Radio Assists As The Cleanup From #HurricaneLaura Begins

Laura Continues Inland

As NOAA forecasters predicted, #HURRICANELAURA, at one point, a Category 4 hurricane with 130-156 mph winds, hit land on WEDNESDAY NIGHT/THURSDAY MORNING. LAURA, now a Tropical Storm, was a powerful hurricane with massive destruction and a storm surge that was called "unsurvivable" with widespread flooding up to 40 miles inland. The massive destruction totaling many, many millions of dollars and so far minimal loss of life from one of the strongest storms ever in the region.

Over 900,000 homes and businesses are currently without power and Tropical storm warnings extend into the rest of the HOUSTON metro area, parts of NORTHEAST TEXAS, NORTHERN LOUISIANA and SOUTHERN ARKANSAS and beyond with strong winds and heavy rains continuing.

CUMULUS/LAKE CHARLES, LA outlets Top 40 KBIU, Top 40/R KQLK, Sports KXZZ-A, Classic Rock KKGB, Country KYKZ and Talk KOAK-A are off the air. EVP, Content & Audience BRIAN PHILIPS told ALL ACCESS, "Yes, as all our stations in LAKE CHARLES, our entire broadcast facilities suffered severe damage. We are evaluating alternate plans for broadcasts now. We sympathize with the people of LAKE CHARLES and in the storm’s path who suffered horrific losses.”

TOWNSQUARE MEDIA Top 40/Rhythmic KHXT (HOT 107.9)/LAFAYETTE, LA Brand Mgr./morning co-host DJ DIGITAL and his crew rode out HURRICANE LAURA locked in at the studios. They remained on-air to talk LAFAYETTE through the storm. Proud of his team and the service they provided to the community, DIGITAL commented, "Radio f'n matters, man."

LAFAYETTE itself took damage as the storm passed through, including the eight-story JEFFERSON TOWER building in downtown LAFAYETTE that lost at least 10 windows.

CUMULUS Hot AC VP/Programming and Top 40 KRBE/HOUSTON PD LESLIE WHITTLE told ALL ACCESS, "ROULA & RYAN covered the approach all morning with extended coverage during the day. We simulcast with our TV partner KHOU overnight as the storm hits. Then ROULA & RYAN pick it up again TOMORROW (8/27) morning. Thankfully in HOUSTON we're actually not expecting to see much damage except for some power outages. However BEAUMONT, TX and LAKE CHARLES, LA are going to get hit hard."

ALL ACCESS is standing by to continue reporting on how radio is coping with the aftermath of these storms and how they are informing the community and assisting with the cleanup.

If you have information to share with ALL ACCESS about your station's efforts to get back on the air or working with the communities you serve to get back on their feet, please, click here.

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