Brian Williams in command

In 1961, Dan Rather made a name for himself by venturing into the heart of Hurricane Carla. From Texas, he stood firm and reported the news – assembling the first reel of his career’s highlight footage. Of course, he was persona non grata at the time – just another pretty face with a teleprompter.

And the tradition is for hurricane coverage to come from those who aren’t fortunate enough to land anchor desk duties. But Brian Williams apparently won’t have any of that.

Mr. Williams has been reporting from New Orleans in the face of a monumental hurricane all day. He’s done updates for the Today show. He’s been on MSNBC. And he may have been the first person on air to express concerns about the structural integrity of the Superdome, as he described how the building’s doors were showing weakness roughly an hour before reports circulated that the roof was leaking.

There is a fabulous post on The Daily Nightly from Mr. Williams late last night (though it has a morning time stamp). He discusses how his crew will be forced to break curfew, how New Orleans has already transformed and how harrowing the storm is making to be.

If ever there were a question of the NBC Nightly News anchor’s integrity as a newsman, consider this: the story of the day is Hurricane Katrina and Mr. Williams is blogging with a New Orleans dateline.