As of yesterday, Hurricane Helene has damaged broadcast stations in a five-state area hit by the devastating Category 4 hurricane at landfall that has killed 128 people across six states.
A Tennessee FM station’s studio was completely submerged as its tower fell. Sadly, a horse trapped alongside the facility was swept away and hasn’t been recovered.
In Georgia, there are 2 TV stations out of service. FM radio stations are also off the air, including 1 in Florida. Georgia had an unheard-of number of storm management off the air reports: 15, down from 19 on Saturday. North Carolina had 2 down, and Virginia had 1.
AM station outages included 2 in Georgia, 2 in North Carolina, and 5 in South Carolina.
Although the FCC’s Communications Status Report said there were no FM stations in Tennessee, it appears that WXIS FM, a station serving the tri-cities region of Johnson City, Kingsport, and Bristol, is off the air.
A Facebook post shows a picture of the station’s studio and its tower, owned by Jet Broadcasting, becoming inundated with rising waters and eventually wholly covered as the tower collapsed.
Sadly, a horse named Bianca was outside the studio when the rising water trapped it and swept her away; she is still missing.