A metro Atlanta radio station is back on the air after severe storms knocked down the tower last week. Severe storms and tornadoes rolled through much of metro Atlanta, leaving homes destroyed and trees fallen.
Christian radio station WVFJ-FM, known as “Joy FM,” broadcasting on 93.3 MHz, went off the air when the storms turned the tower into a mangled mess of 1,600 feet of steel on the ground.
WVFJ is a licensed Class C0 non-commercial FM with an ERP of 38,000 Watts, according to the FCC. Its tower was 1,555 feet Above Ground Level with a Non-Directional antenna.
“About five minutes to 4 o’clock. I got a call from one of our engineers,” radio host Jerry Williams told WSB-TV. “He said the tower is down. I said: ‘What do you mean? We’re off the air?’ He told me the tower is down on the ground.”
The radio station is located in Tyrone, but the tower is located 40 miles away in the middle of Meriwether County. It’s in a remote area, and no one was injured, according to WSB-TV.
After 24 hours, Williams said the station’s engineers had the radio station back on the air, but not quite to full strength.
“The Joy FM prayer line is open. It’s always open,” Williams said during his broadcast last Wednesday. Williams said the work to replace the tower is underway, but it will take months and millions of dollars to complete.
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