Richland Center residents rely on WRCO. Some say its efforts to stay on the air during the flood saved lives.

WRCO has been on the air since 1949, but stopped broadcasting for the first time Sunday when flood waters hit. Employees scrambled and were back on two hours later. What happened on the airwaves after that is what residents are talking about now.

When flood water rose three feet in front of the radio station last Sunday, General Manager Ron Fruit braced for another 1992.

"If we could just keep the water out of the building, we'd be able to stay on," says Fruit. "That is what happened in 1992."

Ron keeps a collage of photos from the flood that year, but this time sandbags could not save the station.

"Standing with my wife and family up at the school and...seeing the radio station just in the middle of a lake, we asked ourselves can we do this again?"

WRCO employees moved equipment to a tiny transmitter site and broadcasted on AM radio there. But lightning struck its FM transmitter and receiver. The station worked to find a spare, then moved shop again to the Star Spangled Celebration offices in downtown Richland Center. The station was forced to stop broadcasting for two hours Sunday. Stil,l the information WRCO provided after those two hours proved critical.

"Ron and his crew just worked overtime to let everyone know what roads were closed, what numbers to call, what was going on," says WRCO listener Dawn Welte.

"Turn around instead of drowning was the whole thing," says Fruit. "We talked about electrical safety, not going in your basement."

"People do appreciate them," says Wetle. "I'm going to send a challenge out: let's see if we can fill their mailboxes with thank you notes."

"When someone says it made a difference or I felt better because you were on the air, that's the most rewarding part of the job," says Fruit.

Ron says he has never seen such severe flooding in Richland Center and may consider moving the station's location to higher ground.

The station hopes to have its phone lines working again Wednesday. If you want to send a thank you card, the station's mailing address is:

WRCO
PO Box 529
Richland Center, WI 53581