Dozens of radio stations remain offline several days after Hurricane Helene impacted a multi-state area as a Category 4 storm, according to the latest report from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
The number of AM and FM radio stations reported as out of service increased in Georgia, where flooding and power outages have challenged the reliability of broadcast radio as a communications medium.
Three AM radio stations were out of action in Georgia as of Monday morning, according to the FCC, up from two AM radio stations reported one day earlier. The number of FM stations out of service in the state increased by three, with 18 stations off the air in Georgia, the agency said.
In South Carolina, the number of AM stations reported to be affected by the storm fell from five to two, while the number of FM stations that are offline increased from seven to nine, the FCC reported.
In Florida, where Helene made landfall last Thursday, just one FM station is still offline, the FCC said. One FM station is also offline in Virginia, while four radio stations are off the air in North Carolina.
Television stations proved to be more-resilient to the effects of the hurricane, with just four TV stations reported off the air as of Monday, according to FCC data. Georgia and North Carolina each have two affected TV stations; no stations are off the air in Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee or Virginia.
The situation for telecommunication providers is also improving, with a lower number of outages afflicting wireless networks and land-based Internet and TV services compared to the weekend, according to the FCC’s report.
The number of wireless networks reported to be out of action fell from 9.1 percent on Sunday to 6.7 percent on Monday, spurred by reactivations in Florida and Georgia. North Carolina continues to be the state most-affeted by wireless blackouts, with 54 percent of towers affected by storm-related outages, down from 66.4 percent reported on Sunday.
The number of cable TV and land-based Internet customers without service fell to 886,139 on Monday, down from its peak of 1.004 million reported on Sunday. South Carolina continues to be the state with the most land-based service outages, the FCC said, with more than 400,000 customers still without cable TV and broadband Internet.
The information was supplied through a daily FCC report that is connected to its Mandatory Disaster Response Initiative (MDRI), through which licensed radio and television stations, wireless communication providers and land-based telecom services must report storm-related outages. The MDRI also requires wireless providers to allow for reasonable roaming on their networks and take reasonable efforts to make the public aware of service-related outages and restoration.
More than 120 people were killed across six states by the Category 4 storm, which caused significant wind damage in Florida and Georgia and created deadly storm surge that spurred flooding in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee.
President Joe Biden plans to travel to North Carolina on Wednesday to tour storm-related damage. He also intends to travel to Florida and Georgia later in the week, the White House said on Monday.
