Poynter staff safe, building mostly unscathed after Hurricane Milton

All Poynter staff have been accounted for and the institute’s headquarters in downtown St. Petersburg, Fla., escaped the destructive winds of Hurricane Milton largely unscathed, Jessi Navarro, director of the operations and financial director.

Although some staff members reported damage to their homes, including leaks and downed trees, all are safe, Navarro said. Poynter has more than 50 employees in the Tampa Bay region and Southwest Florida, and about half were in the area when Milton hit. There was a leak at the Poynter headquarters, according to Navarro, but the building is not damaged.

“There is no cell phone service in the building,” Navarro said. “And there’s no power. But otherwise, the building is totally fine — no broken windows, no water damage, no water ingress.

“… (I’m) incredibly thankful that the storm passed us by and didn’t make it any worse.”

Milton made landfall Wednesday night as a Category 3 hurricane on Siesta Key, Florida, about 40 miles south of St. Petersburg. While Milton’s location meant St. Petersburg didn’t see the devastating storm surges that forecasters had feared, the city still recorded record rainfall and brutal winds of more than 100 mph. The death toll was again on Thursday morning.

Much of the city does not have electricity, drinking water or sewer service. Navarro said Poynter can’t reopen until power is restored, at which point the company can test the building’s systems. Meanwhile, the institute has 58 employees, including some who evacuated from the storm, spread across 13 states and the District of Columbia maintaining operations. In addition to providing training in journalism and news reporting to the media, Poynter runs the fact-checking company PolitiFact, the media literacy initiative MediaWise, and the International Fact-Checking Network. Some programs may be diverted to other areas or modified, but Poynter has staff available to keep them running, Navarro said.

Poynter also owns the Tampa Bay Times. Early Thursday morning around midnight, a construction crane toppled over and landed on a corner of the building that houses the Times. Images posted on social media showed a twisted length of the crane arm embedded in the building and stretching toward First Avenue South in downtown St. Petersburg amid a cascade of bricks.

NEW: Right now we’re outside our office building in downtown St. Petersburg, where dozens have gathered to take pictures of the crane that fell last night.

When the sun came out, this is what it looks like @TB_Times: pic.twitter.com/xFCIsyypDW

— Max Chesnes (@MaxChesnes) October 10, 2024

“All I’ve seen are the photos, and it looks really bad,” Mark Katches, editor and vice president of the Tampa Bay Times, wrote in an email to Poynter Thursday morning. “No one was there. We’re never actually there during storms. We have personnel out in the field and in remote locations. I don’t know if anyone has been inside to assess the damage. But it doesn’t look like a safe place to be.”

In an article about the damage, Poynter’s Tom Jones wrote that “a core editing team, including Katches, was in Wesley Chapel, Florida, about 40 miles from St. Petersburg, but still within the coverage area of the Times”.

Navarro said she’s thankful no one was hurt. Damage to that building will not affect Poynter’s operations, he added. The Times sold the building for $19 million in 2016 and maintains its headquarters in leased space on the third and fourth floors.

Ultimately, Navarro said she is “thrilled” that the staff is safe. “It doesn’t mean we won’t have a challenge coming up with employees who are facing incredible challenges with their own home, property or insurance battles, but safety is No. 1.”