(Source: WRMI on Facebook)
1430 UTC Monday, September 11
Hurricane Irma has done extensive damage at WRMI in Okeechobee, Florida.
Two antenna towers are down and many poles holding transmission lines are also down.
Power went out at around 2030 UTC Sunday, and it may not be restored for days.
Meanwhile, all transmitters are off the air. Our Internet service is also down, which means that our live stream is down as well. All of our staff are OK. We’ll try to provide more information later today here on Facebook. Thanks for all of your messages of support.
I was one of the radio engineers / on-air personalities who was part of the Bob Gilmore Radio Barbecue that aired on Saturday evening. All of us were worried about the fate of the station. I’m thrilled to hear that all staff are safe as well as the transmitter building. While inconvenient, at least the physical transmission lines can be repaired.
BTW: Thanks to Jeff for allowing our merry band of broadcasters to have a blast on WRMI.
And a pressure of 26.5x inches of mercury for Camille supports my recall, not the currents reports. Irma had a low pressure of 26.9x inches of mercury, IIRC. Camille stuck terror in the hearts of Americans at the time.
And Irma was almost a dud by the time it reached Florida. Personally, I think WRMI had better rethink its plans in case one of these hurricanes hits its facility at over 140 mph. Remember, Irma had SUSTAINED winds of 185 mph at one point, shades of infamous Camille in 1969. At the time of 1969, I distinctly remember Camille having sustained winds of 190+ mph, not 175 mph as reported today.
Unfortunate news.
BUMMER! I notice that as of 9:38 UTC their stream at WRMI.net is running, so maybe things are looking up? Any word from Radio Havana on their Havana studio’s condition?
I had no luck hearing signals on any of the RHC freqs. last night. I’ll try again this evening. Massive power outages are reported all over the island. Who knows about RHC facilities damages? Irma was Category 5 in Cuba. An English language news podcast appeared on the RHC website today with the usual announcers and studio format.
I’m sure RHC took a beating. I’ve heard no update from them.
I hear a strong RHC signal in Spanish right now on 11.760 (23:40 UTC 9-11-2017). Maybe things are looking up for later this evening.
I am hearing RHC English language service now (01:13 UTC) on 6.145 kHz. Strong signal with very weak audio. It will probably improve here on the US West Coast over the next few hours.