And when the wind blows…

December 8, 1976 – Several FM radio stations went off the air at 9 AM today after high winds blew over the KZAM radio transmitting tower on Cougar Mountain near Issaquah. The tower fell across Puget Sound power and light company lines which supply power to other FM transmitters on the mountain, cutting off those stations as well. Some station switched to auxiliary power—KISW, KVI, KIXI and KZOK. Other stations, including KRAB, were off the air indefinitely. Tom Corddry, KZAM Program Director, said a guy wire supporting the tower was pulled from its foundation. He said the station‘s tower is owned by Ratelco Inc. Corddry said it would be several days before the tower could be repaired and normal power restored to the station. Gusts of wind also blew trees and branches into other Puget Sound power lines, causing outages for thousands of residential customers.