Téa Wimer, who leads group radio station WMMT in Kentucky, couldn’t attain the station when record-shattering floodwaters poured by way of the jap a part of the state final week.
“I used to be trapped on the prime of my holler for nearly 4 days with no water, no electrical energy. I used to be having to preserve my cellphone battery,” they mentioned. “I couldn’t even reply to the state of affairs as station supervisor, as a result of first I used to be simply attempting to ensure my household was OK.”
By the point roads have been cleared and Wimer was in a position to attain the station, the information was devastating. The North Fork of the Kentucky River, which runs behind WMMT’s constructing in Whitesburg, had overflowed its banks, submerging the station’s first-floor studio.
“We’re a complete loss so far as studio gear is anxious,” Wimer mentioned Wednesday. Greater than per week after the flooding, energy remained out at WMMT’s mountaintop transmitter website close to Mayking, Ky., leaving the station’s sign off the air till crews can clear bushes and downed energy strains alongside the broken highway main as much as the tower.
It was a devastating loss for not solely WMMT but in addition its mum or dad group, Appalshop. The nonprofit group began as a movie workshop and grew over greater than 50 years into one of many largest organizations documenting Appalachian traditions and humanities. Along with WMMT, which has been on the air since 1985, Appalshop’s archives embrace a long time of movie, video and audio.
Greater than 50 volunteers converged on Appalshop’s headquarters within the days after the flood, rinsing and drying archival supplies in hopes of salvaging them.
In the meantime, Wimer and the remainder of WMMT’s small employees — 5 full-timers and about 30 volunteer DJs — have been coping with their very own wants within the aftermath of the flood, together with harm to the chief engineer’s residence. The station has one information reporter, Katie Meyers, who works as a part of the Ohio Valley ReSource regional journalism collaborative. Collaborative members pitched in to help with protection of the most important information story within the area in generations.
Masking the catastrophe
The area’s NPR station additionally sprung into motion because the waters rose. Primarily based at Jap Kentucky College in Richmond, 90 miles west of Whitesburg, WEKU covers the jap half of the state over 4 transmitters, together with WEKH in Hazard, certainly one of just a few broadcast indicators that remained on the air all through the flooding.
On a very good day, WEKU has restricted information staffing, mentioned common supervisor Mike Savage. When the flooding hit, it was not a very good day.
“We’re primarily a information workforce of 4, and of these 4, certainly one of our reporters left just a few weeks in the past and the opposite one is on trip,” he mentioned. “So this occurred with us being down 50 % of our employees.”
Information director Stan Ingold labored from the studio in Richmond, reaching out over cellphone and by Zoom to the affected areas. Reporter Stu Johnson traveled to the flood zone to report in individual, sacrificing the chance to attend a former colleague’s funeral with a view to make flood protection his precedence.
“These guys are all in. Everyone’s all in,” Savage mentioned.
“The issue with getting out within the area is that jap Kentucky is so distant and journey may be very hazardous proper now,” Savage mentioned. “There are nonetheless a number of areas with out energy, there are nonetheless a number of areas with out cell protection, after which there’s points with journey on roads. You simply can’t get by way of sure locations, and also you don’t know the place these are. It’s not like a serious metropolis the place every little thing is mapped out and you’ll look and go, ‘I can go round that.’ In rural Kentucky, it’s totally different and really difficult to cowl.”
Along with reporting for WEKU and its accomplice stations within the Kentucky Public Radio consortium, Johnson and Ingold stayed busy submitting tales for NPR’s newscasts and newsmagazines.
“It was a precedence as a result of, you realize, flyover nation is form of a buzzword, however in actuality, it exists,” Savage mentioned. “When stuff occurs right here, it’s out of sight and out of thoughts to the nationwide media. Our objective has been to attempt to paint that image for the nation to allow them to actually see what’s occurring.”
Offering mutual help
Whereas juggling protection for native and nationwide audiences, Savage additionally reached out to supply help to WMMT, coordinating an emergency donation from WEKU and its Kentucky Public Radio companions to offer for among the Whitesburg station’s speedy wants.
“Final time we checked, it was nearly $6,000, which is simply sufficient to provide them gasoline playing cards and cash, no matter they should assist their employees,” Savage mentioned. “We really feel that’s the least we will do.”
“It was so, so, so appreciated,” Wimer mentioned. “It’s nearly overwhelming what number of instances we’ve been contacted by stations saying, we’re right here, we’ve got donations for you in order for you them, gear in order for you it.”
The Nationwide Federation of Neighborhood Broadcasters and CPB have additionally stepped ahead with gives of kit and assist as soon as WMMT can restore energy to its transmitter and may start eager about rebuilding its studio.
That could be a difficult course of, Wimer mentioned, because the Appalshop constructing the place WMMT’s studios have been positioned will not be usable for one more month or two, requiring the station to discover a non permanent studio residence.
“A lot of the areas that we might use in Letcher County are getting used proper now for distribution websites, flood aid efforts, and so forth,” Wimer mentioned. “So it’s a extremely sticky state of affairs.”
By subsequent week, WMMT hopes to be again on the air in some capability, in addition to offering data updates on social media to listeners with broadband entry. Wimer additionally hopes to have a extra formal fundraising effort in place to offer the station with the funding it might want to rebuild.
“Proper now, I might say taking good care of people in Letcher County and their wants is the at the start precedence,” they mentioned. “After which what’s going to be the most important assistance is simply having the cash to get what we want on this time.”
“I’m simply actually so grateful to really feel that group radio love and assist,” Wimer mentioned. “I believe for lots of different group broadcasters within the nation, WMMT may be very particular.”
Planning for the long run
Whereas WMMT works on returning to the air and rebuilding its devastated bodily plant, WEKU’s Savage is already eager about how greatest to cowl the lengthy means of rebuilding the devastated cities of jap Kentucky.
“We’re going to need to be dedicated to overlaying it,” he mentioned, establishing it as a reporting beat just like the aftermath of the tornadoes that broken western Kentucky final yr.
“There’s a theme that goes to this flooding challenge that has been form of hidden and beneath public view, which is the poor infrastructure that’s simply by no means rebuilt or saved up correctly,” Savage mentioned. “For us, we’re pulling double responsibility, as a result of we’re reporting on the disaster after which we’re eager about how we’re going to report on the underlying points after this settles down.”
WEKU is already eager about its personal infrastructure. The station has not too long ago changed a number of getting older transmitters to make sure constant protection of the area and is hoping for funding for extra sturdy backup turbines to maintain these indicators on the air if energy is misplaced. Savage mentioned his employees can also be trying into extra distant expertise to deliver voices from the area to its airwaves when mobile networks and web are unreliable.
The continued protection can be private for each stations.
“There’s a number of emotion as a result of the employees have household and pals who dwell in jap Kentucky, and it’s simply heartbreaking,” Savage mentioned. “To see the governor doing his press conferences speaking about extra deaths, and there’s nonetheless a specific amount of PTSD from coping with COVID. That’s actually the toughest half.”
At WMMT, Wimer is attempting to keep away from overloading the station’s lone reporter. “As you may think about, she’s been inundated with information and knowledge but in addition attempting to handle herself with all of the trauma that she’s experiencing,” Wimer mentioned.
Because the loss of life toll from the floods rises, Wimer mentioned that each one of Appalshop’s staffers are secure, together with its interns from the Appalachian Media Institute.
“Everybody was accounted for,” they mentioned. “Some folks weren’t so fortunate materially, and misplaced their properties, misplaced their vehicles, however everyone is no less than secure and alive and heading in the direction of rebuilding once more.”