This story is part of Rethinking Resilience, a BPR and Grist series that explores the tools, skills and networks helping Western North Carolina prepare for future disasters.
Every Saturday night, William Walker has a standing appointment with his radio. The retired railroad worker runs a weekly check-in out of Fletcher, and with the help of a repeater installed high in the Blue Ridge Mountains, he connects with dozens of fellow radio enthusiasts who have turned the art of talking on the radio into a hobby.
Over a crackly signal, Walker fields the check-ins, also known as a “net,” from radio users who hail from as close as Arden and as far away as Blacksburg, South Carolina. People share little snippets about their life: a 41st birthday, a granddaughter’s wedding, an afternoon spent cutting up firewood. Then, Walker hits them with a trivia question. This week, the theme is mental health.
“True or false: Avoiding your phone for an hour or two can make ordinary activities seem surprisingly interesting?” Walker asks cheerfully. “I’m gonna go with true,” one user replied. “You’re correct,” Walker shot back. “Taking a break gives your attention a chance to settle, making things such as reading, cooking, walking, or simply watching the world outside feel more rewarding.”
These exchanges go on for about a half an hour – with Walker serving as master of ceremonies.
“It's kind of like having family come into your living room every Saturday night,” he said later, in an interview with BPR. “We've tried to make it a very welcoming place. I mean if there was ever a bunch that’s never been a stranger, it's the people that I've met on the GMRS radio.”
The small talk and trivia are a good time, but these check-ins also serve a greater purpose. They give people a chance to “overcome their mic fright,” and make sure their equipment is functional before an emergency situation arises, Walker said.
The need for a backup has taken on greater importance, two years after Hurricane Helene knocked out service for hundreds of thousands of Western North Carolina residents, leaving many cut off from loved ones and vital emergency information. GMRS, or General Mobile Radio Service, can allow whole towns – or even a region – to communicate without internet or cell service. It’s also easy to sign up: A license costs $35 and doesn’t require a test.
This has brought on a surge of new users, with licenses increasing by 130% in the year after Helene, according to FCC data.
The "superpower" of radio
Fairview resident Justin Hamel saw the value of GMRS firsthand in the aftermath of Helene, when a nearby landslide blocked the only way out of his mountain home and left his neighborhood struggling with spotty cell and internet service for weeks.
“We were really struggling to connect,” he recalled. Soon after, Hamel managed to secure a few packs of “bubble radios,” or walkie-talkies with GMRS capabilities, and passed them out to his neighbors.
Though it wasn’t a perfect system, and sometimes the steep mountain ridges blocked signals, they were able to use the radio to transmit vital information about water, supplies and cleanup efforts. At one point, Hamel said he even helped relay a medical emergency to 911, which led responders to dispatch a helicopter in his neighborhood.
Inspired by the experience, Hamel went on to form WNC Radio Project, a nonprofit that educates people on GMRS and works to expand the reach of the radio signal through the installation of repeaters on mountaintops.
The repeaters don’t require any special permitting and can pick up the relatively weak signal coming from a walkie-talkie and dramatically amplify the system, Hamel explained. They are placed up high so that signals won’t be blocked by the mountains.
“With the aid of repeaters, you can talk across multiple counties,” he added. “Basically, think like a cell phone tower.”
Already, Hamel has installed two of these repeaters: one on Flat Top Mountain and another on Echo Mountain, extending radio coverage into the coves and valleys surrounding Swannanoa, Black Mountain and Garren Creek. And during recent weather events, like Winter Storm Fern, Hamel used these systems to communicate with neighbors about fallen trees and power outages.
“Radio's superpower is that it enables instantaneous ad-hoc group communication,” he said. “All you have to do is pick up your radio, turn it on and hit that button.”
A back-up for emergency responders
Hamel isn’t the only one pushing for more infrastructure. Local fire departments have also jumped on board, including Justin Lucia, the Reems Creek fire chief. He recently installed a repeater on the top of Hamburg Mountain, and says fire departments in Black Mountain and Alexander have also secured their own repeaters.
And in Yancey County, an area that saw some of the worst connectivity problems in the aftermath of Helene, Adam Trescott has started the Yancey County GMRS Facebook group.
This spring, he installed his first repeater, which can boost signals as far as 15 miles, he said, and he’s got plans to add a second one to link together the north and eastern portions of the county.
“This will really help Yancey County be able to communicate,” he said. “And it’s not just for an emergency. It can be used everyday.”
Trescott doesn’t have a regular net in Yancey County yet, but it’s on his radar. Earlier this month, he held a meet-and-greet in Burnsville.
“We had a great show out. We had 25 people show up to that meet and greet,” he said. “It felt really good to see that volume. It's like, man, there's more people than I realized that are getting involved with this.”
And when the next patch of bad weather hits, Trescott said the plan will be to turn the dial on the radio and check in with as many people as possible.
