Two of four radio towers near Charleston, WV were brought down by Tuesday’s high winds. WCHS-AM, also known as “the Voice of Charleston,” that had been broadcasting from one of the downed towers, said programming will continue on AM 1490 and FM 104.5. WCHS Network announced that the WCHS App and live streaming will also continue uninterrupted at its website, www.wchsnetwork.com. No injuries were reported at the site.
The Network said it is working to restore its main signal but does not have an estimated time for getting that back on the air.
Kanawha County, WV officials said the damage could have been worse if it wasn’t for an emergency notification system. According to WCHS, residents received alerts on their phone of a tornado warning just before the 90 mile-per-hour winds arrived at 11:15 a.m. Tuesday. According to local officials, in addition to bringing down the towers, the storm uprooted trees, ripped off roofs and knocked off power to thousands of Appalachian Power Company customers.
The quick-moving storm caught the residents of Charleston by surprise. “Capitol Street was packed. There were people walking around. It was sunny. It was hard to believe that in the next 30 minutes that we were going to have a storm like that roll in and it did, but those warning sirens got people off the streets, and I think that’s what saved lives,” Kanawha County Commissioner Ben Salango said.
Appalachian Power said it hoped to have 90 percent of its customers in Boone, Logan, Mingo and Raleigh counties back on by 11 p.m. Wednesday, and 90 percent of its customers in Cabell, Clay, Fayette, Greenbrier, Jackson, Kanawha, Lincoln, Mason, Nicholas, Putnam, Roane and Wayne counties back on by 11 p.m. today, Thursday. The utility will have 1,200 additional workers from places like Virginia, Indiana and Missouri assisting its crews to restore service.
“Lots of trees down, significant wind damage, not only from trees falling down but actual infrastructure, utility poles,” one official told WCHS. “Street lights have also been pulled down and we’re seeing a lot of trees and tree limbs that have been brought down.”
Reader Interactions