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Seventeen radio stations in four Southeastern states remain offline due to Hurricane Helene’s aftermath as of Monday morning, October 7th, more than a week after the storm hit. FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel has returned from a visit to Asheville, NC, and said the area’s terrain has posed significant challenges for recovery efforts.
On Friday, during her visit to Asheville, Rosenworcel stopped by a local radio station and met with officials at the Buncombe County, NC, emergency operations center. She was also briefed by the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau team, which was deployed to North Carolina to aid communications recovery efforts.
“The area where Helene left her mark was especially broad and includes mountainous communities like those in western North Carolina that do not regularly see these kinds of storms,” Rosenworcel said. “This terrain makes communication more challenging, with many wireless towers in areas that are high up and hard to reach, often because the roads to them have been blocked by debris and decimated by flooding.”
Commissioner Brendan Carr visited an Emergency Operations Center in Raleigh, NC, to meet with emergency management, public safety, and telecom providers coordinating the disaster response and communication restoration efforts following Hurricane Helene.
“The loss of life and destruction is heartbreaking, and there is a very long road ahead for so many families and communities. Ensuring the quick restoration of communications services remains a top priority for government agencies,” Carr said.
The FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau says it has been working with officials from other federal agencies and state emergency management workers across Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.
