The Rock Community Radio is in need of the community’s help to get back on the air after strong winds caused their radio tower to blow over.
The station’s tower has been at the Morro Bay City Yard for 30 years but recently, a gust of wind blew the tower to the ground along with the antenna.
Hal Abrams, who founded the station in 2012, was able to recover the antenna.
“The antenna was not damaged. In fact, this is the antenna," Abrams said, holding up a piece of the antenna. "We just need to find a new place to put it. We’ve been off the air since November 15.”
The cost to get back on the air could vary based on the antenna’s location.
“If we have to put up a new tower, drop a PG&E line in somewhere, this could be $20,000 to $25,000 to do something like that. If we find an existing tower, we probably could get up for under $5,000 to $6,000. There’s a lot of unknowns where it’s going to be and where we’re going to put it,” Abrams said.
He says the radio station provides the community with a sense of togetherness.
“It connects the community as it did during COVID. It was one of the stations that reduced the isolation feeling that we were all feeling when we were locked up during lockdown. It really has brought the community together during a divisive time and it’s important that we have this resource so it’s important that we get this up really fast,” Abrams said.
“My son was on the Morro Bay High School football team and I travel a lot and sometimes I couldn’t be at the games, and it was my only source to listen to those games,” added Joe Yukich, The Rock Community Radio listener.
The station also provides emergency broadcast communications and alerts such as Amber Alerts or severe weather notifications.
“We hope to not be off the air much longer, but we don’t have a solution yet. We need to find a place to put the tower and we need the money to make that happen,” Abrams said.
To help bring The Rock Community Radio back on air you can go to their website to donate.
