Hurricane Harvey -- Radio On Duty Helping Houston And The Gulf Region Stay Connected And Informed

How Hurricane Harvey Is Tracking From NOAA

The wind from HURRICANE HARVEY is over -- but the rain continues in record amounts and continues to make life a wet hell for residents of HOUSTON and the GULF REGION.

ALL ACCESS reached out to station groups for input on how they were handling this widespread emergency and got lots of feedback:

iHEARTMEDIA/HOUSTON Pres. EDDIE MARTINY remarked, "I have never seen rain like I have witnessed over the last three days, and I remind you, I am from NEW ORLEANS. Over 30 inches so far and expecting at least another 30 inches in the next three days. The city of HOUSTON is shut down with all major interstates flooded. 

"I am so proud of our local staff, who have been broadcasting in long form since FRIDAY at 8a. We have jocks from all six stations chipping in. Sellers, managers and support staff made their way to the office to answer phones and lend support. They now have no way out due to the flooding. At this point I am aware that we have a few employees that have lost vehicles and have water in their homes ... that is sure to multiply.  We also lost a station vehicle last night due to the fast rising water, thank goodness our reporter is fine. We currently have five stations on-air, KPRC transmitter took on water and is unfortunately down.

"I am amazed and appreciative of the constant support we’ve received from iHEART around the country. TONY COLES, KEVIN LEGRETT, JEFF LITTLEJOHN, TOM COX, CHRIS BERRY, GENE ROMANO and SCOTT LOGEMAN have been in constant contact asking what they can do to help. Not to mention the hundreds of employees from around the country who continue to check in."

Cox Media Prepared And On Duty

COX MEDIA GROUP/HOUSTON VP/Market Manager MARK KRIESCHEN spoke to ALL ACCESS on SUNDAY (8/12) and offered his perspective on things. "I've been here 12 years and this is the worst I've ever seen. The water is so widespread wherever you go it's crazy. I live 16 miles SW of where our stations are and we had 21 incudes of rain in one day. The roads around the station are fine and around my house but the freeways are impassable.  

"In preparation we had hotel rooms ready for our staff and there are 12 on-hand working in shifts, and our three stations, Classic Rock KGLK, Country KKBQ, Country Legends KTHT are up and running and engineers are at our sites making sure we are on-air.  Most of HOUSTON has power as this is not a wind-driven storm for us.

"The forecast calls for another 15+ inches of rain between now and WEDNESDAY as the storm is basically stalled over the metro. We got off lucky compared to CORPUS CHRISTI and ROCKPORT, VICTORIA where the wind and rain decimated structures ... here it is all rain and the bayous and creeks are headed for record levels of flooding.

"Each station is running their own formats -- we have increased the talk positions and are focusing on the weather and storm situations around the clock.  We stocked up with food and beverages and water for the duration and the staff is encouraged to work remotely tomorrow until roads are passable, and eventually migrate back to the stations.

"We are going to put together some relief efforts and once the storm leaves the market we will discuss how we will team up and handle this through the RED CROSS."

Cumulus Social Media Strategy

CUMULUS & WESTWOOD ONE VP/Social Media LORI LEWIS told ALL ACCESS, "Regarding social, KRBE/HOUSTON used all station social accounts to release life-saving information as it was released in real time by HOUSTON and TEXAN authorities:

"And they made great use of KRBE's TWITTER account. 

"Here's an example of how KRBE let the community know of specific needs.

"Producer ERIC, of the ROULA AND RYAN SHOW, used his social assets to keep listeners connected with each other and keep a dialogue going in case anyone needed help. Here's an example of one 'roll call.'

"Night personality TYLER FRYE and middayer FREDDY CRUZ used their social accounts to keep HOUSTON aware of the flooding happening in real time in different parts of the city:

"And, APD KEVIN QUINN was on air SUNDAY from 6a-2p today and was very active on TWITTER."

KRBE/HOUSTON PD LESLIE WHITTLE reports that they have kept HOUSTON area listeners informed with live, local coverage from rotating jocks in the studio. KRBE is also running press conferences from local officials, and since SUNDAY at 7a, the station has aired road flooding reports from KRBE's traffic reporter twice an hour.

"One of the station's biggest missions has been to dispel false reports and rumors so our listeners have accurate information," WHITTLE said. "There are a LOT of them out there. We are also using our text line to create a 'weather' database to use to communicate directly with our listeners."

CBS Radio

CBS RADIO/HOUSTON SVP/GM SARAH FRAZIER told ALL ACCESS, "There are about 15 of us here physically at the stations; there is no way in or out by vehicle so we will be managing it TFN. Fortunately we started preparing last week so we have food and water here and we have hotel rooms within walking distance that we can shower and change. Everyone is doing everything they can to produce the best content and information for the local community as possible. 

"Starting this afternoon, we have merged all English-language stations into one simulcast. We are running 100% storm coverage/information/news/resources/phones live with GEORGE LINDSEY (KILT), SARAH PEPPER (KHMX), LAUREN KELLY (KHMX), SEAN PENDERGAST (KILT-A), MIKE MELTZER (KILT-A) and KYLE KING (KILT-F). On Spanish language, we are running a combination of MEGA live coverage and TELEMUNDO TV. Our Chief Engineer ROBBIE GREEN has been here since FRIDAY keeping us on the air. We have information going out on all our social media sites and on all station sites as well. We’re doing everything we can to help each other and help Houston.

"We will be live starting live again breaking the mics at 5a. The goal is to be a connector to this great community that we serve. If people want to help, they can text HARVEY to 90999 to donate $10 to THE AMERICAN RED CROSS. That will help a lot. "  

Other Wall-To-Wall Coverage In Houston

NPR affiliate KUHF (NPR affiliate) is wall-to-wall coverage also being fed to the network. They had HOUSTON Mayor SYLVESTER TURNER on air asking him difficult questions about the city’s preparedness.  

UNIVISION stations KLTN, KOVE, KAMA, KQBU are covering the storm with a simulcast with sister KXLN-TV (UNIVISION 45).

San Antonio Dodged A Bullet 

COX MEDIA/SAN ANTONIO VP/Market Manager BEN REED told ALL ACCESS, "SAN ANTONIO dodged a bullet. The storm spun east of us and it became a rain event for us with far fewer inches than anticipated.  

"We went live on all stations late last week, and continue to do so now with weather updates throughout the hour on all stations. We have used a ton of official sound bites from local, state and Federal officials.  

"Our web assets and social media were/continue to be updated as well, and many of our staff continue to provide updates on conditions throughout the region.  

"Our focus turns now to relief efforts as we begin that planning on MONDAY." 

Corpus Christi

In CORPUS CHRISTI, all iHEARTMEDIA stations are simulcasting News KTRH-F/HOUSTON, which provides wall-to-wall coverage on the tropical storm. K99 COUNTRY, BIG 93.9 and TEJANO 99.9 are broadcasting in English and Spanish to address the needs of the both communities. THE RED CROSS is featured across all of iHEARTMEDIA/CORPUS CHRISTI’s radio station websites for listeners to easily find information and to encourage donations. iHEARTMEDIA/CORPUS CHRISTI is also working with THE RED CROSS to coordinate post-storm relief efforts, with displaced employees able to use iHEARTMEDIA/MCALLEN-BROWNSVILLE as emergency relief studios.

Austin

iHEARTMEDIA/AUSTIN has taken precautions for 96.7 KISS FM, 102.3 THE BEAT, KASE 101, KVET 98.1, AM 1300 THE ZONE, 97.5 PRIDE RADIO and TU 103.1. They have joined with iHEARTMEDIA/SAN ANTONIO to secure a semi-truck of ice, water and fuel that will deploy to THE GULF COAST as soon as recovery efforts begin. Supplementary relief efforts are being arranged.

Elsewhere In Texas

CUMULUS MEDIA/LAKE CHARLES OM MARK MATHEWS and CUMULUS MEDIA/BEAUMONT OM BRANDIN SHAW each prepared two teams for before and after the storm (Team "A" and Team "B"), and chose a captain for each team. They continue to gather all info and send it to their web and social media persons communicating for all stations. They also have jocks on standby in case stations need to go live with public safety updates and information.

Due to flooded areas at "A" Team members' homes in LAKE CHARLES, the team brought food for a couple of days and slept at the station this weekend, standing by in case they were needed overnight and to make sure they could be there to keep listeners informed into this week. Should there be a need for Team B, they will ensure information and updates are given to listeners for help, clean up, etc.

SOUTHEAST TEXAS has unfortunately been through these challenging times before with HURRICANE RITA in 2005, and most recently, HURRICANE IKE in 2008. CUMULUS MEDIA/BEAUMONT continues to monitor HARVEY and inform their listeners across all stations and formats. CUMULUS MEDIA/BEAUMONT's partnerships with the local ABC-TV affiliate and the TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION assist them in giving hourly updates on continued flooding, school closures, and dangerous road conditions across their listening audience.

CUMULUS MEDIA/BEAUMONT's BRANDIN SHAW said: "While we deal with our own issues here in SOUTHEAST TEXAS, our thoughts and prayers go out to our CUMULUS/HOUSTON family to our west who are already dealing with historic flooding."

CUMULUS MEDIA/LAFAYETTE's KSMB has gone into information mode. Everything on-air and on social media and the Web is TROPICAL STORM HARVEY-related. The station has many listeners with family, friends and co-workers in the HOUSTON area, as well as students from the HOUSTON area who now attending UL-LAFAYETTE. With the storm soon affecting their listening area, KSMB is rotating information regarding things like maps of major roads being closed in Houston and evacuation details, as well as what to expect in south LOUISIANA in terms of rainfall, flooding possibilities, sandbag info, etc. As the storm slowly leaves the TEXAS area, KSMB will continue to shift more of its coverage on its own region.

"We couldn’t be more proud of our teams and their activation to give the best critical messaging and information to their listeners," said CUMULUS MEDIA VP/Programming Operations DOUG HAMAND, who is coordinating CUMULUS MEDIA's relief efforts. "The flooding is a historic, catastrophic disaster in HOUSTON. Many of our people have been at the station for days. Deep waters didn’t stop ROULA from the ROULA AND RYAN SHOW from trying to get to the station. When convinced she couldn’t make it, ROULA went back home and fired up FACEBOOK LIVE to be on the air this morning."

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