Over the past few days we’ve highlighted how CBS Radio and iHeartRadio in Houston have been super-serving their community since Harvey came to town this past weekend. The team at Urban One has also been right on top of the story and Operations Manager Terri Thomas tells Radio Ink her team has been camping out at the station since Friday. Here’s more from Thomas on how her team has gone above and beyond during this incredible storm.
Thomas tells Radio Ink that she thought ahead and shopped for her team late last week
knowing they would have to camp at the station. She also says the storm was unpredictable with a false start on Friday. “On Saturday, a few people decided to leave, then the storm turned really bad. And that’s when people started getting stuck in the water.” Thomas says this was one of those times when social media became a very positive factor. “The phones were overloaded so people took to social media to find out where they could help and how they could help. It was neighbors helping neighbors. And God bless Louisiana because they brought boats. A lot of boats. What’s happening is we are all coming together as a people.”
Jay Stevens, SVP, Programming at Radio One adds, “In times like these we see the continued importance of radio being live and local to service the needs of listeners. We are proud of our team and standing guard to support them in any way possible.”
Thomas says her team left their own personal situation to help the community. “I have such a special team. Madd Hatta and the team (JMac, Keisha Nicole, Anthony Valary, Jessica Jeanz, DJ Eric). They left their homes to help and have been on air almost non-stop since Friday morning. I also have some folks working remotely when they have power — DJ Riddler, Leon Provost, Rachel Montoya, Robert Washington. Jerry Palmer, Cindy Brinkman, and Jay Rio from our traffic department have been able to work remotely as well as our engineers. Bill Travis from my production department was evacuated from his home but has been helping from his church shelter. Rob G was able to escape his neighborhood yesterday and has been here as well. We’ve been working around the clock to keep our brands on the air (97.9 the Box, Majic 102.1, and Radio Now), and keep listeners connected and informed. The conditions are as bad as you see on TV. Flooding is a major issue and new areas are continuing to flood.”
Thomas says for those that want to help, donations should be directed to Mayor Sylvester Turner’s Greater Houston Community Foundation ghcf.org. Funds will help the people directly here in Houston.
You can reach out to Terri Thomas to congratulate her on the job she and her team are doing by e-mail at [email protected]
