out. I was talking to MSNBC, CNN and Fox with the same question. The problem is that we don't even know exactly what area they are in..."

Will had already whipped out his phone and looked through the saved numbers. „I'm going to call Ed Winger, the Fema Director, to get the word out to his troops. And they can inform all accredited journalists in the area to keep their eyes open."

Mac nodded and put her hand on Jim's shoulder, squeezing it hard, and looked into his eyes. „It's gonna be alright, Jimbo, remember what we two have been through. Does she have the emergency kit with her?"

„I hope so. She promised me she'd take it with her whenever she steps outside."

„Good." The kit contained useful things like a small flashlight, a whistle and more and was wrapped in a waterproof belt pouch. „She wasn't on the air when it happened?" When Jim shook his head she went on. „Okay. Keep calling everybody you know down there or who might has a team in Houston. And ask them not to report on it yet, it's at least worth a try. Let me quickly check in with the control room."

Jim nodded and seeing that Will was still on the phone she left. Entering the control room she waited until the next commercial break before addressing Kate. „Does Sloan know about Maggie?"

„Unfortunately..." Kate made a face, making it clear that Sloan had some problems focusing on the broadcast.

„Okay." Mac went over to the control board and pressed the button that opened Sloan's earpiece to the whole control room. „Sloan, it's Mac. You're doing good, I just wanted to tell you that we have the situation under control. We're getting everybody in Houston to help us, so you just concentrate on your job, okay?"

„Easier said than done... Any news?"

„We'll let you know as soon as we have anything. Just do a good show, okay?" Mac cut the feed and now spoke solely to Sloan's EP again. „Try to keep her on track, okay? And nothing about Maggie yet." Then she turned around. „Herb, show me the last footage of Maggie, please."

Obediently Herb looked for the segment and put it up on an internal screen in front of him, while Mac hovered over his shoulder. „Thanks... Mmh... Look, there! Back there seems to be a street sign, can you zoom in on that? Maybe we can read the name."

Herb tried but it quickly became clear that the angle wasn't right and that the few letters that could be seen were completely blurred. „Sorry, Mac, nothing I can do with that."

„Fuck... Okay, that house there on the right, it looks different than the others. Why don't you send a shot of that to KXTV, maybe one of their staff recognizes the area."

„Great idea, I'll do it right now."

„Thanks, Herb. Ask them, that if anybody knows the area they should please inform emergency services. Every minute counts." Mac knew that there were a lot of hazards in the water. Apart from drowning there were real dangers like snakes, alligators but also the dirty, maybe conteminated water itself. Lifting herself up again she spoke to the whole crew in the room. „Keep up the good work, guys, thanks."

Leaving the room she heard Kate instructing Sloan about the next segment, the possible impact of climate change on the accumulation of catastrophic nature events, but once she had joined Will again she didn't think about the current show anymore. He had finished his call in the meantime and was standing next to Neal who had opened a current flood map of Houston on his screen.

„Any news, Billy?"

At the sound of her voice he turned around and shook his head, now also clearly troubled. „We let everybody know what happened and they promised to inform the search crews to keep their eyes open. Luckily she is wearing the yellow neon jacket, that might make her easier to spot now that it's getting dark. Where did you go?"

„I talked to Sloan and then Herb and we might have found a way to determine where exactly she was when it happened; now we have to wait. Did anybody get ahold of Justin yet?"

„No..." Will sighed. „They must be in a dead zone... Are you alright?"

He had noticed that Mac was chewing her lower lip and was not surprised when she pulled him into his office, not without giving Jim, who was still on the phone, another pat on the shoulder in passing.

„What is it, Mac?"

When she had closed the door behind them she pulled him over to his desk so they couldn't be immediately seen from outside and wrapped her arms around his waist to lean against his chest for a moment, seeking comfort.

Wrapping his arms around her shoulders in return he let her breathe into him for a moment before he repeated his question. „What is it, Honey?"

Sighing Mac slightly moved her head so that he could hear her speak. „It's... I'm... It's not just that I'm worried about Maggie, I mean... It's our Maggie, she can't..." Not finishing this sentence she took a deep breath. „She's my responsibility, Billy. If we lose her it's my fault, no matter what happened..."

„Don't think that, Mac. She wanted to go, if I remember correctly. She could have continued shadowing the President, but she wanted to go to Texas, so why wouldn't you have let her?"

„Still..." Mac shook her head that was buried in his chest. „Fuck, Will, it's Maggie!"

„I know..." Will sighed and let his hand run over her back. „But she knows what she's doing. She completed all the mandatory trainings and hell, you taught her. She's good, Mac, you just said it yourself."

„Even so... I would never forgive myself if anything happened. And so close to the wedding..." Maggie and Jim had set the date for September, and even if they would continue their long-distance relationship for a while longer it was clear that sooner or later Jim would either join her in D.C. or she would return to New York. But all this could change now, their future could be over, because she had been in the wrong place at the wrong time, exposed to the deadly force of nature.

„It's gonna be alright, Mac, that's what you've just told Jim, right? Listen..." Will was interrupted by the door being opened and slamming into the wall. Martin poked into his office, an excited grin on his face. „We got her, come quickly."

Mac abruptely moved away from Will's chest and starred into his eyes for a short moment, both of their relief palpable in the room. Then they almost ran into the bullpen, Mac holding on to his hand.

The whole team, except for Sloan and her team in the control room, were gathered around Jim, who pressed his phone to his ear. „You promise you are alright...? Okay, go get dry, I'll call you in a little while at your hotel."

Hearing his shaky voice Mac pressed Will's hand and when Jim hung up she rushed over to him to give him a hug. „She is alright? She called you? What the fuck happened?"

Jim took a deep breath and discretely wiped a tear from his eyes with his palm. „She... she was carried away by the water, but was luckily stopped by a group of trees she could hold on to. It was getting dark, but she remembered the whistle in her kit and could alarm Justin and the others when they were looking for her. Justin almost fell into the water himself when they tried to pull her on board." With his wobbly voice getting more steady while talking he went on. „She's lost her phone, but once they had reception again she called with Justin's cell... Oh, and the camera went overboard when he tried to grab Maggie, sorry..."

„Fuck the camera, as long as they are okay." Mac embraced him again and pressed a kiss to his cheek. „Let me just go and let the rest of the gang know. Give her my best when you talk to her and ask her to call me later or tomorrow morning, okay? And I want her to go to a hospital for a checkup, get shots if necessary." With these words she was already off to the control room so that Kate could ease Sloan's mind; after all she still had almost another thirty minutes on the air.

In the meantime Will watched his staff disperse after letting Jim know how happy they were about the outcome, and then he stepped up to him. „I'm glad Maggie is alright, really really glad."

„Thanks, Will... I can't even imagine..." Jim shook his head and sighed. „I really owe Justin..."

Giving him a faint smile Will leaned in so that nobody would overhear him. „Now you know how I feel about you."

Will saw the confused frown on the younger man's face, but then the penny dropped, albeit slowly. Not saying anything Jim tilted his head to the side and then nodded, followed by a friendly slap to Will's upper arm when passing him. He definitely needed some alone time in his office right now.

Will however intercepted Mac when she came back from the control room and pulled her towards the elevator. „Let's finish dinner and then I would really like to take a short nap with you on your uncomfortable office couch before I have to go back on the air. What do you think?"

Smiling Mac pulled his head down for a light kiss. „What I think? I think that dinner is cold by now, but you can eat your salad and then I am very open for that nap you just pitched."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

At midnight Will was through with his show and signed off for the last time on this day before being back behind his desk in the morning.

„This was it for me today, Franklin Turner will be on for you in a moment to continue our coverage of this tremendous natural desaster in Texas. I will be back tomorrow at 10 a.m. Eastern with a Newsnight special. Until then please visit our website where you find all information on how you can help the victims of Harvey via organizations like the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army and also the ASPCA, as also many animals are in need of help. And if you can do it without putting yourself into danger, please be a good neighbour."

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Yes, I know that the call for help originally went TO Houston and didn't come FROM Houston, but please indulge me... ;-)