Flood response shows the power of radio

The power and immediacy of radio has once again come to the fore, as flood-ravaged communities across Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania brace for more wild weather over the coming days.

As Central Victoria was inundated, it was all hands on deck at Triple M Bendigo yesterday.

SCA South Victorian Content Director Leroy Brown finally got to bed around two o’clock this morning after keeping local listeners informed of the situation up until midnight.

Leroy tells Radio Today “I was sitting in the kitchen at home last night and I knew we were on the brink of emergency warnings breaking. I told my wife Kylie I’d be heading into work and she said ‘I’ll come with you.’”

With Kylie producing, the studio phones lit up.

Leroy says “Within about fifteen minutes, Kylie had three calls on air, one of them from a local footy club, members of which were handing out sandbags throughout the night.”

“The most amazing thing has been the community spirit shown in Bendigo and beyond. Residents and business owners from Shepparton to Rochester have pulled together to support each other.”

And there’s been little rest for the brekky team.

“They were out doing the rounds overnight – from one end of Bendigo to the other.”

“I don’t think we’ve seen anything like this in Bendigo since 2011.”

Leroy says the call to action demonstrates the immediacy of radio:

“This morning, the brekky show had a huge amount of calls from people giving updates. TV can’t give you that. Social media can’t give you that.”

The station will continue to keep listeners updated as the situation unfolds.

Bendigo community station Klfm also maintained a solid presence – keeping listeners informed via the airwaves and social media.

The situation hit particularly close to home for another community station: Seymour FM 103.9, which last night advised its listeners that its studios – which are in the evacuation zone – had been affected by floodwaters.

The station said “We’ll be off air until it’s safe to have electrical equipment up and running again. Please stay safe everyone and we’ll try to keep you updated via socials.”