St. Louis’ KMOX (KMOX-FM) provided critical community service over the weekend while a tornado touched down.

As ominous storm clouds gathered over the western St. Louis suburbs, radio engineer Kyle Hammer found himself at the forefront of a battle against nature’s fury. Monitoring the approaching system, he noticed when a transmitter site in the storm’s path lost commercial power, automatically switching to generator backup.

Roughly 35 minutes later, the unthinkable happened: the KMOX transmitter site itself was directly hit by a devastating EF-3 tornado. The powerful twister ripped through the area, leaving a trail of significant destruction and plunging the entire vicinity into darkness, silencing the FM signal. The AM signal remained functional.

As soon as it was safe, Hammer got in his truck for the three-mile drive that took about an hour and a half. There were dozens of downed trees and power lines, some blocking the entire road. Finally reaching the ravaged site, he restored power, bringing FM back online. In the wake of a catastrophic natural disaster, the station’s return to the airwaves provided a crucial service, ensuring listeners had access to the most up-to-date information during a time of immense need and uncertainty.

“I want to give a huge shout-out to the entire team at KMOX for outstanding, minute-by-minute coverage on the storms,” said Becky Domyan, Senior Vice President and Market Manager, Audacy St. Louis and Wichita. “I can’t reiterate how much this information was life-saving, and big kudos to News Brand Manager Beth Coghlan for leading her team through this calmly and accurately.”

“I actually was driving on Mason Road near Lindbergh when it hit, and I have driven through storms many times,” said Domyan. “For the first time in my life, in this situation, I was terrified. At that moment, I tuned into KMOX to get an idea of where the storm was, so I knew what I needed to do to be safe. In times like this, we are there to provide information that truly saves lives. I couldn’t be prouder of everyone on our team.”