Newsrooms need plans for covering natural disasters, and coming up with them before the next fire or storm will make a stressful situation simpler.

As part of their capstone project, three convergence journalism students studied disaster plans at The Associated Press and other newsrooms across the country.

Read about some of the recommendations they found.

As Hurricane Matthew approached the town of Lumberton, N.C., last October, Donnie Douglas, editor of The Robesonian, had a critical decision to make. How would he and the rest of the staff cover the impending hurricane, and most importantly, where would they do it from?

Regardless of what was about to happen, its newsroom understood that it would be the only source of information for much of Lumberton and Robeson County.

"We were very resilient, but also quite effective using the resources that we had, which were minimal. I went to Charlotte and worked remotely, and my managing editor was on the ground, with one or two reporters," Douglas said. "I have been in the business for 33 years, and I have never been more proud of what a newsroom I was part of accomplished."

Read more from Editor & Publisher.

If your newspaper, information center or multimedia content operation is located on the eastern side of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina or North Carolina, then right now you should be figuring out what your staff knows about how to cover a hurricane.

Here are some suggestions from someone who has seen Gulf Coast storms first-hand.

From the type of lens to use, to sources of light and human interest angles, this guide will help you tell the story of the next fire in your community through photographs.

Is your team prepared for a fire? A flood? A tornado or other disaster? The Oklahoma Press Association has a checklist to help you get ready. It's a four-page downloadable PDF with lots of ideas.