(By Mike McVay) During a recent visit to a client radio station in the Deep South, I asked, “What is the most top-of-mind thing for the audience in the fall?” My expectation was along the lines of cooling weather, leaves changing colors before they fall, the smell of a furnace when it turns on for the first time of the season, and preparing for the holidays. The answer I heard was “Hurricane Season.” It goes through November. There have been hurricanes to hit landfall in the USA in December.
This season has included Tropical Storms that plagued the eastern seaboard from Florida into New England and on to Nova Scotia. Tropical Storm Arlene. Hurricane Idalia wreaked havoc on the Gulf Coast states. New York City saw intense flooding, unlike anything seen in the past decade, as a result of an early October tropical storm named Lee. Hurricane Ian destroyed Fort Meyers a little more than a year ago. Hundreds of thousands were without power for days and weeks. Many endured serious damage or loss to their homes and belongings. The most unfortunate lost lives or suffered injury.
Hurricanes can be dangerous killers. Learning the hurricane warning messages and planning ahead can reduce the chances of injury or major property damage, serve your community, and satisfy your advertisers. It is in times of crisis and emergency that radio generates the most interest. When you need news now – it’s radio that responds first with information.
BEFORE
Help your audience plan an evacuation route. Plan such an escape route for your staff, too. Many are working remotely due to the pandemic and that situation has shown us that we can deliver information and entertainment from somewhere other than the eye of the storm.
Contact the local emergency management office or American Red Cross chapter, and ask for their community hurricane preparedness plan. This plan should include information on the safest evacuation routes and nearby shelters.
Learn safe routes inland and share that information with your audience. Encourage them to be ready to drive 20 to 50 miles inland, or farther, to locate a safe place.
Provide the audience with information on-air and online to have disaster supplies on hand.
- Flashlight and extra batteries
- Portable, battery-operated radio and extra batteries
- First aid kit and manual
- Emergency food and water
- Non-electric can opener
- Essential medicines
- Cash and credit cards
- Sturdy shoes
Encourage your audience to make arrangements for pets. Pets may not be allowed into emergency shelters for health and space reasons. Contact your local humane society for information on local animal shelters. Bring your face masks. A pandemic knows no boundaries and people sheltering in place can be a breeding ground for this virus.
DURING
When it comes to supplies, this is where advertisers can get involved, as there will be demand for whatever they sell. Where do you get water, gasoline, food, sandbags, plywood, batteries, medicine, medical supplies, essentials for after the storm (toilet paper and tissues), and extra batteries? If you can find a hand-winding radio, buy it. Encourage your audience to do the same. Over-the-air radio will more likely be available than an online stream of a radio station.
Let the audience know when the storm will arrive, what is expected meaning how much rain and how strong will the winds be, and how long is it expected to last. What should the audience expect regarding traffic conditions?
Make sure that all family members know how to respond after a hurricane.
Teach family members how and when to turn off gas, electricity, and water. Teach children how and when to call 9-1-1, police, or fire department and promote on-air, within your cluster of stations, that you will simulcast emergency information on all of your owned radio stations for the listening area.
Develop an emergency communication plan. In case family members are separated from one another during a disaster (a real possibility during the day when adults are at work and children are at school), have a plan for getting back together.
AFTER
What areas need to be avoided due to flooding, downed wires, roads out, or areas to avoid due to fires? Provide air-time to the local power and gas authorities to update the audience and let them know the progress and process to restore power and gas.
Where are the shelters for those in need? Where can families receive food? Where can individuals make donations? Where and how do you make insurance claims? Those are the questions that your listeners will want answers to and they’ll be looking to you and the internet for answers. Post the information online that your audience will want to hear on-air.
Know the difference between a Hurricane Watch and Hurricane Warning.
A hurricane watch is issued when there is a threat of hurricane conditions within 24-36 hours. It means there may be a hurricane to hit your area. A hurricane warning is issued when hurricane conditions (winds of 74 miles per hour or greater, or dangerously high water and rough seas) are expected in 24 hours or less.
Watch = Watch for a Hurricane. Warning = We have a Hurricane and it’s going to hit your area.
Mike McVay is President of McVay Media and can be reached at [email protected]. Read Mike’s Radio Ink archives here.
Beasley Media, a florida based company, has a new Hurricane policy. They air the local TV news station. Literally, they give up their air to the TV stations. That’s the state of radio, just play the TV broadcast. How weak! Radio should stop pretending it’s live and local. Radio is just subleasing content from other media. By the way, our Beasley “news team” consists of 1 full time person. Total joke.
The first must do in preparing for a possible hurricane is getting your stations ready ahead of the storm coverage. Having employees plan for their families and homes. Who goes where and when? Getting the stations ready. Generators fueled and ready. Is it safe to stay in your building? Loading in food, water and other needed supplies ahead of the storm. Planning sleeping and hygiene arrangements. Alternate broadcast sites. We set up broadcast locations at local government and utility bunkers. We established a back up site at a hotel inland in case we had to leave the studios. We had communications set with all government agencies and first responders. Arrange your programming. Once we got to an evacuation we simulcast our cluster as one giant hurricane station. We had two personalities hosting at a time and kept the shifts to 4 hours and rotated our two man teams thru the entire emergency. Their local knowledge and calm presence was vitally important. Trusted local voices. In addition to all the officials we had on the air, we talked to listeners. They were our eyes and ears on the ground during the evacuations keeping us updated on traffic and weather conditions on the ground and up to the minute information. Where to find gas, hotels, food, rest rooms, and other needed services. A hurricane evacuation creates a community of people all in the same situation brought together by the fury of Mother Nature. During the storm your talking with those who have stayed and didn’t evacuate. In the aftermath, it’s all about recovery. Where to find needed items and services as life slowly begins to recover. Two last things. Never force someone to work. If they are uncomfortable being part of the hurricane broadcast team they need to leave. Secondly, we pulled all commercials. If your advertisers aren’t open why would you run commercials? Our competitors let their stations run with music and commercials and no coverage. When we began airing commercials we ran those products and services that were needed for the recovery. Radio was the leading voice during the many hurricane evacuations we experienced. We were all, listeners and broadcasters, in it together.
Not anymore. Radio is for people over 75. TV and internet dominate emergencies. Charge your phone. That’s all you need.