Last night, Wednesday, September 28, as I took to the airwaves at 9:00 PM eastern US Time, I let my audience know that one of the radio stations which carries my show around the world, was being hit by Hurricane Ian. I explained that WRMI, Radio Miami International in Okeechobee, Florida, was very near the path of the hurricane after the storm made landfall, and as such, could go off the air if they lose electric. Minutes later, off they went.
I was messaging back and forth with the radio station guys just prior to the start of my show and at the time, they still had electricity, but they said "the lights had been flickering a couple times." At around 9:30 PM, the electric went out and they were radio silent.
I finished up my show at the normal 11:00 time and when I got off the other radio stations, I saw another text from the guys at WRMI. The electric had gone out and the winds were "ferocious." At that time, they did not know if the storm had damaged the antenna field.
The WRMI Okeechobee site is the largest privately-owned shortwave station in the Western Hemisphere, with 14 transmitters (most of them 100,000 watts) and 23 antennas beamed in 11 different directions around the globe. Here is what just ONE of those transmitters looks like in the facility:
They have a studio and administrative offices in Okeechobee in a 16,000-square-foot transmitter building about 20 miles north of Lake Okeechobee. The antennas and transmitters are located on a 660-acre site (that's one square mile of land) which is also used as a cattle ranch. For them to go down without electrical power is a really big deal.
So for the time being, my show can still be heard worldwide on WBCQ, using frequencies 7.490 and 6.160. It can also still be heard on KYAH 540-AM in Utah, and, of course, here on the Internet using the LISTEN ONLINE link in the menu bar above.
I will keep you informed as to the situation with WRMI.
In the meantime, we all pray for them and for all the people in Florida who are/were, in the path of this terrible hurricane.
