WWNO Staff Back in New Orleans

After 89 days of exile in Atlanta, staff of New Orleans public station WWNO(FM) have returned home to their University of New Orleans studios.
When we reported on WWNO in September, the Class C1 was operating at 15kW using its own transmitter and tower outside of the city, but sharing studio space and a satellite uplink with Georgia Public Radio in Atlanta.
GM Chuck Miller said Monday marked the return of several local personalities to air; much of the network programming will return once the station completes a fiscal audit. The station was able to keep up a news department from 400 miles away, he stated in an announcement.
Miller credited Georgia Public Broadcasting, NPR, CPB and key employees for getting WWNO back on the air after Katrina made the UNO studios inaccessible and inoperable. CPB provided an emergency $20,000 grant towards the effort.
WWNO Chief Engineer Robert Carroll and Operations Director Ron Curtis gained access to the transmitter site with enough equipment and supplies to repair the facility and bring it up to operation.
PD Fred Kasten returned to his damaged home, set up a small studio and assembled a team of feature reporters who helped WWNO paint a picture of New Orleans recovery from the scene, the station said. Other WWNO staffers continued to work for the station from locations scattered across the country.
Miller predicted WWNO would become a case study for emergency preparedness in the public radio industry.