After Hurricane Maria, WNYC Engineers Help Restore Radio in San Juan

During a crisis, listening to the news becomes a necessity. But during Hurricane Maria, local public radio station WIPR was knocked off the air. The storm had devastated much of its broadcasting equipment, leaving silence.

That's when mainland public broadcasting outlets and radio engineers — including WNYC's Dannie Raghunath and Peter Polanco — decided to step in.

WIPR's radio and TV station serves about a third of the island, including its largest city, San Juan. According to the head of WIPR's Engineering Department, Allegro 91.3 FM will need a year to restore full power. The FM channel broadcasts to approximately 50,000 people every day. The station plans to expand coverage, albeit on low power, within the next four months.

Alaska Public Radio shipped a radio-to-go kit to New York, thanks to funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and coordination from the Latino Public Radio Consortium. Raghunath and Polanco packed the kit and flew down to San Juan to help WIPR rebuild their transmitter.

Dannie Raghunath (left) and Peter Polanco (center) flew to San Juan on October 12, 2017 to help WIPR rebuild.

(Jose Otero)

"It's a 1,000-foot tower that collapsed, totally collapsed. A 1,000-foot tower with an elevator in it, so it just gives you an idea of how large the tower was," said Raghunath.

The team stayed for a week to help rebuild the station's transmitter and to replace cables and replace other equipment that was damaged during the storm.

"We did our best to do our part," Raghunath said. "We can't do everything, but I think if everyone does their little part in helping their fellow human, everyone can come together and make the recovery process quicker."