Hurricane Sandy coverage

Residents of the United States’ East Coast were hunkering down for Hurricane Sandy on Monday, Oct. 29, but they had plenty of online coverage to follow until it would pass, reported Poynter. Besides maps and online video coverage, the storm prompted newspapers along the eastern seaboard to pull down their paywalls and open access to storm coverage, the website reported. The Huffington Post and Google developed maps to track the storm, report power outages and other infrastructure issues. Google Crisis Map also has a New York City version with flood warnings and the location of evacuation centers. Other outlets used webcams and live chats to give context to the storm, estimated to deal $1 billion in damages, according to CBS News. The hurricane prompted newspapers including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and The Baltimore Sun to temporarily remove their paywalls to open access to their storm coverage, according to JimRomenesko.com. “The gateway has been removed from the entire site and all apps. The plan is to keep it that way until the weather emergency is over,” New York Times spokesperson Ellen Murphy told Poynter. The website noted that The Times previously removed its paywall during Hurricane Irene in 2011