Blizzard in Buffalo

[dampier]

My best wishes to everyone out in Buffalo coping with the October blizzard. I know a lot of you won't see this message for a few days because you don't have power. More than 330,000 people west of Rochester are right there in the same boat.

The nasty weather is impacting the western listening area of Rochester, notably in Orleans and Genesee counties, but the real story on the news has been Buffalo and it is getting lots of coverage.

The Buffalo News website at this moment hasn't been updated since yesterday so I assume they are down and out right now. A lot of the other media websites for Buffalo are slow, and streaming has been up and down. I've been following the coverage mostly on WBEN which is easily heard here in Rochester on 930 (or the direct link - avoid the nonsense where they make you sign up for access:

http://webclust1.liquidcompass.cc/sos4cust/entercom/audio_player.php?id=WBEN#

Unfortunately, a lot of their staff never made it in, and there have been boatloads of technical problems, including running weather forecasts for yesterday this morning. Bauerle seems to be largely born from the same stuff as Bob Lonsberry. He wants people to go out in snowmobiles and provide help, even though the state police do not want people out there. What is it with radio people trying to outdo the authorities?

The coverage has been reasonably good, and especially in responding to listeners who have been trapped on the Thruway since 1 AM. They managed to get a trooper on the air within a half hour to tell people what is holding up traffic.

My biggest issue with the station is the HUGE ad load on WBEN. Normally when we have a big weather mess here in Rochester, a lot of the ads are dispensed with, but not on WBEN. Ad after ad after ad. My only guess is that maybe they are running them because they are short-staffed and need some downtime to collect information to get it out.

 

[dampier]

WBEN announced it was going commercial-free as of 11:15am during storm coverage. That's community service... kudos for that decision.

 

[ericNY]

hopefully everyone in the Buffalo area is staying safe. I remember the ice storm in the Rochester area back in 2003 when many communities were out of power in some cases well over a week. I didn't have electric for about 5 days. Hopefully everyone there is staying warm. I remember goin to Hilbert college (in Hamburg) in 2000 and almost getting stuck there cause of a blizzard that closed the thruway. I ended up taking route 20 to Canandiagua and then back roads to get to Newark.

 

[Radknowski]

It may take a while before this thread receives posts from the Buffalo regulars, primarily because power is out to about 250 thousand customers of NYSEG and the National Grid. This storm is unlike any other that Buffalo has endured over the years. Veterans are saying it's as bad, if not worse that the Blizzard Of 77 or any of the ice storms of the late 70s or 80s.

This storm seemed to surprise all the weather pros. Initially, 4 to 6 inches of snow was expected to fall in bands over areas of Western New York. But by 11 p.m. Thursday, the media meteorologists were scrambling to modify their forecasts. By 11:30 p.m. most areas of Western New York, including Buffalo, were beginning to experience power failures. Don Paul openly admitted to "not getting it right."

Heavy wet snow weighed down branches, snapping them like twigs, causing them to fall on and take down power lines, block roads and streets, closing schools and forcing cancellations .Some areas received as much as two feet of snow.

WBEN has risen to the occasion and become the station of necessity. Regardless of what's said and written here about Buffalo's only commercial news station, WBEN has done a commendable job (with only a few chinks attributable to the frantic and rapidly changing environment.)

WBFO has provided good service as well, though not to the extent of WBEN. 97 Rock was reliable, relatable and informative on Friday, the morning after the storm, putting callers on the air and doing their best to answer questions. Star 102.5, having the news resources of WBEN at its fingertips, also performed well. While getting something to eat Friday evening at the local gin mill-restaurant, Channel 2 appeared to be doing a solid job providing full service and a continuous updated bottom-screen-crawl of relevant information.

 

[Mark_Giardina]

Re: Blizzard in Buffalo-Radio At Its Best

Emergencies, like the recent blizzard in Buffalo, only prove that radio still plays an important part in our lives.

I can remember numerous times when the station(s) I worked at had to interrupt regular programming for continuous coverage of either a storm or some other disaster. That is when having dedicated veterans at the helm provides a station with creditability.

It's just a shame that some in management don't realize that until an emergency strikes. Then, after patting themselves on the back for the work others have done, they go back to the mundane routine.

Congratulations to the hard-working staffs at WBEN and I’m sure the public radio stations in Buffalo for a job well done. (Also the TV stations)

 

[Radknowski]

Snow Storm in Buffalo

Just to verify and for the record. The October 12-13 Buffalo snow storm was not a blizzard. The wind speed was quite low, nowhere near blizzard conditions.

Weather professionals describe the storm as a classic lake effect weather system, very unusual and more often seen in November and December. It's the earliest snowfall of its magnitude in 137 years... in other words, "ain't never seen anything like this 'afore..."[/Mike]

 

[dampier]

Yes I know it wasn't a blizzard but I am a sucker for headline writing. WBEN calls it The October Surprise. It's evidently a welcome one for Tom Reynolds who is on WBEN constantly now. Nothing like constituent service to try and get over a national controversy!

The mess out there remind me on our early 1990s ice storm, which basically took out a huge number of our trees and left us without power for seven days, generator free, in early March. Brrr... and a flooded basement too... yay.

I know the novelty of Pioneer Days wears thin after day three. Then people start hunting for power company people with shotguns to kidnap them. The good news is, on my driveabout here in Rochester Saturday and Sunday, the NYS Thruway is LOADED with Asplundh tree trucks and power company convoys from all over the northeast... dozens of trucks at a time. RG&E sent a boatload of crews from Rochester early Friday going out on back roads to avoid the Thruway.

 

[SirRoxalot]

Snow Flakes

I guess we can tell who the big boys are at Citadel Buffalo. As far as my battery-powered GE SuperRadio was concerned, 97-Rock was the only station that remained on the air full-time during the storm. WHTT was MIA on Friday, and tough to tune in on Saturday and Sunday. I assume they were running at reduced power. WEDG wasn't running at all AFAIK until Monday.

As I tuned around I found WJYE and Jack playing muzak, along with Star and Kiss. I don't know if they missed any airtime because I was on my way to WBEN, who had the most coverage and most information. I also checked out WNED AM, but was disappointed to hear syndicated programming while WBEN was live and local.

Over all, WBEN owned the storm coverage, and a LOT of people who were (are) without TV are glad that they were there.

 

[Element9]

Re: Snow Flakes

97-Rock was the only station that remained on the air full-time during the storm. WHTT was MIA on Friday, and tough to tune in on Saturday and Sunday. I assume they were running at reduced power. WEDG wasn't running at all AFAIK until Monday.

Inexcusable. Was it a case of transmitter problems, the STL or power issues? Is there no backup generator? If 97 Rock was on, why not WEDG and WHTT? This is not the best thing to happen to any radio station during a snowstorm when listeners want and need information. More critically, the Fall book is on. Shame!
-9-

 

[Mike Sheridan]

Buffalo as far as I know was one of the last markets with FM penatration. Not because FM wasn't there but because in weather situations WGR, WBEN, WEBR and WKBW were there with the goods. They gave needed information and listeners really formed a bond with the AM station of their choice whichever one it was. The AM's in Buffalo had a loyal listener base that lasted longer than most markets. The high profile personalities were a big part of the reason these stations succeeded longer than most too.

What do you think? Am I off base on that? Moving to South Florida I felt that radio there was okay but not quite as entertaining and the people didn't take it as seriously as radio was taken in Buffalo.

 

[Philip_Airtime]

I just want to take issue with Rox's comments about WNED. Yes, they were in syndicated programming Saturday. But they did updates every half-hour. Plus, on Friday, they provided seven hours of local talk, taking calls from listeners. They did so again on Monday. You gotta keep in mind, Rox, that WNED-AM doesn't have the staff to do what WBEN has done around the clock. I think it's admirable that WNED was able to do what it did.

The same is true at WBFO. Both stations have done their best to get information out, especially during their morning and afternoon news magazines. I know of two staffers at WBFO who each walked three miles on Friday to get into work because their streets were clogged.

But I for one also want to commend WBEN for the outstanding job it's doing. Their round-the-clock talk shows and live coverage of news conferences since Friday may very well be unprecedented. Yes, there have been instances of such coverage for 48 hours or so during past storms. But can anyone remember a time where they've done it for 24 hours, five days straight? I'm sure that even during the Blizzard of '77 the station was probably playing music between information breaks. So, kudos to the entire 'BEN staff. Keep up the great work!

 

[alw]

Re: Snow Flakes

I also checked out WNED AM, but was disappointed to hear syndicated programming while WBEN was live and local.

WNED was "Live & Local" all day and into the evening Friday reporting on the crisis and taking calls from those who had phones and radios.
On Saturday WNED continued coverage with extended newscasts and the news staff broke in with any new developements that developed. When all salient information was disseminated returning to regular programming, just as WBEN returned to lengthy blocks of spots.

The same scenerio was carried over to Sunday.

On Monday morning at 10 WNED went back to the phones for 3 hours.
At about that time listener calls started to come in wondering if we hadn't reached the saturation point with the phones.
We decided to listen to our listeners (!) and return to regular programming, but continued to extensively cover the situation and broadcast the emergency numbers throughout.
We were at every single press conference and news event that WBEN and all the other media reported on.
It's now Tuesday and the world is continueing to make news.......and we are covering it, as well as the aftermath of the storm
I think we done OK!