The 630-foot guyed broadcast tower collapsed after being layered with ice.
Macdonald Garber Broadcasting’s CHR station, 106 KHQ (105.9 WKHQ-FM) in Charlevoix, Michigan, experienced a significant disruption when its 630-foot tower collapsed Sunday evening in East Jordan.
The collapse resulted from what is being described as an “apocalyptic” ice storm that brought multiple days of heavy sleet and freezing rain to the region, leading to substantial ice accumulation. This severe weather also caused widespread damage, including snapped power lines and power outages affecting over 90,000 homes and businesses.
WKHQ’s Program Director and morning host, Ashley ‘Z’ Elzinga, discussed the incident on sister station 104.5 Bob-FM (WZTC Traverse City). She explained that the tower had collapsed onto the equipment shed during its fall.
Earlier on Sunday, Elzinga had purchased a generator for the tower site and coordinated its delivery with one of the station owners. Currently, there is no clear timeline for when WKHQ will resume broadcasting. In the meantime, the station’s staff continues to provide storm updates and information via social media platforms.
The fallen tower also hosted Macdonald Garber’s 102.3 W272CR in Petoskey, which rebroadcasts News/Talk 1270 WMKT in Charlevoix. The collapse has impacted both stations’ broadcasting capabilities.
