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| Iowa's Derecho Weather Map (WTHR.com) |
The Midwest derecho storm that swept across Iowa this week with winds that topped 100mph has left at least four radio stations off the air according to an update from the Federal Communications Commission.
It activated its Disaster Information Reporting System or DIRS to get a fix on how bad things were. The response shows that as of Today three FM and one AM were still off the air. The list included Alpha Media's hot AC "Energy 106.7" KRTI and soft AC KGRN (1410) in Grinnell, IA; Kirkwood Community College's jazz KCCK-FM Cedar Rapids (88.3), and the low-power KRQC-LP (107.9) in the Quad Cites market. No television stations were off the air, according to the FCC.
Meantime, iHeartMedia "News Radio 600" WMT Cedar Rapids also lost one of its three towers in the storm but it is now operating with low power. In a filing with the FCC it said the loss of the tower means did not impact is daytime nondirectional signal, but it won't be able to use its regular nighttime signal pattern.
The station asked the FCC to allow it to run with the daytime pattern at a 25% power cut after dark until it is able to make the repairs. WMT is the go-to news source in central Iowa and iHeart understated that telling the FCC that "the interests of the public will be served" by allowing the station to stay on the air during its repairs.
Radio is especially important right now in the region. The FCC reported on Thursday that 12.4% of the cell phone towers in central Iowa are not operational.
(Radio Insight 14 Aug 2020)
Additional story at USA Today - Iowans grapple with aftermath Monday's deadline derecho, 'a disaster we have never seen':
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/08/14/iowa-derecho-deadly-storm-power-outages-national-guard/5581492002/