Two Years After Helene, Western North Carolina Builds a Radio Network That Won't Go Dark

Some disasters leave a mark that outlasts the headlines. Two years on from Hurricane Helene, which tore a 500-mile path along the US Atlantic coast in September 2024, western North Carolina is still shaped by the memory of the communications blackout that came with it — and it's now doing something concrete about it.

WPVM, 103.7 FM, was one of the few voices still broadcasting when Helene knocked out the power grid, internet, and cell towers across the region. Rather than treat that as a one-off crisis to move past, the station has since built out an emergency alert network — one that deliberately leans on amateur radio to stay resilient when everything else fails.

Sign-Up Is Open Now

According to a report on the Mountain Xpress website, households across the region are being encouraged to connect to the new system by signing up at RadioAsheville.org/alerts.

The decision to partner with hams comes directly from what happened during the storm itself, when amateur operators were the ones relaying real-time information — wellness checks, road conditions, water-distribution points — when nothing else was getting through. Alongside agreements with emergency-radio networks, the system also makes use of Winlink peer-to-peer radio messaging, all handled wirelessly.

Built to Keep Working

WPVM's general manager, Davyne Dial, told Mountain Xpress the aim was to create "something that keeps working when everything else stops" — layering solar power for when the grid goes down, ham radio for when the internet fails, and text or satellite messaging for the moments when even a phone can't get a signal at all.

It's a genuinely practical example of amateur radio being built directly into a community's disaster planning rather than treated as a backup plan nobody thinks about until it's too late — exactly the kind of partnership more regions could stand to copy.