High Winds Take Down Many Radio Stations (2008 photo of aftermath of powerful wind storm in San Francisco by J. Waits)
Since yesterday I’ve been glued to TV, Twitter, and Facebook to hear and see coverage about the effects of Hurricane Sandy as it hit land in the United States.
My thoughts go out to everyone who has suffered because of this storm. As the devastating winds hit and power went out, many radio stations were knocked off the air, including WFMU in Jersey City.
Stations on college campuses faced a dilemma when confronted with evacuation orders from university officials. And at my alma mater, Haverford College (where I remember experiencing the tail end of Hurricane Gloria in the 1980s), radio enthusiasts decided that Hurricane Sandy provided the perfect excuse to get an online radio station back up and running on campus in order to connect the community. Haverford student Karl Moll wrote:
“Dear people of Haverford: I’ve decided to jump start plans to get the radio up and running in light of the hurricane. This will be a ‘fireside chat’ forum where we can band together, get up-to-date information, listen to music, communicate with each other, and generally have some fun while we’re stuck in our rooms.”
Scott Fybush of Northeast Radio Watch has been chronicling who is off the air in light of the hurricane. This morning he wrote, “The radio dial continues to be ravaged by Sandy’s aftermath all along the coast from Delaware up to Connecticut, but nowhere more so than in the New Jersey Meadowlands, where most of the New York City AM dial is off the air.”
Providence College’s student radio station WDOM 91.3 FM actually stepped in to help Rhode Island Public Radio (RIPR) when its 88.1 FM frequency (The Wheeler School’s WELH) got reduced to half power. Today, WDOM is airing RIPR programming.
I haven’t heard much about other college radio stations in the storm-affected areas, but yesterday New York University station WNYU tweeted, “WNYU FM programming is continuing rain or shine. So bundle up, listen to some tunes, and ride out the storm on http://wnyu.org ! #Sandy”
Princeton University station WPRB tweeted yesterday morning, “Call 609.258.1033 to request your favorite hurricane-jams. On the top of our list? ‘Stormy Weather’ by Pixies! #Frakenstorm”
On Sunday, Seton Hall University radio station WSOU tweeted, “We’re officially locked in the station until the storm is over. We’ll be giving you updates on Sandy starting tomorrow morning. Stay safe!” The station in South Orange, New Jersey stated that it would providing on-air storm updates every 20 minutes.
I’d love to hear updates from college radio stations on the East Coast. Let me know in the comments some details about how you weathered the storm and if you’ve continued to broadcast live.
