[IRCA] STATUS OF FLOODED SW WASHINGTON RADIO STATIONS

[Glenn Hauser <wghauser@xxxxxxxxx>]

Many have asked about the status of your friends and colleagues in the 
flooded areas of Southwest Washington. I have been in touch with most 
of the stations in Centralia/Chehalis and the Grays Harbor areas to find out
how they are doing and whether WSAB can be of any assistance. I thought you
would be interested in an update. Here are excerpts from 
their responses.
 
_John DiMeo (KELA/KMNT, Centralia/Chehalis):_ "We took about five feet of water
inside our building. That's about 2 feet more than back in 
1996. All staff is OK. One did lose his home.  We got KMNT on the air 
almost immediately via our xmtr site up on Crego Hill. KELA is still 
out, but we're hoping to get that back up by Friday. Bicoastal (our new owners)
are bringing in 5 engineers from other markets to assist.  I have already
enlisted the services of a good general contractor.  
(Thank God for flood insurance!) Tough start for our new owners. The 
deal just closed on 12/1."
 
_Derek Shannon (KITI-AM/FM, Centralia/Chehalis):_ I have not 
communicated directly with Derek, but with one of his business 
partners. KITI is only a couple of miles up the road from KELA, and 
KITI had a foot of water flooding their building. Both stations were 
off the air for about 12 hours on Tuesday, but both are back on the air now. 
 
_Cameron Bierle (KACS-FM, Centralia):_ "90.5 KACS is on the air, and 
has stayed on for the most part. Went off for a few hours due to a 
power outtage. KACS is working with the Lewis County United Way, The 
Ranier Chapter of the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army in 
relief and recovery efforts through our KACS Cards for the County 
campaign. We'd welcome other media participation too. It's a very 
simple and effective program we worked on with Cards for Katrina 
following the gulf states disasters, and then Cards for the Cowlitz last year."
 
_Dona Rosi (Morris Communications, Aberdeen/Hoquiam):_ "We have 3 of 
our 4 stations on the air, not KWOK. We are trying to get propane up to our
generator at the KXXK site which will run out in about 12 hours. Other than
that, we?re keeping people informed. Hopefully power will be restored in the
next day or two."
 
_Bill Wolfenbarger (Jodesha Broadcasting, Aberdeen/Hoquiam):_ "Thanks, 
Mark. It's been a mess, but slowly we're climbing out. KSWW-FM is on 
air at low power with gas generator fillups every 6 hours. KJET-FM is 
on air from booster site with fillups every 3 hours. KBKW will remain 
off air until power is restored to the site. It is problematic due to 
high water and limited coverage. We have focused on providing wall-to-wall
coverage of road closures, PUD stuff, gas availability, resources for showers,
shelters, food, stores open, etc. from 6a-6p on KSWW and KJET. KSWW was totally
off Monday and Tuesday, but went on air Wednesday morning after gnawing through
about fifty trees over the 
access road to the transmitter. Would have been much better if the KSWW propane
generator had not died Monday morning. KJET was off from about 11 am Monday
until Tuesday morning. KJET Raymond main transmitter has been off since Monday.


The good news is Pacific County just got some power. The bad news is the
transmitter won't fire by remote control and I have no idea if I can get up
that road yet. We had no power at the studio until Wednesday morning but did a
decent job of reading in the dark and getting a signal out. Would have been
much better if our entire digital phone system had not died at the initial
power surge. Hard to receive calls when you don't know they're calling. It's
been replaced now and all phone lines are up and running. I'm sending this note
at 1:50 AM Thursday. I'm in between gasoline runs. Our newsguy Dave has had
reports on air within the past hour about the flooding situation in Aberdeen
which thankfully has not happened as was feared. We're doing okay. Not much
sleep but people seem to be happy that we're providing the info..."
 
_Joel Hanson (KLOG/KUKN, Kelso):_ "We are fine. KUKN was down Monday 
morning for a few hours. A tree knoked out the coax from the 
transmitter to the antenna. Lucky for us no real damage and a quick 
fix. Hope everyone else makes out as well."
 
WSAB has offered its assistance in any that we could be of help to all 
of the affected stations. We've had no requests yet.
 
It is very impressive that with these stations struggling to simply stay on the
air, they are still making an extraordinary effor to serve their community with
emergency information and anything else they can do to help their listeners.
 
Mark Allen, Esq.
President & CEO
Washington State Association of Broadcasters
724 Columbia Street NW, Suite 310
Olympia, WA 98501
Ph: (360) 705-0774; Fax (360) 705-0873
wa-broadcasters @ earthlink.net http://www.wsab.org 
(Dec 6 via Ben Dawson, WA, DXLD)


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