From Far North Queensland as far south as the Sunshine Coast, communities and their radio stations are on cyclone watch as Yasi tracks across Australia’s northern coastline. It slammed into coastal towns in Far North Queensland in the early hours of this morning and has now been downgraded to category 3 as it passes inland. Premier Anna Bligh warned residents that power and communications are likely to be disrupted, and radio stations currently broadcasting to the area are hoping their transmission towers will remain upright and their studio premises will not be damaged during the catastrophic winds, seas and storm surges.
As an indicator of the severity of the storm, weather telemetry equipment on Willis Island weather station was taken out by the cyclone. The equipment was rated stable up to a category five cyclone, but the measuring equipment and transmitters were disabled as the cyclone passed.
Radio stations in the area have reported to radioinfo that they have done all they can to prepare and secure their transmission, but they fear winds and rain of that magnitude may inevitably damage their equipment. Some studios are in the evacuation area and it is possible staff may be forcibly evacuated and may lose power.
During the height of the cyclone one radioinfo reader reports that 4CA was being broadcast live on Sky Television’s APAC channel (see box below). Another reader says Mix Townsville lost power and went to battery backup.
Commercial networks Prime Radio and Southern Cross Media operate a number of stations in the cyclone affected region and independently owned 4KZ operates in Innisfail.
The ABC operates a large number of transmitters attached to its Far North Queensland regional network in the area, and there are a range of community stations in the area such as aboriginal stations 4KIG and Bumma Bippera, Cairns FM, 4CCC, and Coast FM.
ABC and commercial stations have both signed Memoranda of Understanding with the Queensland Government to be emergency broadcasters, although at one stage before the storm Premier Anna Bligh only acknowledged the ABC as the state’s emergency broadcaster.
Residents are begin advised to listen to the radio for the latest updates as the cyclone hits the coast and all emergency preparation documents (see below) urge people to pack a portable radio and spare batteries so that they can stay informed about the latest developments.
To listen to some station streams and check radio websites from the area click these links:
AM Radio
531 – 4KZ – Innisfail
693 – 4KZ/R – Tully
801 – 4QY – ABC Far North Queensland
FM Radio
88.5 – 4KZ/T – Mission Beach
89.1 – 4CCR – Cairns FM 89.1, Community Radio
89.3 – 4QCC/T – ABC Far North
92.3 – 4RCR – Living Waters Radio – Mareeba
92.7 – 4KZ/T – Cardwell
94.7 – 4ABCFM ABC Classic FM
98.7 – 4CIM – Bumma Bippera Radio
102.5 – 4KZ/T – Babinda/Innisfail
102.7 – 4CA – 4CA FM – Cairns
103.5 – Hot FM – Cairns
105.7 – 4QCC/T – ABC Far North
Community Radio Triple T Townsville
ABC FNQ’s facebook page is at www.facebook.com/ABCnorthqld?v=wall and the ABC’s national current affairs AM team is in FNQ broadcasting live from the affected area.
If you have news of how your station survived the cyclone please email us at [email protected] or post your news in the box below.