Full Coverage: Morning Rat Race Focuses on Hurricane Ian Recovery With Beasley Media Group CEO Caroline Beasley
Interviews With People On The Front Lines Of Hurricane Ian Me and the crew at 95.9 The Rat know exactly how hard it is to do disaster broadcasting and we’re…
FORT MYERS BEACH, FLORIDA – OCTOBER 03: A member of the City of Miami Florida Task Force 2 Search and Rescue team checks homes for victims in the wake of Hurricane Ian on October 3, 2022 in Fort Myers Beach, Florida. The death toll in the state from Ian rose to at least 100 today following the storm making landfall as Category 4 hurricane, causing extensive damage along the coast as rescue crews continued the search for survivors. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
(Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)Interviews With People On The Front Lines Of Hurricane Ian
Me and the crew at 95.9 The Rat know exactly how hard it is to do disaster broadcasting and we're sure that we never want to do it again. Being a source for live and local information after Superstorm Sandy ravaged the Jersey Shore was taxing both personally and professionally. However, we came out of the experience with a greater sense of community spirit and dedication to the Jersey Shore - where we work, shop, live, learn and play.
WRAT listeners may not know this but our company's headquarters are in Naples, Florida. Beasley Media Group headquarters were about 50 minutes away from Ian's landfall. Our coworkers lives and homes were threatened directly by this massive hurricane; we watched the news with great concern.
Because of the experience we had during Sandy, we are proud to help our Beasley Media Group co-workers raise funds for the American Red Cross to assist the recovery efforts on the south-west Gulf Coast. Hurricane Ian brought winds that were double what we experienced and a 14 foot storm surge. Sadly, the storm is responsible for over 100 human deaths.
On Monday, October 3rd WRAT dedicated the 8am and 9am hours to live interviews with members of the Gulf coast community that are working hard to recover from Hurricane Ian.
We were proud to speak with Caroline Beasley, the Beasley Media Group's C.E.O on what her experience was like and how the employees of our broadcast family are handling their disaster response.
"Supporting the community is what this business was built on 60 years ago."
-Caroline Beasley, Beasley Media Group CEO
Our interview efforts didn't end there. We also spoke with Tiffany Gonzalez who spoke to us directly from Ft Myers, Florida where the American Red Cross is assisting with recovery efforts.
The American Red Cross is assisting people who have quite literally lost everything in the storm.
"We're pretty much off the grid here in Ft Myers. The devastation is something incomprehensible."
- Tiffany Gonzales, Regional Communications Manager, South Florida American Red Cross
We also checked in with one of our co-workers who is a long time air personality on our sister station in Ft Myers, Florida. Stan from the "Stan and Haney Show" on 96Krock. Stan had spent the last 48 hours broadcasting life-saving information to their audience just like we had done during Superstorm Sandy. His words gave me chills.
"These are middle class people with families just trying to make ends meet: wiped out."
-Stan, 96Krock
Another radio industry friend checked in to share his experience. Ed Ryan is the editor of "Radio Ink" magazine - the go-to for radio managers and decision makers. Ed publishes this important industry publication from Ft Myers, Florida.
"People are pushing what's left of their possessions in grocery carts."
Ed Ryan, Radio Ink Magazine
