Broadcasters Serve as Lifeline During South Carolina Historic Flood

On Oct. 7, a "thousand-year rain" event dumped 11 trillion gallons of water on South Carolina. The 26 inches of rain submerged entire towns and killed at least 17 people. Radio and television stations provided lifeline safety information on how to access water, power and shelter and updates on road closures and conditions. These stations include Alpha Media’s WWDM-FM, WARQ-FM, WMFX-FM and WHXT-FM Columbia; Cumulus Media’s WLXC-FM; Summit Media’s WJMZ-HD2 Greenville; Raycom Media’s CBS affiliate WCSC-TV Charleston and NBC affiliate WIS Columbia; Sinclair’s MyNetworkTV affiliate WCIV-TV Charleston; and Tegna’s CBS affiliate WLTX-TV Columbia.

WLTX-TV aired more than 101 hours of storm, rescue and relief coverage. WLTX hosted a phone bank for the Salvation Army Disaster Relief fund and another for residents to access safety information such as road closures. "People in the Hispanic community didn’t understand the boil water advisory and their children were getting sick because they drank the water. We were able to get the word out—in Spanish," said WLTX President and General Manager Rich O’Dell.

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