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Tag Archives | emergency

October 2006: 28 weeks premature, Sophia Woyte is born

By on October 15, 2012 in History, Photos

October 19, 2006

Robyn and Sophia

Mother and child: Robyn and Sophia Woyte.

In Anchorage, doctors wait as long as they can, but they can’t wait long, and they deliver 2-pound 4-ounce Sophia Woyte, 28 weeks premature. Tom Busch takes pictures of mother and baby and e-mails them to Lynette Schmidt in Nome, who prints and gives them to Sophia’s small worried siblings, to assure them everything’s okay. At the age of one day, Sophia and mother Robyn are visited by John Woyte, whom the National Guard has flown home from Iraq. Little Sophia holds her own and is home by Christmas.

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October 1992: Seas surge in fall storm

By on October 1, 2012 in History, Photos
Whirlpool and seawall

On occasion, Western Alaska is beset with exceptionally strong fall storms. In November 2011, an oversized storm brought standing water on the city side of Nome’s seawall that, as it drained, created a small whirlpool. Photo by Matthew Smith.

October 5, 1992

The worst storm in eighteen years strikes Nome: a low-pressure center swells a storm surge to eight feet above normal, with waves cresting ten feet above that. Covered with flotsam and jetsam, Nome’s main thoroughfare is under water, and where it runs along the beach, half of it is gone. Several roofs blow away. Thanks to KNOM’s emergency generators, the station keeps residents calm and informed. The mission’s facilities are undamaged.

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Summer challenges: weather broadcasts and telephone lines

By on August 12, 2012 in Photos, Stories

CloudsRural Alaska’s brief summer brings more than its share of unique challenges, many of which we can anticipate. Every year, nonetheless, unexpected emergencies find a way of catching us by surprise.

This summer, our friends at the National Weather Service are working with KNOM to overcome their latest difficulties. Normally, weather reports air on both a special National Weather Service radio channel and on KNOM. Recently, however, the Weather Service’s radio channel has fallen into disrepair.

Until a repairman can be flown to Nome, KNOM’s role as a primary source of critical weather information will be even greater.

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