We've received many calls and e-mails wishing us a speedy recovery from our flooding and wondering how we've managed to provide such expanded coverage despite the hurdles placed in front of us. In this section we give you a behind-the-scenes look at KFOX News.

Please keep in mind however that we consider ourselves very fortunate. Thousands of our neighbors are much worse off than we are and they are in our thoughts and prayers. Any obstacles mentioned here are nothing compared to what many others are going through.

Friday, September 8th - 8:48pm
Our special "I made a Difference" T-shirts sold out quickly last weekend during our KFOX Flood Relief Drive. We're pleased to let everyone know that because of the demand, we'll be ordering more. The T-shirts are $10 and all profits go to help local flood victims. We're finalizing distribution plans and next week we'll let you know here on kfoxtv.com and on KFOX-TV how and when you can get yours.

Saturday, September 2nd - 1:13am
THE RAIN HAS STARTED AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!! A collective moan was heard in the newsroom and then, everyone took a deep breath and got to work again. Our crew is storm shocked but bringing amazing stories of water rescues, power outages, and road closures. We'll be here for as long as necessary to keep you informed. -- by Elizabeth O'Hara - Anchor / Reporter

Tuesday, August 22nd - 5:24pm
KFOX News returns to our studio. We still have boxes and boxes to unload in the newsroom, but starting tonight you'll see us back in the studio for KFOX News at Nine.

It's been three weeks exactly since floodwaters rushed into the newsroom and studio - forcing us to relocate two days later. Now the cleanup is complete. We have new flooring, new walls and a few newly redesigned work areas - but we'll look pretty similar to you (please forgive the few boxes in the background for the next couple of nights).

Some have asked if we were going to have a new news set or "look" and the answer is not just now. It takes months to properly plan and build a new set and redesign a newsroom - we thought about it briefly, but didn't want to rush it. At some time in the not-too-distant future you'll see us with an updated look - but it won't be in the next couple of months.

Finally, thanks to you for counting on KFOX News. No matter what our competitors try to promote now, I think that you know the truth. We were on the air live longer, and provided more severe weather coverage than any other local station - especially at those critical times when lives and property were at risk. Whether it was 2pm or 2am, you counted on us and we had the information you needed. That's our commitment to you - tonight, tomorrow and always.

Our very best to you and your families, and especially to those of you trying to recover from the storms. -- David Bennallack / News Director

Tuesday, August 22nd - 1:45pm
I just stepped off the news set after cutting our webcast for the afternoon. It is the first time I have been on the set since July 31st. I gotta tell ya, it feels weird. Our crew is still tweaking our huge studio lights, getting our microphone cables just so and moving our cameras into their original spots. I initially sat in the wrong chair to do the web taping... you know, since I was out of habit and all. I wonder what it will feel like tonight when we are "live." I've noticed that when I've gone on vacation, I get those initial butterflies in my stomach on my first day back at work. But in a funny way, it also feels like coming back home. It feels right, like we are supposed to be here in our studio, in our newsroom with all our stuff. Finally, things are feeling a little back to normal at KFOX. -- by Elizabeth O'Hara - Anchor / Reporter

Monday, August 21st - 3:15pm
WE'RE BACK!!!!

Ok, maybe not in the eyes of our viewers as we are not yet on our news set, but today we got to go back into our newsroom for the first time since the beginning of August and our desks and computers were back!! I had phone messages from August 4th when we disconnected our phones. That was weird to hear. And of course, since we had to clean our desks before we were evacuated from the downstairs area, all I have with me is what I brought from home: a notebook and two pens. But I'm looking forward to getting my stuff out of my garage and having a new, clean, half-full desk. At least, that's my goal. -- by Elizabeth O'Hara - Anchor / Reporter

Friday, August 18th - 5:35pm
John (Purvis) and were at the Salvation Army this afternoon. I hadn't been there before so to see the amount of donations.. boxes and boxes of shoes, clothes, toothpaste, water, cleaning supplies.. all I can say is WOW! But it bothered me to see the boxes of toys earmarked for kids who don't have toys now. Can you even imagine??? How do you explain this to your child?? While that is now staying with me, I find hope in the fact that at least there are toys available. For that, I say a big THANK YOU to our viewers who pitched in to help others. You should know that your generosity is not forgotten -- by Elizabeth O'Hara - Anchor / Reporter

Thursday, August 17th - 3:45pm
This rain has to stop. People are tired. Not just the folks I work with in the newsroom, they're used to going a 100 mph for daily news stories. I mean, you can see that the community is tired of the rain. We're the SUN City, we're not built for this. I hear from folks at the grocery store and the gym how their kids are aching to go out and play but the rain makes it impossible. Then on the rare day where there isn't rain, the mosquitos are so bad, they kids are eaten alive. John (Purvis) and I were talking yesterday about how the weather has made this feel like the longest month of the year. I think it's a clear vote: we're all ready for September. -- by Elizabeth O'Hara - Anchor / Reporter

Thursday, 9:31am
I used to like the rain. Living in the desert Southwest for the majority of my life, including the past decade in El Paso, rain was always a nice break from week after week and month after month of sun. For now though, in this month, rain is dreaded - much closer to an enemy than a friend.

I know it will stop - someday. That we'll again see the sun and not have to worry that it's just adding heat to trigger afternoon thundershowers. I pray that the day arrives soon. I hope that the rain stops in time to prevent further damage. I hope that those who've lost so much will be given a chance to start to recover. I look outside, I see clouds, and I wonder when that day will come. -- David Bennallack / News Director

Wednesday, August 16th - 10:15pm
I was out at the Rio Grande this afternoon in the middle of one our massive thunder/lightning/rain shows. I was ducking from the lightning (as if this would prevent me from being hit!) and working quickly to get out of the area. While there along the riverbank, I saw car after car of people getting out to check out the overflowing banks. I nearly asked one guy what he was doing and didn't he realize this was dangerous. And then it dawned on me: this really is a you-got-to-see-it-to-believe-it moment. I stopped for a moment and really looked around: it was one of the most amazing storms I've ever seen. -- by Elizabeth O'Hara - Anchor / Reporter

Sunday, August 13th - 10:45am
It was great to meet so many of you yesterday at Bassett Place! The outpouring of support for the KFOX Flood Relief drive was tremendous. Your donations are already making their way to our neighbors who need help through the Salvation Army. Thanks to all of you, and if you couldn't make it out remember that we're continuing to accept donations during the week at the KFOX studios, 6004 N. Mesa - near the corner of Mesa and Sunland Park.

Slideshow: KFOX Flood Relief at Bassett Place

Friday, August 11th - 4:27pm
The number is four. Four times today the fire alarms have gone off, a screaming blaring alarm. We're told it's the chemicals being used to prepare the studio and newsroom floor for resurfacing. It's nice to know there's no fire, but it's startling every time the alarm goes off.

Often it's difficult to walk through our temporary newsroom - like right now. A busy time of the day with a lot of people going different directions and no smooth traffic flow. An efficiency expert would take one glance at our setup and go into shock. But there's no other way right now. We're getting used to saying "excuse me," and "sorry."

One of the reasons why it's difficult to walk through the newsroom is because of your donations. It seems we're always making trips to the Salvation Army to drop off loads of your donations, but they keep stacking up. It's great to see the outpouring of support from the community - keep it coming! We hope to see you Saturday from 9a to 7p at Bassett Place where we'll be continuing to collect items for the Salvation Army. We're also hoping to help El Paso restore its blood supply through United Blood Services, which also will be at Bassett Place. -- David Bennallack / News Director

Thursday, August 10th - 9:06pm
Thousands of miles away for a short visit with my family in Florida, I can't help to think of my co-workers and what we've experienced together the last few days. I keep telling my family about the conditions not only us, but so many in our community are living and working through. I show them pictures and they still can't believe it. We are cramped up together with not much "personal space." We are limited on resources like computers and phones. Though times are stressful I can honestly say I wouldn't want to go through this with any one else but them. We take home what we see happening to all of you in our community and it breaks our hearts. Yet, we try to pick up each others spirits. We love our community and want to do our very best to inform you. My thoughts and prayers are with all of you and my co-workers. I can't wait to get back! -- by Janice Carpio - Reporter / Weathercaster

Thursday, 5:05pm
I am often asked when I visit schools if I like my job and usually that question is quickly followed with, "do you like the people you work with?" I've always answered "yes" to both but these days, I'm just incredibly impressed with our staff.

As I sit back in our "new" newsroom and just kind of observe the daily goings on, it's just a whirl of non-stop activity. Let me describe it for you: you have Patty Maese, Arleene Barrios, Monica Balderrama and Rene Romo who just came back with their daily assignments. They each need a computer but only two are available. So while Monica and Arleene type as fast as they can, Patty is taking it upon herself to cleanup the snack bags and water bottles around our cramped quarters so that we all have a cleaner workspace. Rene is working the phones despite the horrible grinding sound from downstairs. (oh wait, it just stopped!!)

Meantime, we are getting non-stop viewers coming by to drop off donations of food, clothing and water. Because our newsroom is now closed off, the photographers who just came back with the reporters are taking turns going down the steps, around the building and to our collection site to drop off the donations. They are definitely getting their exercise today.

No one has their own desk phone anymore so we are down to three shared phones. We all take turns answering. (the grinding just started again--ack!) Our producers are coordinating the news for tonight and rarely have a chance to take a break. Our editors are now in their 10' X 5' edit bay which two to three people share, and are editing video as soon as it comes in.

In all of this, I know that the folks I work with are putting in extended hours, their schedules are all out of whack and the stress level can, at times, be extreme. And yet, this is the most professional group I've ever worked with and I wouldn't trade them for another. It's not uncommon for high fives to be given for a job well done and their wicked sense of humor helps make these days lighter. But most of all, I know it's because they carry such big hearts that they work as hard as they do and for that, I'm extremely proud to work at KFOX News. -- by Elizabeth O'Hara - Anchor / Reporter

Thursday, 3:41pm
Our studio, newsroom and editing areas are now all closed off, and it's virtually impossible to penetrate the heavy plastic - even using the big zippers that are meant to let you through if you really need to get past. All day it's been non-stop drilling or sanding of some sort - the type that makes it nearly impossible to have a conversation on the telephone, even though we are upstairs. To get from one area of the station to another - we now have leave the building... going outside and around to a side door, then back into the area we need to get to. But it's certainly a minor problem compared to what some of our neighbors are going through. -- David Bennallack / News Director

Thursday, 7:38am
When you look into the camera and start talking, it is hard to imagine that that camera is transmitting to thousands of El Pasoans...until you get to meet those El Pasoans one-on-one. In the last week, more and more of you have come up to me, and to others here at KFOX, and just started sharing your stories.

We have posted in the newsroom e-mails from all of you, telling us of your experiences, and your appreciation for our hard work. Many people across the Sun City have worked overtime, pulling double shifts and spending time away from their families...ourselves included. It is something we as reporters agree to on days like the ones we have been having. But what has made all that work worth it, is when we see the e-mails saying thanks, when people come up to us in the field and say thanks, when people start telling us what they have gone through, as if we were an old friend. All of our work, all of our time in the rain, the water, and the mud, seems suddenly that much more important when we are no longer talking into a little camera, but when we know that what we are saying is making a difference to those on the other side.

My favorite meeting with a viewer in the last week was at a nearby gas station. While we were gassing up our live truck to get ready for one of our special noon broadcasts, a four-year-old boy walked up to the truck. He said, "We watch you on the TV every morning." He then asked me why it has been raining so much, and told me that one day he wanted to be on TV. At that point I was working my 12th of 13 hours for the third day in a row, but my energy was picked up instantly by that viewer, albeit a young viewer, who told me in his own little way that our coverage was making a difference.

So keep sending those e-mails. Keep saying "hi" out in the streets. Keep telling us your stories. Because it is not just us talking into a little camera. It is us talking to each and every one of you. -- by Daniel Novick - Reporter

Wednesday, August 9th - 6:22pm
We're now in full blown recovery mode but if it wasn't apparent before, the interview I did today about insurance help makes the picture very clear: 95% of people weren't covered and will pay out-of-pocket to fix their lives. Who would think to have flood insurance in the desert?? As we were coming back from the insurance office, we passed several neighborhoods where living room carpet was on the street and someone's backyard rockwall had crumbled into the street. It made me wonder if it still feels like "home sweet home" when they come back from work.

I hope our flood relief drive over the next few days will help give them a start toward rebuilding their lives. -- by Elizabeth O'Hara - Anchor / Reporter

Wednesday, 5:36pm
What a week. These floods and storms have taken a toll on so many people in a lot different ways. My own family has not escaped the effects. I have been away from my kids for so many hours since August 1st. Monday, my youngest son (7 months old) had to see his doctor because he had been running a fever. Turns out he has puenomia. Thankfully, the doctor gave him a prescription that should help to knock it out...but you parents know there is nothing like a sick baby to stress you out. If that was not enough, my other son (2 years old) had RSV a year ago. RSV is a respritory virus that attacks the lungs. When the weather changes dramaticlly, he starts to have breathing problems and his lungs can start to close up. That has been the case for the past 4 days which has meant constant supervision and monitoring. Thank God for a good wife... as Proverbs says, "He who finds a good wife, finds a good thing."

It is pretty incredible... there is so much water still standing around El Paso. Since the time I was a child I have noticed those huge holding ponds just off of I-10 near Sunland Park but I cannot remember a time when they were as full of water as they have been over the past week. Then, to see the Pershing Dam overflow in Central El Paso. I really wonder, how many people really knew that the Pershing Dam was a Dam?

The Cowboys first preseason game is this weekend (Saturday night on KFOX). I almost forgot about it with everything that is going on. I don't know how many people effected by these floodwaters are fans but it should bring to mind that for a lot of these folks who have had their lives devestated, they may need an escape. Even if just for a few hours, it does the mind and soul a lot of good to stop thinking on the present. -- by Ben Swann - Anchor/Reporter

Wednesday, 10:38am
When I first moved to El Paso from Southern California, I was told that I had arrived during the height of "Monsoon Season." At first, I couldn't help but laugh-- a monsoon? After all, I figured, this was the DESERT; rain couldn't be such a bad thing, right?

When I got the early-morning phone call from my producer on August 1 telling me to come to work immediately, again, I laughed. At the time I simply didn't understand: How could rain be taken so seriously? It wasn't until I stepped outside my home and saw the devastation for myself that everything suddenly clicked. Streets had transformed into rivers, cars were covered in water, and homes were overtaken by unrelenting waves of mud. I then realized the propensity of the situation, and the obligation I had as a reporter to receive and impart as much information to the community as possible.

As I drove all across the county that morning, everything felt so unreal. I heard from residents over and over again, "I've never seen anything like it." And quite simply, neither had I.

My first weather experience in El Paso turned out to be the worst storm to hit the area in half a century. And I can honestly say I will never be the same.

I have been genuinely touched by the spirit of the people in this city, my new home. Walking through the devastation, in West El Paso, Clint, Socorro, East El Paso, and all the places where people have been deeply affected, I am reminded of the resilience of the human spirit. Each day is a blessing, a gift to be cherished, and nothing is ever promised. After meeting with the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, and the countless volunteers and businesses that have made donations to help those in need, I am inspired by the compassion that resides within us all.

I would like to thank everyone I have met this past week for helping me put my life in perspective. We are all on this earth together, and together we can overcome any obstacle or tragedy that stands in our way. -- by Peter Daut / Reporter

Tuesday, August 8th - 6:09pm
One of our viewers asks the question, are we working 24/7 by choice? Well, yes. We’re nearly always staffed 24 hours a day anyway, and until the danger has passed we've made sure someone is assigned to watch the weather every minute. That, backed up by our computers which automatically trigger an on-air alert as soon as there's danger, means that you'll always get an Early Warning of any impending weather.

As far as our own schedules, many of us have worked 24 hour “work days” or even longer during the past week. Some have done it more than once. But it’s by choice. This is one reason why we chose to be journalists – to cover a big story to the best of our abilities for our viewers. It’s tiring, but I can’t explain how much pride people have when ending a shift like that and knowing they helped keep people safe. We go home, get a few hours sleep and then we’re ready to do it all again.

Remember if you have questions for anyone on staff, let me know and I'll try to get you an answer right here.

-- by David Bennallack / News Director david.bennallack@kfoxtv.com

Tuesday, 6:06pm>
It seems that everyone prayed for the Sun to come back and we certainly needed it. But now it's here and it's incredibly humid and it smells. It's something I never thought about, how the air would smell differently because of the storms. I think it's just from the dirty, nasty water everywhere. Walk into our newsroom and you're hit with it. Sun Harvest, same thing except there it was coupled by the rotting food stench that greets you in the parking lot. I headed to White Glen park off Doniphan street. It smells like an aquarium. It's obvious to me that as the heat comes on, we'll all be taking a whiff of something that never quite leaves your nose.

-- by Elizabeth O'Hara - Anchor / Reporter

Tuesday, 12:35pm
I want to thank everyone who's taken the time to e-mail us and thank us for our coverage over the past week. I can't tell you how much one letter can lift the spirits of the KFOX crew - especially when they might be tiring a bit. Many, many thanks for your kind thoughts and well wishes.

Also, I know many of you might have questions for us that we might not have answered. I invite you to e-mail me and I'll see if we can answer some of them here.

Our very best to you,

-- by David Bennallack / News Director david.bennallack@kfoxtv.com

Monday, August 7th - 6:37pm
I've had friends and family call me from NYC and Washington DC wanting to know if everything is o.k. in our community. And to be honest, I felt guilty telling them that my house is fine but that there are whole communities that are wiped out. When you tell someone that oranges from Sun Harvest were found in neighboring yards or that well traveled streets like Shadow Mountain are impassable, you hear the gasp in their reaction and still you find yourself saying, "you have to see it to believe it."

I know there are other things going on in the world: Israel/Hezbollah, Cowboy Camp, gas increases ... but right now, this is our whole world, it's our whole focus. It's almost shocking to me that life goes on and people still go to the grocery store, still head off to the gym, still carry on. I'm not sure whether to cheer or jeer. I hope very soon EVERYONE will be be able to get back to the way things were.

-- by Elizabeth O'Hara - Anchor / Reporter

Monday, 11:44am
We just met with one of the six FEMA teams in town doing an initial assessment of damages throughout the city. They are running from one location to the next but wanted us to pass along that they are here and working and planning on getting to as many locations as soon as possible.

Monday, 10:58am
There's nothing like a fire alarm blaring to get your attention. For whatever reason the alarms throughout the station just went off. And boy are they loud! It appears to be a false alarm but the thought many of us had was "what's next?"

Sunday, August 6th, 10:38pm
If any of you have been trying to contact one of the news staff members at their private extension you've probably been unsuccessful. That's because our private phone lines haven't been available to us since Wednesday. If you need to contact us, please use the main news hotline - 845-5369 (845-KFOX).

Sunday, August 6th, 11am
One of the great things about our company - Cox Television - is that we have extra resources we can call on at a time like this. Our first call has been answered. Many of you remember Rene Romo who left us late last year for our station in Charlotte, NC. Well, he's coming back to us for a little temporary duty. Rene is an El Pasoan and still has family here. We're looking forward to seeing him again, and of course, for his help.

Sunday, August 6th, 1am
It's funny how the little things startle you. After years of following the same pathways in the station, suddenly you have to find new routes to your destination. On Saturday during our continuing coverage from 5 to 7pm, some of us spent much of our time running upstairs to the newsroom and studio, and downstairs to the production control room. But the normal routes aren't available anymore - they were blocked off Saturday for disinfecting, demolition and repair. Many of us found ourselves making wrong turns and hitting dead ends.

Oh, and on the only open route, you have to clear a hurdle of waste baskets. That's because during Saturday's rain, our roof started leaking.

Saturday, August 5th, 2:15pm
You'll see our reporters and photographers sporting a new look as they're out in our community. Through the years at KFOX, we've had station shirts and jackets but never ordered caps. So when the rain started our crews reached for whatever they could find. This led to some interesting cap selections.

Since it apparently takes some time to get caps and logos made, we leaned on our unique affiliation with Fox News and CNN. Our first box of CNN caps arrived this morning and a box from Fox News is due in on Tuesday. So, if you see a bunch of CNN and Fox News caps around town, we haven't been invaded by the national media - yet. It's just the crew from KFOX. Be sure to walk up and tell us your story!

Saturday, August 5th, 9am Here's an update on our situation for those who have been asking. Our staff - led by our Engineering crew - has done a fantastic job over the past few days moving our operations. They made sure we didn't miss a beat on air. And in fact, because of our flooding we know a lot more about what many of the good folks in our community are going through (and we never forget that many of you are going through much, much worse). I think you'll see that reflected in our coverage over the coming weeks.

We had an interesting situation Friday during our continuous storm coverage. Our great recovery crew was working hard all day completely sanitizing and disinfecting what was our newsroom and studio. For now, our Severe Weather Center remains downstairs. Eventually it will have to be moved too, but since it is elevated off the floor by a couple of feet, there was no damage to the Severe Weather Center.

So, as we were broadcasting our live Severe Weather coverage from 1pm to 7pm Friday night, the cleanup crew continued to work. Every time Elizabeth O'Hara or John Purvis "tossed" to Sandra Diaz, the cleanup crew had to shut down all of their heavy equipment and stop work. I'm sure it was frustrating to them, but they didn't complain once. They knew what we were doing was critically important to many of you.

One other interesting note from Friday. As the heavy rains approached our studios, we feared a third round of flooding was about to begin. We may have had our cars flooded twice, but it wasn't going to happen a third time. Those who were in a position to stop work made a mad dash for the parking lot to get our cars to high ground. Everyone was back at work in less than five minutes. And here's how fatigue sometimes gets to you: I also started to run for the parking lot and grabbed my keys. I looked down and wondered where my ignition key was. It took at least five seconds for me to remember that my wonderful wife had dropped me off at work, and the car was sitting home in my garage.

Best wishes to all of you from the staff at KFOX!

-- by David Bennallack / News Director

Wednesday, August 2nd, Noon We know there are a lot of people who have it much, much worse. But we wanted to let our viewers know about some changes they'll be seeing shortly on air.

On Tuesday, water cascading down the Franklins slammed into the KFOX parking lot and then through the ground floor of the station. At one point we had nearly three inches on the floor and water was cascading over a block wall and around the outside of the building. Thursday morning we had some more water creep through the newsroom door.

As a result, we are in the process right now of moving our newsroom and studio to the upstairs level of our station. Shortly you'll be seeing us broadcasting from our new temporary studio.

Throughout this situation, we've provided more coverage than any other local television station. And we want to assure you that our move will not affect our ability to cover the news happening in our community. As we said, there are many more people in much worse shape than we are. We owe all of you our very best effort and we promise that you'll continue to get it.

Thank you for watching KFOX-TV and for visiting kfoxtv.com.