Music stations have a role to play in situations like the recent storm. As David said, people know where to go for wall-to-wall coverage. People also want a place to go to escape wall-to-wall coverage, but they do need to be informed of new developments. That's the balance that a music station needs to find.
There is definitely information out there that doesn't violate any copyrights. For example, the National Weather Service is an excellent source. In fact, it's the source of information for most of the "exclusive" forecasts that rarely vary significantly from the NWS zone forecasts and/or information available in the warnings and advisory sections of the site. There's plenty of traffic information and CAMS available from NITTEC and the state DOT. All it takes is talent with the information gathering and communications skills required to put together and update a synopsis that keeps people up to date. If people are incapable of that, they don't belong on the radio. They're simply not prepared for the medium. Good grief, most air talent is expected to not only broadcast (often on multiple stations), they're expected to blog and post on social media. They'd better have good enough communications skills to do that.
Of course, that requires live bodies to do the work and get it on the air, either live or close to live via VT. The real failure is syndication that simply blithely blathers on while a storm puts people in danger. Whether it's snow, wildfires, earthquakes, or hurricanes, GOOD radio plays its part - or should.
