Less than a year after experiencing a direct hit from Hurricane Matthew, our teams along the Florida and Georgia coasts again had to face a catastrophic storm.  Irma did not strike our markets directly, but the flooding and damage were worse in many areas.

Just like last year, our newsrooms were in the middle of the action, providing real-time updates on our websites and social media.  The videos, pictures, and stories were informative, heartbreaking and inspiring. We adjusted our print deadlines in the interest of safety.  Our production and circulation teams delivered newspapers each day, and folks from every department jumped in to assist.  Drawing from the experiences of last year, our preparation and execution could not have been better.

Every Morris market has faced moments of triumph and tragedy. And these are the moments where we shine the brightest. For those of you impacted by the storm, please know that all your colleagues around Morris will keep you in our thoughts and prayers. 

-Derek

Live Blog: Tracking Hurricane Irma

Follow the Times-Union’s live blog below for updated news and information on Hurricane Irma as it becomes available. Read More

Photos: How Jacksonville spent the morning before Irma’s arrival

Hurricane Irma made Florida landfall as a category 4 hurricane and is headed North along the West Florida coast. Read More

Flooding river leaves officials in “rescue mode” as Irma moves away from Jacksonville

Emergency officials spent Monday afternoon in “rescue mode” as a surging St. Johns River sent residents fleeing from their homes in San Marco. Read More

Irma: First scenes from Fort Myers

Florida first hurricane scenes: Fort Myers as hurricane Irma arrives Sunday. Read More

The winds subsided and the rain stopped. Then the emergency began.

By Monday afternoon, Hurricane Irma had largely finished with Jacksonville. Mother Nature, however, had not. Read More

Water recedes, leaving different realities for Jacksonville after Hurricane Irma

A local politician once infamously said the story of Jacksonville is really a tale of two cities. Read More

Photos: Hurricane Irma aftermath at Jacksonville’s beaches

On Monday people began to emerge from their homes at the beaches to check for damage and see how the area faired after the winds and rains of Hurricane Irma moved through the area. Read More

Irma’s aftermath: First look at flooding, damage across Jacksonville

As Hurricane Irma continued its trek up and away from the Florida Peninsula early Monday, here’s a look at the flooding and damage left behind in her wake. Read More

Stay or Go?: St. Augustine residents wrestle with whether to evacuate

A TV in George Wages’ Davis Shores garage blared forecasts of Hurricane Irma’s path as he and his grandson, Jacob Trautsch, worked on shoring up his home on Friday. Read More

Here comes Irma: Officials say it’s time to hunker down as storm’s outer bands mix with nor’easter

By early Sunday morning, landfall was imminent in South Florida and the first signs of Hurricane Irma’s northward turn toward the state’s west coast and points beyond could be observed. Read More

Flooding, debris and widespread power outages reported in St. Johns County from Hurricane Irma

As Hurricane Irma finished passing through Florida on Monday morning, it was unclear how badly flooding and winds had hit St. Johns County. Read More

Slideshow: St. Johns County agencies assist in Irma recovery

The St. Johns County Fire Rescue was one of the many agencies that assisted local residents during Hurricane Irma and the storm’s aftermath. Read More

Slideshow: Your photos from Hurricane Irma

Erika Bauserman/Contributed Anastasia Island on Sept. 11, 2017 after Hurricane Irma blew through. Read More

Communities escape major damage as weakened Irma brings floods, outages to Savannah area

Hurricane Irma, weakened to a tropical storm by the time it arrived here, swept through the Savannah area Money, flooding low-lying areas including the River Street plaza and parts of Tybee and Skidaway islands, and cutting off power for more than half of the county. Read More

Photos: Hurricane Irma makes waves on Tybee Island Sunday

Check out these photos of Hurricane Irma’s Sunday impact on Tybee Island from Savannah-based photographer Malcolm Tully. Read More

Photos: River Street – Before and after Hurricane Irma

Savannah Morning News online content producer Zach Dennis caught before and after images of the flooding on Rousakis Plaza on River Street. Read More

Photos: Flooding at Truman Parkway/President Street

About 1:30 p.m. Monday, flooding was making portions of Truman Parkway and President Street impassable. Read More

Savannah residents describe Hurricane Irma’s impact

By 2 p.m., the sun broke through the clouds and about a dozen residents were enjoying a drink downtown at Pinkie Masters, which did not lose power and opened at 1:30 p.m. Monday. Read More

Savannah begins return, recovery after Irma

Bus loads of evacuees started returning to the Savannah Civic Center at about 1:30 p.m. after about 2,100 Chatham County residents had been shuttled out from the location to Augusta and Douglas on Saturday and Sunday ahead of the storm. Read More

Georgia governor urges evacuees to stay in place, but those in Augusta begin leaving

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal said Irma was a “different kind of natural disaster” for the state but despite his warning that evacuees should probably stay put, most of them housed in Augusta left to return home Tuesday. Read More

Photos: Scenes of damage caused by Irma

A large tree is down on McDowell Street in Augusta. Read More

Video: Augusta sees damage from Irma

Simon Williams checks out the damage after a tree fell on his pick-up truck on Peachtree Rd. as tropical storm Irma passes over Augusta, Ga., Monday afternoon September 11, 2017. Read More

Many take refuge from Irma in Augusta

One of thousands taking refuge in Augusta during Hurricane Irma, Barbara Kemp said she drove up Interstate 16 on Saturday from Savannah to Atlanta, where she was referred to Augusta as a shelter site. Read More

Shelters open to evacuees, volunteers rise to occasion

Shelter coordinators and evacuees learned hard lessons from Hurricane Matthew and have had a year to prepare for Hurricane Irma. Read More

Irma will have big economic impact on Augusta

How busy are Augusta hotels because of Hurricane Irma? A manager at the Super 8 on Washington Road, who declined to give her name, said she was too busy Friday to talk to a reporter. Read More

Athens roads closed due to storm damage

Tropical Storm Irma downed several trees across roadways in the Athens area on Monday, but crews set about Tuesday to start clearing the affected roads and the work carried into Wednesday. Read More

Photos: Tropical Storm Irma hits Athens

The University of Georgia closed due to tropical storm Irma in Athens, Ga., Monday, Sept. 11, 2017. Read More