Someone raised an interesting point in another newsgroup:

I noticed that the Clear Channel stations here in
Ann Arbor, both of them, 100% of the commercial FM stations* in Ann
Arbor, MI; were off the air for the entirety of the power outage. The
same was true for the CC FM station in Detroit that is on my pre-sets.
This shows how little they were ready to be of public service in time of
need. Something that should be pointed out and recorded for license
renewal time.

*excludes public radio/college radio and a religious station.

But I don't know--Are commercial FM stations required to be prepared for
emergencies like this? One would think that they should want to be
prepared, but is it a requirement?