Most Full-Power Stations Back On Air Following Iowa Derecho

It appears that all but one of the full-power radio stations knocked off the air by the Aug. 10 Iowa Derecho have now returned to the air.

KGRN/1410 (Grinnell) and “Energy 106.7” (KRTI Grinnell) reported on their Facebook pages on Monday, Aug. 17, that they are back on the air:

Meanwhile, KCCK/88.3 (Cedar Rapids) says in a member newsletter that it returned to the air Friday night, even though five subsequent FCC reports have said the station continues to report itself silent.

According to Wednesday’s FCC report, one other full-power station and five translators — all owned by the Educational Media Foundation — reported Wednesday morning that they were still off the air:

• KXGM/89.1 (Hiawatha-Cedar Rapids)
• K281BS/104.1 (Hiawatha-Cedar Rapids)
• K237GC/95.3 (Des Moines)
• K279BX/103.7 (Des Moines)
• K213DV/90.5 (Pleasant Hill-Des Moines)

Earlier, KROS/1340 (Clinton) reported Sunday that it has returned to the air. After its tower collapsed, KROS obtained special temporary authority from the FCC to transmit with 300 Watts from a longwire antenna. It said in a Sunday Facebook post that FM translator K290CL/105.9 could return to the air later this week.

KRQC-LP/107.9 (Davenport) is also included in the FCC’s report but had actually reported, prior to the storm, that it has been off the air since July 8 due to lightning damage.

Iowa Public Radio’s website had previously listed KNSB/91.1 (Bettendorf) as being off the air, but the listing was removed Monday.

25 radio stations and 9 TV stations used the system to report Tuesday that they were on the air. Dozens more did not report to the voluntary system.

The FCC is requesting that stations in a 24-county area report their status through the Disaster Information Reporting System by 10 a.m. daily.

Numerous stations had been briefly knocked off the air due to power outages in the immediate aftermath of the storm. WMT/600 (Cedar Rapids) is operating at reduced nighttime power after losing one of its towers.