SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA. FLOODS, DROUGHTS, TORNADOES, HURRICANES AND, OF COURSE, A LOT OF BEAUTIFUL DAYS. THAT’S RIGHT. WHILE METHODS OF BRINGING YOU THE WEATHER HAVE EVOLVED OVER THE LAST 75 YEARS, WDSU FIRST WARNING CHIEF METEOROLOGIST MARGARET ORR WANTS YOU TO KNOW IT IS ALWAYS OUR MISSION TO KEEP YOU SAFE AND WEATHER AWARE. AMITE ZELENSKYY LIGHT ON IT. THE DAY WJSU-TV WAS THERE IN 1948 WHEN GOVERNOR JIMMIE DAVIS SANG YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE, AND WE’VE BEEN HERE FOR 75 YEARS THROUGH ALL KINDS OF WEATHER. IN 1951, NASH, ROBERTS BECAME THE FIRST TV METEOROLOGIST IN LOUISIANA, FORECASTING THE WEATHER ON WDSU. HE FORECASTS HURRICANE AUDREY. IN JUNE 1957, WDSU WAS THERE REPORTING ON THE DESTRUCTION. I REMEMBER AS A CHILD WATCHING NASH ROBERTS FORECAST HURRICANE BETSY. IT WAS A CAT FOUR HURRICANE THAT SLAMMED INTO NEW ORLEANS, FLOODING THE NINTH WARD AND MORE. OUR WDSU PHOTOGRAPHERS GOT IN BOATS AND DOCUMENTED THE DEATH AND DESTRUCTION. OUR FRIEND’S FATHER RESCUED PEOPLE FROM ROOFTOPS AND HIS BOAT AND HE TOLD ME THE PEOPLE WHO LIVED HAD AN AX IN THE ATTIC. I’VE SHARED THAT LIFE SAVING TIP ON THE AIR FOR YEARS. AS NASH ROBERTS FORECASTS, CAMILLE’S PATH. EXACTLY. IT WAS A CAT FIVE HURRICANE WITH WINDS OF. 175MPH AND A STORM SURGE. OVER 24FT. OF COURSE, KATRINA IS THE BENCHMARK FOR DEVASTATE ING HURRICANES. BY FRIDAY NIGHT BEFORE LANDFALL AUGUST 29TH, 2005, WE KNEW KATRINA WAS COMING OUR WAY. WE STARTED NONSTOP COVERAGE AND SUNDAY MORNING BROUGHT THE WORST NEWS. IT’S IT’S A CATEGORY FIVE. KATRINA IS NOW A CATEGORY FIVE HURRICANE. THE FORECAST FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE, KATRINA IS A HURRICANE THAT WILL RIVAL THE INTENSITY OF HURRICANE CAMILLE AS IT DID. KATRINA WAS A DISASTER. WE KNEW IDA WOULD JOIN THE RANKS OF KATRINA, CAMILLE AND BETSY. WDSU HAS TRULY BEEN HERE. RAIN OR SHINE, ICE OR SNOW. NASH FORECASTS THE BIG SNOW EVENT DECEMBER 31ST, 1963, FOUR INCHES OF SNOW FELL IN NEW ORLEANS, NINE INCHES IN SLIDELL AND I CAN REMEMBER THROWING SNOWBALLS AS I WAS ON THE AIR FOR THE MAJOR ARCTIC OUTBREAK OF DECEMBER 22ND THROUGH THE 26TH, 1989. WE HAD A WHOLE LOT OF BUSTED PIPES, THE LOWEST TEMPERATURE AT THE AIRPORT, 11 DEGREES MAY 3RD, 1978, IS THE FIRST MAJOR FLOOD EVENT THAT I REMEMBER. WE HAD TEN INCHES OF RAIN AND NEW ORLEANS STOPPED THE CITY JUST CLOSED DOWN. THE NEXT BIG FLOOD EVENT WAS MAY 8TH AND NINTH, 1995, ABOUT 12.5IN OF RAIN FELL OVER THE METRO MAY 8TH. THE NEXT NIGHT IT WAS MAINLY ON THE NORTH SHORE. WITH 10 TO 16IN OF RAIN. THOUSANDS OF HOMES WERE DAMAGED, SEVEN PEOPLE DIED. WDSU WAS FIRST IN TECHNOLOGY. WE WENT FROM NASH RIDING OUT THE FORECAST WITH A BLACK TIP PEN TO OUR VERY OWN WDSU RADAR. WE ARE THE ONLY STATION IN NEW ORLEANS WITH OUR OWN RADAR FIRST INSTALLED IN CHALMETTE IN 1997. YOU’RE LOOKING LIVE AT SUPER DOPPLER 6000. THAT’S DAN MILLER, CHIEF METEOROLOGIST FROM 1980 THROUGH 2008. OUR RADAR AND UPGRADES AND TECHNOLOGY MADE ALL OF THE DIFFERENCE IN KEEPING PEOPLE SAFE DURING THE JANUARY 2017, NEW ORLEANS EAST TORNADO, THE ARABI TORNADO AND THE DECEMBER 14TH, 2022, TORNADO. THERE IT IS. YOU CAN SEE IT. OKAY, FOLKS, GET TO YOUR SAFE PLACE. OUR RADAR ALLOWED US TO GO STREET BY STREET, GIVING EVERYONE A HEADS UP OF EXACTLY WHERE THE TORNADO WAS AND WHERE IT WAS GOING WITH THE INTENT TO SAVE LIVES. AS MARGARET ORR WDSU NEWS FROM THE FIRST TIME THAT WE SIGNED ON THE AIR TO THE FIRST TIME WE BROUGHT YOU NEWS IN COLOR, WE ARE TAKING A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE. JOIN US DECEMBER 18TH AT SIX, 6:30 P.M. AS WE CELEBRATE 75 YEARS OF WDSU WITH A 30 MINUTE SPECIAL.