Community Corner

Fairfax County Takes to the Airwaves With New Radio Station

Locals can tune in 24/7.

by Jennifer van der Kleut

You never know when Derecho 2.0 could hit—so it's good to know there are a number of ways you can get emergency information from local authorities.

That list of ways now includes the airwaves.

Fairfax County announced Friday it now has its own radio station to help get out helpful information for locals during an emergency.

In a statement issued Friday afternoon, representatives said the idea came from local residents themselves.

"After the June 2012 Derecho storm, we conducted a community survey about communications. Nearly 6,000 respondents answered questions and generated nearly 18,000 individual comments, which provided us with some great insight for communications during future emergencies," County representatives said.

The most preferred method of receiving emergency alerts, according to those surveys, was mobile devices. The County already announced over the summer that it has tested and rolled out a way to automatically send a text message to anyone in the county's radius in case of an emergency.

The second most preferred method of receiving emergency information, according to the surveys, was via radio.

"It was suggested by many respondents that we create our own radio station that we program ourselves, so you don’t have to wait for commercial stations to get around to sharing Fairfax County-specific messages," representatives said Friday. "So, as an after-action, we have created our own Fairfax County Government radio station—an online Internet station that will be programmed and run by the Office of Public Affairs."

Residents can listen online as well as on their mobile devices 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in multiple ways, from anywhere, representatives explained.

Most days, the government will air helpful info and tips for locals on a variety of topics.

"And during emergencies, we will use the station to share important emergency information in an audio format, the same way we currently use other platforms," like the County's blog as well as its emergency alert system where one can get emergency alerts by both text and email, they said.

The radio station is already live and ready for locals to tune in and listen.

What do you think of the county's radio station? Do you think it will be helpful? 
Tell us your thoughts in the comments.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Kingstowne-Rose Hill