I have been reading about WWNC Asheville, North Carolina in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. That is an AM station on 570 KHz (5 KW DA-N) owned by iHeart Media. They have been simulcasting on all of the local iHeart signals in the area and according to WRAL-TV, have been the only source of information for people who have been cut off in the mountainous areas.
While the power is out, wired telephone service is down, cellphones and mobile data are unavailable, AM radio still gets through. Yes, FEMA has satellite phones and can work with commercial wireless providers to re-establish wireless networks and connectivity. However, it often takes them days to react and weeks to get on site.
Stations like WWNC that stay on the air during disasters are vital resources to their communities. The fact that they remain on the air requires planning and forethought. Emergency power at both the transmitter and studio is the most important and most expensive thing. After that, backup programming feeds and sources, secure shelters for personnel, food, water, and even spare clothing. Having experienced several of these events; Bill Ruck in his Radio World letter said it best, Engineers need to take care of themselves.
That means not taking excessive risks during the event, eating properly, and getting adequate sleep. Lack of sleep can lead to poor decision-making processes, making matters worse.
Sometimes transmitter sites are inaccessible or completely destroyed. Having a plan ahead of time to get some signal on the air is always a good idea. Sometimes an area is so severely impacted that there is no normalcy. Things that we take for granted are simply gone. I found the best way to deal with this is to take a step back, take stock of the situation, if you can find others who are working on disaster relief, coordinate with them, come up with a plan, then proceed carefully and be ready to adapt as the situation requires.
The next Hurricane; Milton, is taking a line towards Florida.
The Hurricane Watch Network will be active tonight at 14.325 or 7.268 MHz starting at 5 PM EDT for Amateur Radio operations and Shortwave Listeners.
WX4NHC is the Amateur Radio station for the Hurricane Warning Center. They have useful information preparedness, information gathering, and post-disaster response.