City Shouldn't Rely on Radio Station to Broadcast During Emergency

Last week, the Daily Egyptian newspaper of Southern Illinois, a student-run publication from Southern Illinois University, reported that the radio station WDBX did not receive the funding they needed to from the city council to proceed with purchasing an emergency generator. Jim Wall, vice chairman of the WDBX board of directors, said the station requested that the city pay half the cost of the generator, because it could be used during power outages to transmit emergency broadcasts.

While the city maintains that it has a generator to broadcast emergency information via radio station 1620 AM, Wall said that this transmitter doesn't serve citizens beyond a 3 block radius of City Hall. The council voted the request down because it does not have the funds.

Here's a great example of how unreliable radio broadcasts could be in an emergency. While a radio station in the area is willing to provide the emergency messages, they can't afford to do so without a new generator, and apparently, they can't afford to purchase one without financial assistance.

And the city claims to have a radio frequency set aside for emergency broadcasts, although the reach of that broadcasts seems suspect. Unfortunately, its the citizens that could potentially suffer. If the radio broadcasts fails or is limited in its scope, how will the students of the University and the residents of Carbondale receive emergency information, especially if the electricity goes out?

Communications Made Easy would be the perfect solution. Not only does it have several safeguards in place against a power outage, but it has the potential to reach many more residents and students than the radio station operated by the city. It's important for a city of 25,500 residents to have its own emergency communications system because of the sheer number of people who rely on the city to keep them safe in emergencies.

To read the full story from the Daily Egyptian, click here.