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Thursday, September 21, 2017

Brandi Smith and the viral storm

KHOU 11 reporter Brandi Smith was caught in the middle of Harvey and then a viral storm too

UPDATE SEPTEMBER 27, 2017
Brandi Smith appears on The Ellen DeGeneres Show


On the last days of Hurricane Harvey coverage, I was asked by Michael Garfield on 740 KTRH, about a media moment that stood out to me during the storm.

One image came to mind.

It was watching reporter Brandi Smith and photographer Mario Sandoval, as I was furiously live blogging the KHOU 11 evacuation story, keep the station on the air and help save a man's life.

The story then went viral.

That man was truck driver Robert Roberson of Durant, Mississippi.

Smith reunited with Roberson. She talked about that experience on an appearance on CBS This Morning.


While there, Smith gave us a look behind-the-scenes of the network morning show.


A story like this propels journalism careers.

You even hear anchor Gayle King tell Smith the same at the end of the CBS video.

It's just like another KHOU reporter, Dan Rather, after Hurricane Carla. Remember him?

Just this week, Smith has been doing fill-in anchor work on the KHOU morning show.

Any guesses on how far her star will rise?

UPDATE SEPTEMBER 27, 2017
Brandi Smith appears on The Ellen DeGeneres Show



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