On April 20th, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded off the coast of Louisiana.
I ran the story in my newscast (back then, I did news as part of the morning show here on Mix 99.9). I had no idea at the time how that news story would become the ONLY story for the entire Gulf Coast for months... and years.
The resulting spill lasted 87 days and spilled 134 million gallons of oil, affecting 1300 miles of shoreline (of 5 Gulf Coast states), killing seabirds, turtles, oysters and their habitats.
Efforts were made to burn off the oil, contain it with booms, and use dispersants (which we worried might cause more harm than good in the long run).
We watched daily oil spill forecasts like we used to watch hurricane forecasts... praying the oil would stay offshore as much as possible.
Early on, one of my co-workers stuck his head in the studio and asked if life as we have known it on the Gulf Coast had just ended. No more seafood, beaches, boating.
I told him I didn't think so, but it may take a while for things to return to normal. Or a new normal.
To mark the anniversary, the Santa Rosa County Grants Department put together a "Remembering The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill" story map to remember the 11 lives lost in the explosion, as well as the local impact and recovery process.
10 years later, some say progress has been made. Others say not enough has been done.
But until beaches had to be shut down due to a pandemic, life on the Gulf Coast was so near normal that most people had forgotten what happened in 2010.
Hoping we can look back on 2020 with that same feeling.
10 years ago today, it looked (and felt) like the life we loved on the Gulf Coast was gone forever. It wasn't. It took time, but we got through it. Yes, it left scars, but we got through it.
Reminding myself of that is helping me to cope with what we're going through now. Sometimes taking a look back can help us look forward.
(Photo credit: Getty Images John Moore / Staff)