The Storm

Auntie Em it's a twister!

Well... Perhaps not but it was something close.

Strong thunderstorms were passing through the Metroplex that day. People from across the street from our studios describe seeing the roof peeling off and falling into the parking lot behind out building.

Chris

I was walking back to my office from the KVTT studio which was on the opposite side of the building. I had made it to the kitchen area and could see though the window what looked like trash swirling around in our back parking lot. The building then shook and I yelled out "It's a tornado!" I managed to reach a doorway and placed myself there for a moment and it was over within seconds. When I went back to the window I could see what had happened.

July 7, 1999

West side of building

The whole roof with the exception of the southeast corner was indeed in the back parking lot and rain fell inside the building for several hours. The section that remained, fortunately, was the part that covered KVTT's master control, production room and talk show studio. Once power was restored that evening KVTT was back on.

The Power FM studio didn't fare so well. It had just been completed and we were within days of signing on. We were succesful in covering and saving the mixer board and other vital equipment. The studio furniture, however, did get wet and on close examination you could see warped wood around its seams. We used it anyway. It was a souvenir to help us remember that day.

The building was a shambles, though. You could see the sky above the Power FM studio and the process of drying out the walls and reconstructing the roof postponed Power FM's launch by several weeks.