Storms 25 Years Ago Changed WFDD's Course

It was 25 years ago today that a swarm of tornadoes swept through the southeast, and Winston-Salem was visited by three of them.

It was a day those who lived in the area then will always remember, and a day that ultimately changed the history of this radio station. 

Cleve Callison is now Station Manager of WQHR, the Public Radio station in Wilmington.  But on May 5, 1989, he was the manager here at WFDD.  And that was the day the tornadoes wreaked havoc --  injured about 30 people, destroyed homes and businesses -- and ripped down WFDD's tower.

"I was living at the time on Miller St. in Ardmore, which is not far from where the tower was located," Callison recalls, "Right near the five-points intersection there. The neighborhood was literally impassable, because of fallen trees. Of course, there was no power anywhere, and then I heard our station go off, heard WFDD go off, and the next morning was aware of the fact that the tower had fallen down. And there was a very dramatic picture that was taken by the newspaper, of the tower, just a twisted mess, lying across the road." 

And there was no way to let listeners know what had happened.  "We talked about, only half-kidding, about dropping a coat-hanger wire out of the studios, which were then in Reynolda Hall and just trying to let people know." 

For months, WFDD operated on very low power.  And during that time when the station could barely be heard, one thing really struck Callison.  "Well, I think the thing that really sticks in my mind, is how dependent people were on the station, and how much they missed it when it was gone."

Ultimately, the day the tornadoes tore a swath through the Triad turned out to be a pivotal day in the history of WFDD.  "Well, I think it was," Callison reflects.  "We had already been working on plans to go to a different location, and a higher power, or at least a higher elevation. And this certainly gave us an impetus to get going even faster on those."

Today, in the WFDD lobby, there's a framed article from the News & Record of Greensboro, headlined “WFDD is Down, but Not Out, after Friday's Storm.”  It hangs next to a twisted piece of the tower  that went down 25 years ago today.