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Turns out that radio – AM/FM, broadcast radio – is still a useful technology. Who knew?
People in the areas affected by the hurricane know. As Helene blasted through the Southeast and devastated western North Carolina, cell towers failed, power was out, and there were no ways to get information to the victims… except for radio. If, wherever you ended up, you had a battery-powered or hand-cranked emergency radio available, you could hear what was going on and where services were available and which roads were open. The internet can do that, but not if, as in Asheville, there’s little cell service or Wi-fi to be found.
Amazing, huh? All that radio industry propaganda about radio’s emergency powers, and here we are, with proof that it DOES have emergency powers. Take that, naysayers!
Of course, the ability to stay on the air – some stations couldn’t, but the big stations were on the air throughout – is one thing. Collecting and disseminating crucial information is another, and in this case, radio came through. The local clusters aired intense coverage of the disaster, and while you might think that should be automatic, that stations should expect and be prepared for such an emergency, there are no manuals for putting together coverage of an unprecedented weather event like devastating flooding in a mountainous region. On the coast, you know hurricanes are going to be an issue. A hurricane/tropical storm causing damage that far inland? Nobody saw that coming.
Maybe this is yet another lesson for the news media. While you can assume some things are more likely than others to happen in your area, you never know. It has snowed in Miami. There are earthquakes pretty much everywhere. Tornadoes, too, and wildfires. Superstorm Sandy did a number on New York and New Jersey. A train derailment put East Palestine, OH in the news. There is no place in the continental U.S. that is immune from any of this. You have nowhere to hide, and it’s getting worse.
Your preparation for emergencies, then, may be inadequate even if you have set up rules and assignments and phone trees for the natural disasters your area expects. Assume nothing. Perhaps the best way to prepare is to imagine the worst – neighborhoods and towns wiped out, lives lost, no phone service, roads washed away, bridges collapsed – and prepare a game plan for that.
You should already have the local and federal emergency officials on speed dial, and a place from which to report and broadcast if your studios are disabled. Be ready to flush your formats, commercials, and anything else that isn’t emergency related. Stock up on food and drink for the staff. All hands on deck. It’s the plan we’ve talked about before, but ready for things that you might not think will happen to you.
Kudos to the Asheville radio people who got it together for their audience. They can confirm for you that anything can happen, anywhere. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I gotta prepare for Hurricane Milton. At least we know it’s coming. Exactly where it’ll hit is still, pardon the expression, up in the air.
Perry Michael Simon is a weekly news media columnist for Barrett Media. He previously served as VP and Editor/News-Talk-Sports/Podcast for AllAccess.com. Prior to joining the industry trade publication, Perry spent years in radio working as a Program Director and Operations Manager for KLSX and KLYY in Los Angeles and New Jersey 101.5 in Trenton. He can be found on X (formerly Twitter) @PMSimon.
