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W1AW > ARES 20.11.05 18:43l 104 Lines 5126 Bytes #999 (0) @ EU
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Subj: The ARES E-Letter 11/06/05 2/4
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Sent: 051120/0245Z @:KB9MMA.#SEWI.WI.USA.NOAM #:4921 [RACINE] $:4921_KB9MMA
From: W1AW@KB9MMA.#SEWI.WI.USA.NOAM
To : ARES@ARL
+ Hurricane Volunteers to be Honored in QST
Amateurs who participated in communications support during recovery
efforts for hurricanes Wilma, Rita and Katrina will be honored with a
special listing, including names and call signs, in the February
issue of QST magazine. To be eligible for the list, you must complete
the ARRL Hurricane Relief Volunteer Service Report on the Web at
<www.arrl.org/FandES/field/agencies/vol-report.html}. The deadline
for the QST list is December 9. You do not have to be an ARRL or ARES
member to be included in the list.
+ Evansville (Indiana) Tornado Response
[As reported in the ARRL Letter, Amateur Radio volunteers assisted in
relief and recovery efforts after the November 6 tornado that left 22
people dead and hundreds injured. Here are operational aspects from
Bob Pointer, N9XAW. -ed.]
A station was set up at the Evansville Salvation Army office by the
request of well-known SATERN manager Major Pat McPherson, WW9E, and a
net control took names and call signs of volunteers. Assignments were
made, and operators placed at priority locations in the affected
area. The local repeater would not provide enough coverage, so a
portable repeater was set up in Chandler, Indiana, a more central
location for most areas. Two simplex repeaters were also added.
Radio amateurs provided logistical communication support to the
Salvation Army's Mobile Canteens. These canteens served hungry
working crews in the disaster areas. Calls for extra food and
supplies were handled as well as messages to and from Salvation Army
volunteers in the field. (Cell phone service was unreliable).
Local amateur volunteers contributed more than 500 person-hours. Some
amateurs who could not work donated their radios, antennas and power
supplies to the effort. Others used their personal pickup trucks with
two-meter radios as delivery vans. They burned a lot of their own
gasoline, and put in long hours.
Coincidentally, an emergency communication class had been held just
before the tornado disaster struck; many lessons discussed in this
class were employed in the actual response.
The Evansville SATERN was shut down on Sunday, November 13, after
eight days in operation. For photos and more coverage, see:
<http://www.w9og.net/} -- Bob Pointer, N9XAW
+ October Rains on the Northeast; Amateur Radio Shines
SKYWARN networks in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New
Hampshire were active Friday, October 14, and Saturday, October 15,
as heavy rainfall led to flooding across much of the New England
states. This same area was hit by heavy rainfall on the previous
weekend, and rain continued intermittently throughout a nine-day
period that began on October 7 and ended October 15.
Operations started at the National Weather Service Forecast Office in
Taunton, Massachusetts under call sign, WX1BOX, Friday evening. First
reports of flooding came from southwest New Hampshire. As the night
wore on, the heaviest rainfall and flooding would push into southeast
New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. Homes,
apartments, and businesses were evacuated for floodwaters in this
region as numerous small rivers, streams and brooks flowed out of
their banks causing various road washouts, closures and flooded homes
and basements.
NWS Taunton SKYWARN operators stayed up through the night to provide
critical reports to the weather service, which were relayed to state
and local emergency management officials. VHF and UHF repeaters
including six meter machines were employed, as was an EchoLink/IRLP
VoIP cross-link system known as the New England Network.
With daylight, the severity of the flooding became clearer and rain
continued to fall. Rivers flooded more homes and businesses,
resulting in rescues by boat. Amateur Radio was the vehicle for
intercommunication and operability among public safety agencies and
the National Weather Service. Through Saturday, reports of road
closures, rivers and streams flooding roads, homes and businesses in
flood-prone areas across much of Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode
Island were reported by Amateur Radio SKYWARN spotters.
The SKYWARN activation spanned more than twenty hours and four states
with more than one hundred flooding and rain gauge reports handled.
"This exemplifies Amateur Radio's importance to operations for the
NWS Forecast Office in Taunton, Massachusetts, and is the biggest
reason why I obtained my Amateur Radio license five years ago," said
Glenn Field, KB1GHX, Warning Coordination Meteorologist of the NWS
office. "We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the entire amateur
community in the Connecticut, Western Massachusetts, Eastern
Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire ARRL sections for their
timely severe weather reporting to NWS Taunton for the protection of
life and property," Field said.
[This report from Bruce Hayden, NI1X, Taunton RACES Radio Officer and
ARES EC who also wrote a report on the Whittenton Pond Dam threat
seen on CNN. Readers can view his report at the following link:
<http://www.ema.arrl.org}].
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