Melburnians were told to prepare for a hurricane on the radio yesterday- updates on traffic, traffic lights out, electricity faults, train disruptions, Cuboree at Gembrook- are our cubs/scouts kiddies ok?!
Ok so it didn’t really arrive at 5pm like we were told to expect however our back fence at home was blown down and it did take me 3 hours to get home by train following a train being struck by lightening on my line.
Still, I came home adrenalised because I’d been listening to 3 hours of frantic emergency radio coverage with people calling in from all over Victoria with their experiences of the storm, sending photos in from their phones of the wreckage and giving advice to fellow commuters about which roads to avoid and alternative routes via calls and texts. In fact, i sent a text myself asking to be updated on the train situation from Connex since it had been over an hour since I’d last heard word.
It was live, it was collaborative and it was exciting and it reminded me why I love the medium. Even though I know all this can happen on the Internet, you know what, our Internet service was down last night due to the storms!
So even though no hurricane hit, radio created an eventful day.
Libby McDonald is doing research into ABC’s role in emergency communications so keep an eye on her blog if you’re interested in her findings.
