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W1AW > ARL 20.11.05 19:55l 81 Lines 4407 Bytes #999 (0) @ EU
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Subj: arl letter Vol. 24, No. 45 2/6 $24452w1aw
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From: W1AW@KB9MMA.#SEWI.WI.USA.NOAM
To : ARL@ARL
==AMATEUR RADIO RESPONDS AS STORMS SPAWN RASH OF TORNADOES
Just weeks after assisting in hurricane relief efforts along the Gulf Coast
and in Florida, Amateur Radio volunteers responded in the wake of yet
another weather emergency. Strong thunderstorms resulting from a clash of
cold and warm fronts in the nation's midsection spawned tornadoes in several
states. The nearly three dozen twisters reported November 15 in Kentucky,
Indiana, Tennessee, Illinois and Missouri came a little more than a week
after tornadoes killed more than 20 people in Indiana and days after another
string hit Iowa, resulting in one death. Some 8000 customers were left
without electricity in the affected states, but Kentucky appears to have
been the hardest hit.
"Nets for SKYWARN were activated all across the affected areas," Kentucky
Section Emergency Coordinator Ron Dodson, KA4MAP, reported November 16. "We
also had the state EOC [emergency operations center] on the air on 3.993 MHz
last night as we were trying to get emergency information into and out of
the affected areas." Dodson told ARRL Headquarters that WX4NWS at the
Louisville National Weather Service (NWS) office was active during the
afternoon and evening of November 15 as forecasters tried to keep up with
the rapidly developing weather.
One person died in the Marshall County town of Benton, where a tornado
severely damaged a mobile home park. Upward of two dozen other people were
hurt, Dodson added.
Kentucky Area 2 District Emergency Coordinator Nick Bailey, KG4URI, said a
tornado ripped through the southern end of Madisonville. He estimated that
up to 30 ARES and RACES volunteers deployed throughout Hopkins County. Baily
reported "a lot of damage" but no deaths.
On November 16, three ARES teams equipped with APRS and GPS accompanied
search-and-rescue (SAR) teams going door-to-door. "Amateur radio provided
mostly SAR communications as the police repeaters were still up," Bailey
added.
According to Bailey, preliminary estimates had 35 to 40 homes severely
damaged or destroyed in the Madisonville area and possibly 10 in Earlington.
At least two dozen people were reported injured in Hopkins County, and the
count was expected to rise. A confirmed touchdown also occurred in Sharps.
Steve Morgan, W4NHO, an ARRL Great Lakes Division assistant director,
reported a tornado was tracked from Dawson Spring through Owensboro and into
southeastern Indiana. "I spoke with the deputy EMA director in Hopkins
County, Frank Wright, KA4IGR," he said at mid-week. "Amateur Radio is the
only reliable communications they have at the moment due to power outages."
Telephone service also was reported out in parts of Kentucky.
Indiana's latest encounter with tornadoes was not nearly as severe as that
of November 6. In the November 15 outbreak, one person was reported killed
in Hancock County when a car went out of control after running into water on
the pavement. Indiana SEC Dave Pifer, N9YNF, said property damage this time
was largely "hit and miss" across the state.
"I know the SKYWARN programs were hopping yesterday as we tracked the storms
through the area," he said. "At one point they would only take
tornado/funnel reports and significant damage reports because there was so
much going on."
Illinois SM Shari Harlan, N9SH, says her section seems to have largely
escaped the tornado outbreak. "It appears that while some straight line
winds toppled some structures in the Wabash, Edwards and Lawrence county
area, they escaped the afternoon round of storms," she said. She did note
one report of definite rotational echoes, however.
Iowa SEC Jim Snapp, NA0R, said Amateur Radio volunteers responded after a
series of eight tornadoes within a few hours hit central Iowa November 12.
The twisters hit parts of eight counties, he said, and one person was
killed.
"Homes, business and farmsteads were damaged or destroyed as the tornadoes
rampaged through the Iowa countryside and in some small communities," he
said. According to Snapp, K0DMX at the NWS Des Moines office started getting
reports of hail and tornado activity around 3:45 PM CDT. "Amateur reports as
well as other sources of storm information enabled the NWS staff to send out
updates to the storms activity and its path to the public," he said, adding
that a dozen hams contributed reports to the SKYWARN net.
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