Storm damage and outages

[Ace Purple]

My sympathy goes out to those of you who suffered damage from the storm system that rumbled through the area last night and/or who lost power and are still without it this morning. I just got mine back on about an hour ago after going 14 hours without it, and that's despite my apartment being very close to Marshall's campus, so it's not like I live out in parts unknown. Downtown Huntington power outages were spotty -- one block would have it, then one wouldn't, then another would.

Here's what the wind was doing to the business next-door just past 7 last night. Normally FlapJack's is open 24/7, but not without power. Wind whipped their awnings pretty hard, but it held up. It was strange seeing their normally packed parking lot vacant both for the 3 a.m. crowd and also the breakfast crowd today.

For the millions (and millions) still without power... hang in there. You never really appreciate electricity until you lose it for awhile. And with the temperature expected to near the century mark again, I have concerns for people without power who might be particularly vulnerable to the vicious heat wave.

My power went out last night not long before I checked my work email via my phone and saw the "all hands on deck" note asking for everyone available to help with the storm coverage. If the calls I took at the station last night are any indication, there are tons of people in the WSAZ viewing area who were without power and, I fear, will remain without power for some time. AEP was so overwhelmed that, according to several callers I talked with directly, their system was giving people calling in a generic "Please call back later" message and then hanging up.

I'm not sure what its status is now, but WCHS-TV appeared to be having trouble last night with a still shot frozen on the screen, which was still the case until I headed back home after our coverage ended for the night. I even took a few calls from people asking "what's wrong with channel 8?" as if I could possibly know the answer to that. I'm not sure what the status is for WCHS-TV now. It eerily reminded me of how WPIX looked with the mid-programming frozen picture on-screen for hours the day of 9/11.

I went for a drive about 5:30 this morning (keep in mind I'm in vampire mode now that I'm back on overnights producing morning newscasts), mostly to charge my nearly-drained Droid 4 and also to get something warm to eat, and that gave me a chance to scan the radio dial. Pop Tarts and peanut-butter sandwiches can only get you so far. Plus, today was the final day for me to use the Tudor's $1.99 biscuit and gravy coupon I had before it expired. And, wow, let me tell you, they don't go light on the gravy they give you on the side with that deal, either.

Radio-wise, apparently Kindred suffered some station outages, with 930 WRVC (but not its 94.1 FM translator), 92.7 the Planet (along with its 98.5 translator that's shaped like the head of Stewie from Family Guy), and 93.7 the Dawg all off the air. Not "we have a signal up but nothing playing", but more like no signal. Ditto for LM's Rock 105. The two recent Connoisseur acquisitions were running fine along with the aforementioned 94.1 FM translator, and I'm thankful the translator survived since sports/talk was at least something live to listen to in a dark apartment with no electricity in the middle of the night. 88.1 WMUL and 91.1 Walk FM both have a signal up but dead air.

With the actual signals for 92.7 and 93.7 FM off the air, I was able to pull in Hot ACish Z-92 (WHIZ-FM/South Zanesville, OH) and Eagle 93.7 (WQIO/Mt. Vernon, OH) in my car. Eagle cut in-and-out, but Z-92 had a remarkably strong signal for being so far away and I clearly heard their 6 a.m. legal ID.

It's tough timing for Kindred with Dawg Dazzle happening today and 93.7 FM off the air at the moment, though I heard multiple spots promoting it (with the amusing Lex Luger "I am the U-S heavyweight champion!" clip that sounded circa 1989) on Big Buck Country and the 94.1 FM translator. Good luck to all involved with that.

[EZ103.3FM]

Updates...
930 AM back on. It and 94.1FM apparently broadcasting Dawg programming.

WCHS-AM has a talk show on now carrying info on emergency situation: which gas stations have power, ice & gas; which restaurants are open, where to go for food, water and cool air, etc. Rick Johnson and Frank Giardina are hosting. Mayors of Charleston, St Albans and Nitro and Governor (live from Beckley) have been on in the last hour or so.

We got caught in the storm as we drove home from Yeager Airport. We pulled off at the Teays Valley exit and waited it out under a GoMart canopy. Our power was out when we got home. It came on this afternoon at about 1:30 PM. We live in the Enslow Park area and I guess we were fixed when they got Cabell Huntington Hospital and the Hal Greer on.Blvd area back

[Big Media]

Wow. Only two posts on this topic. This site is dead. It's no one's fault, really. I believe it's just that there is no one left in the industry who 1) gives a damn, 2) can post without retribution from their employer, 3) has any desire do more than their 40.

It's a shame, really.

[Clay JD Walker]

...or doesn't have any electricity...or is too busy getting their radio stations back on the air...

neither of those apply to me -- just sayin'.

Oh, and I want to be one of the 'experts' on Dave Harman's 'Ask The Experts' show...expert on what, I have no idea.

[Dave Harman]

"Ask The EXPERT". I do not presume to join their ranks

You could do a show on how to cram a 12 second tag into 4-slam-packed seconds. But you'd finish the 50 minute program in 10 minutes.

There, I contributed.

Seriously, this storm is a wake up call for any broadcaster to invest in generators and battery backups. You can't be credible if you aren't on the air. And if you are on the air, good luck picking up the HD tv channels with rabbit ears when the cable system ends up on the road being driven over. Radio never had a chance like the past few days to re-assert it's relevancy - if you have a signal and a studio to generate something to put on it, run by live people.

[Boss 97]

Summit Media survives the storm on the air. Our investment of installing new generators in 2010 at our main studios in Sutton, at our WSGB 1490 AM & 96.5 translator hub in Sutton, at the WDBS 97.1 & WAFD 100.3 tower sites and at WKQV 105.5 FM, 106.9 & 98.1 tower has kept us on the air when everyone else lost power. Our only stations that are not on are WVAR-AM and WVBD-FM and the 98.9 FM translator for WDBS in Summersville, although WVBD was scheduled to get it's generator installed this summer. But along with staying on the air comes lots of responsibility to get information out. Friday to Sunday we had internet and phones from Lumos, our back up services were down. Then the Lumos service went out and we had one phone from Frontier working and no internet from Sunday night to late Monday night. That makes it really difficult to get people on the air and get updated information. Even our Metro News service was out till just before Sportsline on Sunday evening.

Today was the easiest to obtain info as the Lumos service came back up. Our Shentel back up internet and cable TV at the studios is still down.

The only good thing about this all is that all the OEM offices in our region know we are here and now provide us with updates and the listeners are ever so thankfull for the coverage, just about every caller says so. Everyone has commented that when their cable TV, cell phones, internet and 911 phones all went down "The BOSS 97 FM" was there to keep them posted on the shelters, where to get gas, food, help and more. What can we say other than RADIO is still the king when it comes to local information. We may not have made any money on providing the coverage, but we made lot's of loyal listeners, just like we did back in Feb 2003 during the ice storm when WDBS was the only station on during that storm and it took us right to the #1 position in the Arbitrons and we have stayed there as the dependable station everyone turns too in Central WV.

[Cameron]

Summit Media survives the storm on the air. Our investment of installing new generators in 2010 at our main studios in Sutton, at our WSGB 1490 AM & 96.5 translator hub in Sutton, at the WDBS 97.1 & WAFD 100.3 tower sites and at WKQV 105.5 FM, 106.9 & 98.1 tower has kept us on the air when everyone else lost power.

Let me get this straight. Your management invests in backup power to protect their investment AND stay competitive by staying on the air?
I bet the perception of your audience is enhanced as well. You were on the air to broadcast major events you promoted for months? You probably didn't lose tens, possibly hundreds-of-thousands-of-dollars in lost revenue over the years - nor did you drive your listeners away with 45 minute stopsets to get the billing straight. BRILLIANT!

[Greg Goodfellow]

I was getting this station IN OUR BASEMENT Saturday morning (we slept down there through Tuesday), and I'm a whole lotta miles away...incredible.

I must give kudos to SEVEN RANGES RADIO, which did yeoman's work beginning Saturday with ongoing coverage. A couple counties in the service area have over 17,000 customers STILL without power (we got ours back Tuesday night). People are letting the station (93R was the only one up due to their generator) know how grateful they were for the updates (I received several of these personally, which were passed along). Every county they serve has far too many people without power.

Let's make sure our neighbors and friends get through this. Reflecting a point made earlier, this is when radio proves its relevance (and for some stations caught unprepared, the lack of same).

[Boss 97]

Amazing isn't it!
Summit Media has been working on getting generators for a few years. There are three hops which needed generators just to get to WDBS & WAFD, then another to power up WKQV. Plus we already have a generator for WVBD, but waiting on installation to the building. We're talking having a 250kw generator for WDBS & WAFD, since both use 20kw transmitters and that's not cheap to do. But if you think that is crazy, Summit will be installing a private internet system to cover all their towers this summer. Then all tower sites will have internet and we'll be able to communicate with the equipment directly instead of dial up. There was a time when radio companies actually protected their brand with the best they could do, now it seems they just gut what they own and send the profits to the suits who could care less about the communities they are supposed to serve.

[Dave Allen]

I was one of those folks who was forced to try to entertain and inform listeners during this while having no power at my own house. In fact my own power was out from 7pm Friday through 3pm Wednesday. Sorry I didn't have time to comment as myself and the majority of my staff did not have power. I threw away an estimated $500 in food last night. Its Thursday now and my lead sales person as well as my ND still don't have power. This board is NOT dead...its just that some of us are busy working 12 hour shifts, seven days a week trying to balance station lives and well as personal lives. 40? You show me a radio person that works 40 hours a week and I will show you a radio person that needs to find another fucking profession.

[Dave Harman]

Had another big tree crash down on the lines a half a block away in downtown Charleston, but didn't lose any airtime due to the big honkin' generator. Rick Johnson has done a truly amazing job with extra talk shows, and we've fielded calls and thanks from Beckley to Webster Springs to Sutton to Huntington. Not bad for a 5k am, but then again, when all the electrical interference quits during a power failure, AM is the place to be for information.

[Big Media]

Damn, Dave. Didn't meant to ruffle anyone's feathers. I was in a foul mood when I posted that. It seemed appropriate at the time but I realize there are still many people without power. My engineer worked around the clock hauling fuel, cutting trees out of the road, and making repeated calls to the utility providers. I was bound to a chair with a Blackberry providing upper management with updates. It was a crazy week for everyone.

Kudos to the stations that stayed on the air and who's chief's gave up their entire Independence Day week for the greater good!

[jeffbatten]

Had another big tree crash down on the lines a half a block away in downtown Charleston, but didn't lose any airtime due to the big honkin' generator. Rick Johnson has done a truly amazing job with extra talk shows, and we've fielded calls and thanks from Beckley to Webster Springs to Sutton to Huntington. Not bad for a 5k am, but then again, when all the electrical interference quits during a power failure, AM is the place to be for information.

WCHS still has a great signal- I'll take 5kw on 580 any day of the week. Tell Noel Hi.

[Tom Taggart]

Finally got power back on in St. Marys late this afternoon...three fill ups of propane & almost 9 full days after the storm. Friday after the storm hit we were the only station on--and only on the exciter until early Saturday morning. Generator won't run the 3 phase 10 kilowatt, normally have a kilowatt back-up in place but that was running WXCR. Had to run up Saturday morning (30th) and fetch it. The regular WXCR transmitter has been in Canada since early June while Nautel tries to figure out why it doesn't work right.

Dave St. Peter and Craig Dutton did an excellent job of getting what information we had out to Parkersburg over that weekend.

WVVV came back on middle last week when Clear Channel brought in a 40 kw generator to run WDMX (we're on their tower).

Will put 93R back on full power tomorrow morning, then run the kilowatt transmitter back to WXCR. WVVV still on generator as of late this afternoon.

Didn't post anything earlier because I decided to go someplace safer than WV. So I drove out to see my brother in Joplin.....

[Greg Goodfellow]

Glad to hear things are almost back to normal, Tom. Now, if Pleasant Ridge can get power, WRSG will finally be back. A family that gets things done in our area discussed putting plans together to get our station a generator. That, plus writing a grant might get something finally done on this front.

[the jive talkin one]

Updates...


WCHS-AM has a talk show on now carrying info on emergency situation: which gas stations have power, ice & gas; which restaurants are open, where to go for food, water and cool air, etc. Rick Johnson and Frank Giardina are hosting. Mayors of Charleston, St Albans and Nitro and Governor (live from Beckley) have been on in the last hour or so.

Any discussion of the underlying cause of the storm would put Frank into an interesting (if not awkward) position. He is working for a station owner who is an outspoken denier of manmade climate change, while his sister is an equally strong voice in the world of environmental activism. http://flourishonline.org/2011/08/flour ... al-mining/

[Dave Harman]

Frank didn't seem uncomfortable at all.

In case you hadn't heard, the underlying cause of the storm was something called a Derecho, an event first documented in 1877. Prior to Hurricane Katrina, the death toll from derechos and hurricanes were comparable for the United States.

I suppose you would fire any climate change deniers if they worked for you, wouldn't you?

[EZ103.3FM]

I was surprised no station in Huntington (that I know of) did anything similar to WCHS in supplying information and taking questions and information from the public.

The only thing I heard was one afternoon last week (either Monday or Tuesday) when Paul Swann did this for 2 hours during the sports show time slot (4-6 PM) on 930 AM/94.1 FM. I don't listen to the other local talk shows on 930 AM/94.1 FM( Jean Dean & Bobby Nelson) so I don't know if they did anything.

On 800 AM, Tom Roten was off last week and Melanie Asbury and the fill in hosts didn't do anything like that.

[the jive talkin one]

Frank didn't seem uncomfortable at all.

In case you hadn't heard, the underlying cause of the storm was something called a Derecho, an event first documented in 1877. Prior to Hurricane Katrina, the death toll from derechos and hurricanes were comparable for the United States.

I suppose you would fire any climate change deniers if they worked for you, wouldn't you?

i would expect nothing less from Frank, who is a professional's professional.

to answer your question, i would certainly try and have better educated employees working for me than those who would report political and corporate propaganda as fact. do you really think journalists misstating accepted scientific fact (accepted around the world, except in the coalfields) is ok?

[Dave Harman]

I am not debating global warming. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't, I don't think it can be termed "scientific" until all scientists can agree. Until then, it's conjecture.

My real problem is how you come in here and hijack a thread about storm damage, outages and coverage with your John Raese obsession again. It must be horrible being you.