DEAR ABBY: My husband and I travel the highways a lot and listen to the radio for weather reports. This can be very frustrating. The station call letters are broadcast (for example: XXXX), but never do they disclose the city they are from. They give weather alerts and name the affected counties, but never the cities they are near or in! When you are driving down strange highways (never traveled before) and hear the weather alerts (but no city or town named), it is impossible to read a map and try to find the name of the county, which is in small print.
This has happened to us twice. We drove right into tornado warnings not realizing it. The sky grew darker and darker and then the storm hit. Have you ever tried driving through St. Louis, road construction, blinding rain and lightning? I did. And I was a nervous wreck by the time I got through St. Louis. We couldn't even see the white lines on the highway. Our turnoff was blocked by road construction and we had to sit on the berm until the storm passed.
There should be an FCC regulation that forces radio stations to include their location and, if a weather alert arises, announce which main highways are included in the alert area. Please have pity on the poor traveler going through your state. I'm sure others feel as we do. -- INDIANA TRAVELERS
DEAR TRAVELERS: Your transmission has been received loud and clear -- so now hear this: This is Station ABBY in Los Angeles, imploring other broadcasters to mention their location along with their call letters. The information could be a lifesaver.