*SKYWARN Newsletter #254

Hello to all..

 

Newsletter article dedicated to ARRL Letter Articles...

Southern New England Weather Conference Saturday October 25th, 2008...

NOAA News Article: Dean, Felix, and Noel Retired From List of Storm Names..

ARRL Letter Article: Eight Tornadoes Ravage Eastern Virginia..

ARRL Letter Article: Tornadoes Sweep Across Midwest and Southeast US..

ARRL Letter Article: Hams Called to Action in Aftermath of China Quake..

ARRL Letter Article: Chinese Officials Give Kudos to Amateur Radio Operators..

ARRL Letter "In Brief" Article: Reporting NOAA Weather Radio Outages On the Web..

ARRL Letter Article: Hams Heed the Call When Tornadoes Sweep Through Colorado...

ARRL Letter Article: National Hurricane Center Director Joins WX4NHC Annual Test...

ARRL Letter Article: Amateurs Assist with Florida Fires...

ARRL Letter Article: Ham Radio Volunteers Provide Support for Santa Cruz Fire...

ARRL Letter Article: Hams on Hand As Floods Sweep Across Midwest US...

ARRL Letter Article: Hams Ready to Respond to Iowa Floods...

ARRL Letter Article and "In Brief" Article: Hurricane Dolly Operations...

ARRL "In Brief" Article: Georgia Hams Meet with FEMA...

ARRL Letter Article: Hams Ready for Fay...

ARRL Letter Article: Gulf Coast Prepares for Gustav...

ARRL web Article: Mississippi Hams Reflect on Hurricane Gustav, Prepare for Hanna and Ike...

ARRL Web Article: Hurricane Nets Stand Down from Gustav, Get Ready for Hanna...

ARRL Letter Article: Amateur Radio Operators Were Ready for Hurricane Gustav...

ARRL Letter Article: ARRL Ham Aid Go Kits Support Amateur Radio Operations During Hurricane Gustav and Beyond...

ARRL Letter Article: ARRL, Amateur Radio Gears up for Hanna, Ike...

ARRL Letter Article: Hurricane Ike Eyeing Galveston Island...

ARRL Letter Article: Hams in Texas and Surrounding States Active as Ike Pounds Gulf Coast...

ARRL Letter Article: Areas Not Directly in Storm's Path Also Affected By Ike and Lowell...

ARRL Letter Article: W1AW Supports Echolink Operations During Ike...

ARRL Letter Article: Hurricane Kyle VoIP Hurricane Net Operations...

ARRL Letter Article: Radio Amateurs Assist with Hurricane Kyle Operations..

 

Newsletter Issued: 10/5/08.

 

Newsletter article dedicated to ARRL Letter Articles...

 

After the extremely active severe weather season, it has been over

4 months since a SKYWARN Newsletter. This newsletter will be the

first in a series of newsletters to get caught up on the various

topics that should be applied to various newsletters. This newsletter

will largely be dedicated to updates from the ARRL on how Amateurs

across the country have helped in severe weather situations, hurricanes

and wild fire situations over the past few months. The newsletter

will also have information on the Southern New England Weather Conference.

Future newsletters will get into details on the historic 2008

Severe Weather Season, the Spring SKYWARN Strategy Meeting and other

interesting local/regional NWS Taunton SKYWARN topics.

 

Southern New England Weather Conference Saturday October 25th, 2008...

 

The Southern New England Weather Conference is scheduled for Saturday

October 25th, 2008 at the Clay Center at Dexter-Southfield School

in Brookline, Massachusetts. The Southern New England Weather

Conference Registration is open and costs are less than 2007. Details

on this year's conference as well as presentations from past

conferences can be seen at the following link:

 

http://www.sneweatherconf.org/index.shtml

 

The conference is a great way to learn more about the weather and

for SKYWARN Spotters to extend their knowledge on weather and also

meet other meteorologists from the National Weather Service in

Taunton, Massachusetts and from private industry and broadcast media.

 

NOAA News Article: Dean, Felix, and Noel Retired From List of Storm Names..

 

NOAA reports that the international committee has retired Hurricanes

Dean, Felix and Noel. Hurricanes Dean and Felix were category 5 hurricanes

that caused significant impact to portions of the Caribbean, Central

America and Mexico. Hurricane Noel caused significant issues over the

Caribbean and Bahamas and then impacted Southeast New England with

Cape Cod and the Islands experiencing hurricane force wind gusts.

 

Below is an article on the retirement of these named systems:

http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2008/20080513_stormnames.html

 

ARRL Letter Article: Eight Tornadoes Ravage Eastern Virginia..

 

The following ARRL Letter Article describes Amateur Radio support as

eight tornadoes ravaged Eastern Virginia. See article below:

 

==> EIGHT TORNADOES RAVAGE EASTERN VIRGINIA

 

When tornadoes swept across the state of Virginia on Monday, April 28,

local Amateur Radio operators responded to the call for assistance.

According to Ken Murphy, KI4GEM, Assistant Emergency Coordinator for

Portsmouth, an EF3 tornado touched down in Suffolk, Virginia around 4 PM

local time, plowing its way east into Norfolk, damaging scores of homes,

stores and cars and downing dozens of trees and power lines; Suffolk is

about 20 miles from Norfolk, Virginia. Soon after the tornadoes touched

down, Virginia Governor Timothy M. Kaine declared a State of Emergency

and directed state agencies to take all necessary actions to aid in the

response to widespread damage from the severe weather. About 140 homes

were destroyed, damaged or deemed uninhabitable.

 

The National Weather Service (NWS) confirmed eight tornadoes in

Virginia: City of Suffolk (strong EF3), City of Colonial Heights (EF1),

Brunswick County (EF1), Gloucester County (EF0), Mathews County (EF0),

Halifax County (EF1), Surry County (EF1) and Isle of Wight County (EF1).

 

"The tornado produced severe damage to many structures, downed large

trees, and destroyed power lines. Approximately 200 injuries were

reported and several homes and businesses were destroyed. There were no

fatalities," Murphy said. Upon spotting the tornado, Murphy placed a

call on the Portsmouth repeater, asking for someone to notify the

National Weather Service and the local EMS. A SKYWARN net was activated

on another repeater; Portsmouth Emergency Coordinator Dave Livingston,

K5SFM, and Bill Farmer, KI4GWC, served as Net control.

 

"This was an unusual activation in that an ARES AEC from one locality --

Portsmouth -- would not normally be on the scene of a tornado touching

down in another locality -- Suffolk," said ARRL Virginia Section Manager

Carl Clements, W4CAC. "Murphy requested that NWS be notified of the

tornado and that the fire department and emergency teams be notified so

they could respond. The Deputy Fire Chief of the Driver Volunteer Fire

Department (who was the on-scene commander at the time) was concerned

about the number of onlookers entering the disaster area. There were

many power lines down and trees in the roadway and on buildings, as well

as damaged natural gas mains. Some buildings were gone leaving a massive

debris field."

 

The Driver VFD Chief requested that ARES activate in order to assist the

local teams; 10 members of the Portsmouth ARES group responded. "The

Chief had Murphy assign hams to the roadblocks at the major

intersections to assist the police on the scene with traffic and crowd

control. We also kept the Chief informed of the locations of other

reported funnel clouds. At one point, the Fire Chief on the scene was

advised that one of the team members was tracking the rapidly moving

weather still in the area with the help of APRS," Clements said.

 

A spokesperson for the City of Suffolk said the area around Sentara

Obici Hospital in Driver (a community within Suffolk) was hardest hit.

The hospital was damaged but still able to treat patients. A

spokesperson for the hospital said about 60 injured people were being

treated there, and he expected most to be released. "We have lots of

cuts and bruises and arm and leg injuries," he said.

 

Clements said that no further assistance from ARES has been requested.

"All local police, fire, and EMS communications are intact and

functioning. As in any disaster, the Emergency Management Officials are

asking that unless you have a specific assignment from an on-scene

agency (Red Cross, Salvation Army, official search and rescue teams and

the like), please do not just show up at the stricken areas to offer

assistance."

 

ARRL Letter Article: Tornadoes Sweep Across Midwest and Southeast US..

 

The following ARRL Letter Article describes Amateur Radio support for

the Tornado outbreak that swept through the Midwest and Southeast US.

See article below:

 

==> TORNADOES SWEEP ACROSS MIDWEST, SOUTHEAST US

 

On May 9 and 10, a series of tornadoes swept across the Midwest and

Southeast United States. Throughout the storms, Amateur Radio operators

who had received the call for assistance responded promptly. An EF2

tornado blew through Stafford County, Virginia on May 9, causing damage

to more than 140 homes. On May 10, Picher, a town in the upper northeast

corner of Oklahoma, received the brunt of another storm system: an EF4

tornado zoomed through the town, killing six Picher residents. National

Weather Service (NWS) officials said the Picher tornado was 1 mile wide

at its widest point with wind speeds of 165 to 175 miles per hour. The

damage from the Picher storm system extended into Missouri and Georgia,

and 22 fatalities are blamed on that storm, 15 in Missouri alone; the

Picher storm spawned five twisters in Oklahoma and two in neighboring

Arkansas.

 

An EF2 tornado cut a 4-mile swath through Stafford County on Thursday,

May 8. According to Stafford County Emergency Coordinator Curt "Bart"

Bartholomew, N3GQ, ARES members handled more than 100 traffic messages

during the surge. The American Red Cross, the Stafford Sheriff's Office,

the Stafford Sheriff's Office 911 Center and the Stafford Emergency

Management Division all received communications support from ARES, and

ARES members set up a SKYWARN net 9 PM, May 8 to 1 AM, May 9.

 

Spotsylvania County Emergency Coordinator Tom Lauzon, KI4AFE, reported

that the Rappahannock Area Chapter of the American Red Cross requested

ARES support for communications between their headquarters in Massaponax

(in the Fredericksburg/Spotsylvania area) and nearby Gayle Middle School

in South Stafford County. "The radio room at the Red Cross, K4TS, was

staffed from 7:30 AM-6 PM on Friday, May 9," Lauzon said.

 

At least 160 houses were damaged in a Stafford County neighborhood, said

County Administrator Anthony Romanello, including 30 that have been

declared a total loss. Stafford County Fire Chief Bob Brown estimated

the damage at more than $15 million. Residents said the tornado blasted

in at about 10:30 PM Thursday amid a "lurid red-and-green sky laced with

lightning that sent many rushing into their basements, " Romanello said.

 

The Stafford County tornado was one of two that struck Virginia as

thunderstorms rolled northeast across the state Thursday night and

Friday morning. The NWS confirmed that a smaller tornado, producing 86

to 110 MPH winds, struck Henry and Franklin Counties south of Roanoke

about 8 PM Thursday. In addition, straight winds of about 100 MPH

damaged several buildings along a mile-long path in Spotsylvania County

and Fredericksburg, the weather service said. In central Virginia, the

storms flooded some roads and toppled trees. The storms dropped an

estimated 1 to 5 inches of rain in central Virginia, and possibly more

in places.

 

In Oklahoma, ARRL Oklahoma Assistant Section Emergency Coordinator Mark

Conklin, N7XYO, said served agencies were contacted and ARES groups in

the area were placed on standby status: "Amateur Radio SKYWARN spotters

were very busy and were of great help to the National Weather Service

office in Tulsa during the storm events."

 

Ottawa County Emergency Management said that homes, businesses and

vehicles were destroyed in a 20-square-block area at the south end of

Picher. In some cases, only a home's concrete slab remains. The storm

also downed power lines, utility poles and trees. The Oklahoma

Corporation Commission reports about 6300 homes and businesses are

without electric service due to the storms. The American Red Cross

opened a shelter at the First Christian Church in Miami.

 

Once a boom town of about 20,000, Picher's population had dwindled to

about 800 after waste from lead and zinc mines turned the area into an

environmental disaster and Superfund site. Oklahoma Emergency Management

Director Albert Ashwood said the Federal Emergency Management Agency

(FEMA) is unlikely to grant assistance to homeowners to rebuild in the

town. Jeff Reeves, 43, who has followed his grandfather and father as

Picher's fire chief, has lived in Picher all his life and has watched it

slowly decline. He told reporters, "With everything else that's going on

here, I'm not sure there is a recovery."

 

ARRL Letter Article: Hams Called to Action in Aftermath of China Quake..

 

The following ARRL Letter Article describes Amateur Radio's efforts

during the China Earthquake. See article below:

 

==> HAMS CALLED TO ACTION IN AFTERMATH OF CHINA QUAKE

 

On Monday, May 12 at 0628 UTC, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake hit Sichuan,

China. According to the Chinese Radio Sports Association

<http://www.crsa.org.cn/english.php>, the Chinese IARU Member-Society,

has designated the following frequencies for emergency services involved

in the rescue: 14.270, 7.050 and 7.060 MHz. The ARRL encourages US

amateurs to be aware of the emergency operations on those three

frequencies.

 

The CRSA Web site reports the following:

 

"On the afternoon of May 12, 2008, Wenchuan Area of China's Sichuan

province was struck by an earthquake. Communications in some of the

surrounding areas are currently cut off, and communications in some

other areas are experiencing network congestion because of drastically

increased traffic.

 

"Chinese Radio Sports Association therefore calls on its members to take

actions to ensure their amateur radio stations to operate properly, and

to the extent possible stand by on often used short-wave frequencies. If

any radio signal is heard from the disaster area, please do your best to

understand what is most needed by people in that area and report it to

the local government authority. If people in the surrounding areas need

to pass messages to their loved ones over the radio, please help them to

get in touch and get the messages across as soon as possible.

 

"Amateur radio stations in the disaster area and surrounding areas if in

working conditions should be used unconditionally to assist the local

earthquake disaster relief authorities, and subject to permission by the

said authorities, to provide communications services to them. For

emergency communications purposes, amateur radio stations may also be

used to pass messages for local residents on a temporary basis until

local telecommunications services resume. Amateur radio stations of all

regions should give way to and stand by for emergency communications."

 

At 1757 UTC on Monday, May 12, Liu Hu, BG8AAS, of Chengdu, a town in the

province of Sichuan, reported that a local UHF repeater survived the

disaster. "It keeps functioning from the first minute and more than 200

local radio hams are now on that repeater. A group of hams from Chengdu

has headed for Wenchuan, the center of the quake, trying to set up

emergency communication services there," he said.

 

Michael Chen, BD5RV/4, said that Yue Shu, BA8AB, also from Chengdu,

Sichuan, was reported to be active on the 40 meter emergency frequency

on Monday. "Up to now, there has been no further information available

from the center zone of the quake. There are a few radio amateurs there,

but all of the communications have been cut out, including Amateur

Radio," Chen said.

 

At 1858 UTC, Liu reported that the local UHF repeater in Chengdu "keeps

busy running after the quake. It helps to direct social vehicles to

transport the wounded from Dujiangyan, Beichuan and other regions.

Another UHF repeater also started working in Mianyan, supported by

generators, but they are going to face a shortage of gas." Chen said

that damage in Chengdu remains in the lowest level, but the situation is

"very very bad in the counties around. A few towns are said to be

destroyed completely. More than 7000 died in the town of Beichuan.

Casualties in several other towns are still unknown and not counted in

the published numbers. It is a long and sad day."

 

At 0831 UTC on Tuesday, May 13, Chen said that a group of radio amateurs

is now transmitting from Wenchuan, the center of quake: "Its signal is

reported to be very weak. They tried to keep communication with BY8AA,

the Sichuan Radio Orienteering Association in Chengdu, seeking for all

resources needed. During a contact finished a few minutes ago, they were

asking for raincoats, water, tents and outdoor living facilities."  --

Information provided by Michael Ye, BD4AAQ, and Michael Chen, BD5RV/4

 

ARRL Letter Article: Chinese Officials Give Kudos to Amateur Radio Operators..

 

The following ARRL Letter article follow-sup on Chinese Ham Operations

after the China earthquake with kudos given by Chinese Officials. See

article below:

 

==> CHINESE OFFICIALS GIVE KUDOS TO AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS

 

As disaster recovery efforts continue following the earthquake in the

Wenchuan area of China's Sichuan province on May 12, China's Information

Office of the State Council reports that the death toll has reached more

than 67,000 persons as of May 27. Communications in some of the

surrounding areas were cut off, and communications in some other areas

experienced network congestion due to drastically increased traffic.

According to the Chinese Radio Sports Association (CRSA) -- the Chinese

IARU Member-Society -- Chinese government officials and the news media

have recognized that when communications failed after the earthquake,

Amateur Radio operators stepped in to provide vital links.

 

CRSA designated 14.270, 7.050 and 7.060 MHz for emergency communications

use during the quake, but these frequencies are now no longer restricted

for this use; should a severe aftershock occur, CRSA said it will make

the call for them to be kept clear again.

 

On Monday, May 26, China Central Television (CCTV) reported that, "When

all other communication means failed, Amateur Radio operators came out!

An Amateur Radio emergency communication network was set up, and one of

the commanders, Liu Hu [BG8AAS], called for Amateur Radio operators on

air to provide services for disaster relief."

 

Fan Bin, BA1RB, on behalf of CRSA, said, "Thankfully, one main repeater

survived during the earthquake. This repeater provided 100 km coverage

to Mianyang. Amateur Radio operators from Chengdu, Shenzhen, He'nan went

to the center of the disaster area, set up repeaters in Beichuan County

and provided various valuable first hand information from the center."

 

CRSA officials said they hoped to report more detailed information on

the role of Amateur Radio emergency communications in the big earthquake

at a later date. In the meantime, Fan said, CRSA acknowledged that the

main organizer of local Amateur Radio traffic, Luo Minglin, BY8AA,

"continuously coordinated VHF/UHF communications for a 100 km radius

from Chengdu, the capital of southwest China's province of Sichuan. More

repeaters were set up in both Beichuan and Mianyang -- among the worst

hit areas outside the epicenter -- to form an effective Amateur Radio

communication network."

 

Zhang Zhen, BG8DOU, said that right after the earthquake, "Two ham radio

operators drove to the center of the earthquake area and had a repeater

set up by the morning of May 13. This repeater enabled the transmission

of rescue instructions and status reports, and was a main communication

channel for public use. The repeater carried communications for the

Mayor of Mianzhu City who gave orders to those on the front line rescue

and recovery activity."

 

The CRSA said it appreciates the support given by the Amateur Radio

community in helping to keep clear the emergency communication

frequencies of 7050 kHz, 7060 kHz and 14270 kHz during the critical

period after the earthquake: "Thanks for the cooperation and efforts

made by all Amateur Radio societies." The CRSA also acknowledged having

received inquiries and the "warm concerns" of Amateur Radio societies

worldwide. -- Information provided by Fan Bin, BA1RB, on behalf of CRSA,

via IARU Region 3 Disaster Communications Committee Chairman Jim Linton

VK3PC

 

ARRL Letter "In Brief" Article: Reporting NOAA Weather Radio Outages On the Web..

 

The following ARRL Letter "In Brief" Article gives a web link for

reporting outages of NOAA Weather Radio. See info below:

 

* The National Weather Service has announced a Web page for hams and

others to report outages of the NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards

Transmitters (NWR). The Web page

<http://www.weather.gov/nwr/outages.html> explains how to report a

transmitter that may be off air in a listener's area. -- Joe Lachacz

 

ARRL Letter Article: Hams Heed the Call When Tornadoes Sweep Through Colorado...

 

The following ARRL letter article is on Hams heeding the call when

tornadoes sweep through Colorado. See article below:

 

==> HAMS HEED THE CALL WHEN TORNADOES SWEEP THROUGH COLORADO

 

On Thursday, May 22 at approximately noon MDT, a large tornado touched

down in northern Colorado near the town of Windsor. Windsor, with a

population of nearly 19,000, is located approximately 10 miles southeast

of Fort Collins, and 50 miles north of Denver. According to ARRL

Colorado Section Manager Jeff Ryan, K0RM, initial reports indicated that

there was the possibility of extensive damage. Ryan said that Colorado

ARES District 10 was activated and David Markham, W0CBI, the Colorado

Section Emergency Coordinator, monitored the situation.

 

The funnel cloud, accompanied by golf-ball sized hail, blackened the

skies over Windsor as it knocked down power lines, shredded crops in

fields outside the city and blasted whole neighborhoods; the southeast

side of town was hit the worst by the storm. "It will be a long time

before the town recovers from this," Windsor Mayor John Vasquez said.

 

Ryan said reports indicated the Windsor tornado was just one of several

that swept across northern Colorado and part of Wyoming: "The storm

resulted in one fatality, and more than 100 people were treated on the

scene for some type of injury with another 18 people treated at area

hospitals. Damage is widespread and includes homes and business in Weld

and Larimer Counties. We also received damage reports from the smaller

towns of Gilcrest and Platteville."

 

The Weld County Sheriff's Office reported that the lone fatality, Oscar

Manchester, 52, a US Marine and Vietnam veteran, was killed in a

recreational vehicle that was destroyed in the storm at a campground

west of Greeley, about 60 miles north of Denver.

 

Colorado ARES District 10 Emergency Coordinator Randy Long, W0AVV,

reported that 31 operators provided communications service to the

Emergency Operations Center and Fire Department in Windsor, the Weld

County Emergency Operations Center, the Larimer County Emergency

Operations Center, the City of Loveland Emergency Operations Center, the

Loveland Mobile Command post and two Red Cross shelters.

 

"On Friday, the town was still without power and remained so until local

utilities could complete a survey of electrical transmission lines in

the affected area that is expected to take up to 48 hours," Ryan said.

"A mandatory evacuation for sections of Windsor is in effect due to gas

leaks and downed power lines. The National Guard is on duty and is

responsible for escorting emergency responders in and out of the area."

 

Colorado Governor Bill Ritter ordered the National Guard to aid rescue

and cleanup efforts. He visited the town Thursday evening, saying the

number of homes damaged was "significant" and declared a state of

emergency for Weld County. Representatives from FEMA were on the scene

conducting damage assessments. On Monday, President Bush approved

Colorado's request for federal disaster aid to help with the costs of

the storms and tornadoes, and declared Weld and Larimer Counties federal

disaster areas.

 

On Friday, Markham placed an additional 15 Amateur Radio operators in

Larimer and Weld County on standby in anticipation of an overnight

shift; he also requested adjacent districts to prepare in support of the

ongoing operations if necessary.

 

Windsor, Fort Collins and Loveland lie in the shadow of the Rocky

Mountains, where the Great Plains give way to steep hills. "It's very

unusual to see [a tornado like] this by a mountain range. It's kind of a

freak thing," said Captain Steve Fleming of the Poudre Fire Authority.

 

Ryan said that at the peak of the ARES operation, "Colorado ARES

District 10 had 55 operators supporting emergency response and relief

efforts in the aftermath of the tornado that touched down near Windsor."

 

ARRL Letter Article: National Hurricane Center Director Joins WX4NHC Annual Test...

 

The following ARRL Letter Article was on Director of the National Hurricane

Center, Bill Read-KB5FYA, joining WX4NHC Coordinators, Julio Ripoll-WD4R

and John McHugh-K4AG for the Annual National Hurricane Center Amateur Radio

Station WX4NHC Communications Test. See article below:

 

==> NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER DIRECTOR JOINS WX4NHC ANNUAL TEST

 

On Saturday, May 31, WX4NHC <http://www.wx4nhc.org/>, the Amateur Radio

station at the National Hurricane Center (NHC), held their annual

Communications Test from 1300-2100 UTC. According to WX4NHC Assistant

Coordinator Julio Ripoll, WD4R, this annual test has two purposes: To

verify that ham radio equipment will not interfere with any equipment at

the NHC, and to ensure proper performance of Amateur Radio equipment at

the NHC.

 

During the test, NHC Director Bill Read, KB5FYA, addressed the Amateur

Radio community on the VoIP Hurricane Net and on the Hurricane Watch Net

<http://www.wx4nhc.org/Bill-Read-QST.mp3>. Read spoke about the

importance of Amateur Radio in hurricane-related disasters and thanked

Amateur Radio operators for their support in past hurricanes. He

encouraged hams to continue to provide that strong support as WX4NHC

enters its 28th year of service and the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season

begins. Read made several contacts with Amateur Radio operators during

the test.

 

"We all know how important it is to maintain communications during a

hurricane to relay our hurricane warnings to those in the affected area

which may have no other means to receive this vital information," Read

said. "We are also very appreciative for the surface reports from those

in the storm which add to our database and help our forecasters better

visualize what is actually happening at the ground level in real time.

As our own ham radio station, WX4NHC, celebrates its 28th year of

volunteer service at the National Hurricane Center, we extend our thanks

to all ham radio operators that continue to support our mission to help

save lives."

 

Ripoll, calling the annual test "very successful," thanked all the

amateurs involved and called on them for their support as the hurricane

season starts up. During the test Ripoll and his crew also completed

antenna work in preparation for the season.

 

Ripoll said that the WX4NHC Annual Station Test started very early on

Saturday with three of the operators replacing the main HF dipole. "The

dipole runs from the 100 foot tower to the top of the Hurricane Center

Building and was reinstalled with a better orientation so that the main

effective lobes run SE and NW," he said. "This will improve reception to

the Caribbean, as well as the US Gulf area. It took three hours of

bringing the dipole up and down to fine tune the SWR down to 1:1.2, but

it was worth the effort. Stations monitoring our antenna tests reported

improvements of 3 to 6 dB at their locations. We are very happy with the

results of this new antenna installation."

 

It was good timing for the test as the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season

started on the same day, albeit one day earlier than it was scheduled:

Tropical Storm Arthur formed from the remnants of Pacific Tropical Storm

Alma over Central America. Arthur did weaken, but was responsible for

very heavy rains and flooding over portions Guatemala, Honduras, Belize

and Mexico. This is the second straight year in which a tropical system

formed prior to the start of the Atlantic hurricane season.

 

WX4NHC made 346 contacts during this event: 291 on HF and 55 on

EchoLink/IRLP. They heard from 23 states and US territories, as well as

such foreign locales as Bermuda, Curacao, Jamaica, Cuba, Honduras,

Estonia and Canada.

 

"The WX4NHC Coordinators and Operators extend their thanks to all ham

radio operators that participated in our Annual Station Test," Ripoll

said, "and look forward to your continued support during the hurricane

season."

 

ARRL Letter Article: Amateurs Assist with Florida Fires...

 

The following ARRL Letter article discusses Amateur Radio Operators

role in Florida fires. See article below:

 

==> AMATEURS ASSIST WITH FLORIDA FIRES

 

Amateur Radio operators in Brevard County, Florida responded in a

support role during a recent spate of wildfires that ravaged the towns

of Palm Bay and Malabar. The fires, all of which were deemed

"suspicious" by fire authorities, began on Sunday, May 11. Dubbed the

"Mother's Day Fires," they burned close to 13,000 acres in southern

Brevard County. Located about 25 miles east of Orlando, Brevard County

is home to Kennedy Space Center, site of NASA's space shuttle launch

area.

 

John Weatherly, AB4ET, and Clayton Bennett, KA4NHW, manned a 2 meter

station in a shelter set up by the American Red Cross. Additionally, the

Brevard Emergency Amateur Radio Services (BEARS) donated the use of

their mobile command center to public safety agencies. The command

vehicle, dubbed BEARS-I, was obtained through a $100,000 grant from the

State of Florida. The interior was designed and built by a group of

Amateur Radio operators from local Brevard County clubs that are members

of BEARS. BEARS-I is outfitted with Brevard County 800 MHz public safety

radios and amateur equipment.

 

BEARS-I was used as a command post in the weeklong operation. The Palm

Bay Fire Department, the Palm Bay Police Department, ARES and Florida

Power and Light manned the four operating positions. The unit was put in

place at Bayside High School when the fires started; it was relocated

the next day to the US Air Force tracking station that became the new

command center, as well as the staging area for trucks and teams from

other counties. BEARS-I was used as a self-contained command center

around the clock for over five days

 

According to official sources, the Mother's Day fires destroyed more

than 30 homes with an estimated value of $5.6 million, and damaged

almost 250 residences. A man is in custody on three counts of

intentional burning of lands after witnesses reported seeing him light

several small fires one night that were quickly extinguished. According

to authorities, the investigation continues into whether the suspect set

all the fires, or if others were involved. -- Some information provided

by Jan Heise, K4QD, and Dan Fisher, AI4GK

 

ARRL Letter Article: Ham Radio Volunteers Provide Support for Santa Cruz Fire...

 

The following ARRL Letter Article is on Ham Radio Volunteers providing

support for the Santa Cruz fire. See article below:

 

==> HAM RADIO VOLUNTEERS PROVIDE SUPPORT DURING SANTA CRUZ FIRE

 

Ham radio volunteers from Santa Cruz ARES

<http://www.ares.santa-cruz.ca.us/> provided a vital layer of

communications to support firefighters, law enforcement, Red Cross and

even animal control during the Martin fire in the hills above Santa Cruz

over Father's Day weekend. As of Tuesday, June 17, the fire, which

covered more than 500 acres, was completely contained. Four people were

injured in the fire. Three homes were destroyed and another one was

damaged, while eight outbuildings burned down. Santa Cruz, home to

University of California, Santa Cruz, is a town of about 55,000 people

located on the northern edge of Monterey Bay.

 

During the blaze, ARRL Santa Clara Valley Section Public Information

Coordinator Bill Moffitt, AE6GS, said the radios in the Santa Cruz

County Emergency Operations Center were "crackling with traffic as hams

across the area transferred information, made requests and made sure the

various agencies -- from the California Department of Forestry and Fire

Protection (CAL FIRE) to the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's department --

were kept abreast of the progress in fighting the fire and the needs

that arose in the area." Yet, Moffitt said, even with all this going on,

"ARES volunteers remained completely professional, ensuring the accuracy

and effectiveness of the flow of traffic."

 

"Our group got some valuable practice during the Summit fire a few weeks

ago," said ARRL Santa Cruz County District Emergency Coordinator Cap

Pennell, KE6AFE, who manned the radio room in the Santa Cruz EOC. "Our

people were much more ready for this fire, and the quality of the

response shows." The Summit fire burned more than 4200 acres in both

Santa Cruz and Santa Clara Counties, destroying 31 homes and 63

outbuildings. Both the Martin and Summit fires remain under

investigation.

 

Helping to evacuate people in the fire's path was an immediate priority,

and the ARES teams facilitated communications between the various

agencies who were notifying people about their evacuation status. But

pets and livestock, including a multi-hundred pound pig, also needed to

be moved from harm's way. That's when Santa Cruz County Animal Control

organized volunteers from Equine Evacuation, a local animal evacuation

organization, to help transport animals out of the fire zone. Several

hams are also members of the group, and with their help, Equine

Evacuation safely and efficiently removed more than 50 animals,

including horses and other livestock, to safe locations.

 

"I slept about four hours last night," said Hap Bullard, KQ6YV, as he

stood next to his ham radio-equipped pickup hooked up to his empty horse

trailer at the staging area for the animal evacuation. Bullard is a ham

radio operator who also serves with Equine Evacuation. "I'm here to

ensure the animal control people can stay in touch with the Emergency

Operations Center, but I'll be going to pick up horses if I'm needed,"

he said. -- ARRL Santa Clara Valley Section Public Information

Coordinator Bill Moffitt, AE6GS

 

ARRL Letter Article: Hams on Hand As Floods Sweep Across Midwest US...

 

The following ARRL Letter article is on Hams Supporting floods that

swept across the Midwest US in June. See article below:

 

==> HAMS ON HAND AS FLOODS SWEEP ACROSS MIDWEST US

 

When severe thunderstorms started to threaten the Midwestern United

States with tornadoes, hail, severe lightning and rain starting on June

4, state agencies were quick to call on Amateur Radio operators for

assistance.

 

The Indiana Department of Homeland Security (IDHS) activated ARES

members to help out with communication efforts, providing radios for

those amateurs who offered to help. ARRL Indiana Section Emergency

Coordinator Tony Langer, W9AL, said hams were instrumental in many ways,

including assisting in Emergency Operations Centers, sand bagging,

helping out in shelters and even aiding in rescue efforts.

 

This storm brought 12 confirmed tornadoes to 11 Indiana counties, with

some communities reporting up to 11 inches of water, Langer said; 20

counties were under a State of Emergency. On June 9, President Bush

declared 29 counties in central Indiana a major disaster area, opening

up the region to receive federal aid and FEMA assistance. Four people

perished in the storms.

 

In a call put out to Amateur Radio operators on June 8, IDHS said, "The

flood waters have impacted several counties here in Indiana severely.

Ham Radio operators have been operating continuously since activated and

are growing weary. Some counties do not have a vast amount of active

hams to relieve these tired operators." Specific areas needing amateur

assistance were overnight relief operators at the Bartholomew County

EOC, as well as the EOC and three shelters in Columbus County.

 

Marion County (Indiana) Emergency Coordinator Mike Palmer, N9FEB, called

on ARES members in his area to help out. "People might think, 'Why not

just use telephones or cell phones?' Well, many phones are not working

down there at this time. With the high waters, electric transformers are

out all over; even those servicing cell towers are out. Even with

today's technology, we find ourselves looking at ham radio to assist. If

you can spare a few hours or an entire evening, please consider

helping."

 

Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels called in the United States Coast Guard

to assist in evacuations and rescues. The Coast Guard responded by

sending two helicopters to the state along with boats and personnel. The

Indiana National Guard was called out to assist in evacuation and direct

traffic and enforce road blocks on the many flooded roads.

 

Torrents of rain also brought flooding to Wisconsin. On June 9, five

counties had requested aid from Amateur Radio operators, ranging from

backup communications to disaster assessment and flooding

communications. One county called on ARES members to provide patrols of

the flooded areas overnight on Tuesday and Wednesday.

 

According to ARRL Wisconsin Section Emergency Coordinator Bill Niemuth,

KB9ENO, approximately 90 ARES members responded to the call for

assistance. "In Columbia County, ARES members provided dam monitoring

communications early in the flooding. These communications gave critical

information to public safety officials about two dams that were nearly

compromised. Due to falling water levels, this activity has been

discontinued, but hams remain on standby due to the threat of additional

heavy rain," Niemuth said.

 

Richland County ARES members remain activated, Niemuth said. "Hams are

providing a variety of services, including fielding information calls in

the County's Emergency Operations Center and providing specialized

communications for disaster assessment by hover craft and airplane.

These communications are in addition to providing traditional ham radio

communication links between the EOC and evacuation shelters."

 

On Thursday, June 12, more rains inundated the state and more counties

requested aid from area Amateur Radio operators. Niemuth said Winnebago

County ARES members are providing damage assessment assistance in the

county and in the City of Oshkosh, while hams in Fond du Lac are helping

out with shelter communications. ARES teams in Marquette and Outagamie

are providing back-up communications and flooding reports to their

respective Emergency Operations Centers.  -- Information provided by

ARRL Indiana Section Emergency Coordinator Tony Langer, W9AL, and ARRL

Wisconsin Section Manager Don Michalski, W9IXG

 

ARRL Letter Article: Hams Ready to Respond to Iowa Floods...

 

The following ARRL Letter Article is on Hams Ready to Respond to Iowa

floods. See article below:

 

==> HAMS READY TO RESPOND TO IOWA FLOODS

 

News of the flooding in Iowa has been leading the nightly newscasts for

days. But according to ARRL Iowa Section Emergency Coordinator Jim

Snapp, NA0R, "While flooding here in Iowa is a disastrous event to

individuals and business affected, only a very small percentage of

Iowa's land mass is directly affected by actual river flooding. Thanks

to advance warnings from government agencies, loss of life has been very

low." Only one fatality has been reported in the Iowa floods.

 

Snapp said that Iowa amateurs were active in SKYWARN events over several

weeks prior to the start of flooding events. On the morning of June 12,

the Iowa State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC) requested activation

of the Amateur Radio station in the SEOC (KC0EEC) to provide alternate

communications with Linn County EOC (Cedar Rapids area) and Jones County

EOC. KC0EEC was manned around the clock, but Snapp said he knows of only

one piece of traffic that was passed.

 

"We have access to the SEOC e-mail program, since that is where we would

enter messages coming in by Amateur Radio," Snapp said. "Many, many

requests came in and were handled by SEOC staff. Jones County closed

their EOC Saturday and the Linn County EOC dismissed the Amateur Radio

operations late on Saturday, June 14 and the KC0EEC station was closed."

 

Snapp said that on June 16, Iowa SEOC requested information on Amateur

Radio communication abilities in southeastern Iowa "in case of

communication breakdown in that area. Currently, there is no widespread

Amateur Radio activity in Iowa dealing with the floods."

 

About 20 years ago, Snapp said that Iowa installed a fiber optic

backbone to all 99 Iowa counties: "This system has been updated and

refined over the years, and is very robust redundant system. All the

Iowa County Homeland Security and Emergency Management coordinators have

e-mail access directly to the Iowa SEOC for requests or to get questions

answered."

 

The Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency at the SEOC

has supplied the amateur community with ham equipment: an HF

transceiver, an HF/VHF transceiver and tri-band VHF/UHF and dual band

VHF/UHF transceiver. "If the Iowa SEOC needs Amateur Radio

communications, they will contact us," Snapp said.

 

ARRL Letter Article and "In Brief" Article: Hurricane Dolly Operations...

 

The following ARRL Letter article and "In Brief" article deals with

Hurricane Dolly Operations:

 

==> MARS LENDS A HAND WITH HURRICANE DOLLY OPERATIONS

 

When Tropical Storm Dolly turned into Hurricane Dolly

<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2008/07/22/10221/?nc=1>, various

Amateur Radio Emergency Communications groups, such as WX4NHC at the

National Hurricane Center, the Hurricane Watch Net (HWN) and the VoIP WX

Net (VOIPWX), began tracking the storm. One other group -- the Army's

Military Amateur Radio Service (MARS) -- also helped out with storm

communications.

 

According to Texas State MARS Director Dave Martin, MARS leadership

began to track the storm while it was still in the Atlantic. MARS

established a liaison with the Texas Military Forces (TXMF) and the

Texas State Operations Center (SOC). An Alert Notification message was

sent to all MARS members on July 18, informing Texas Army MARS that the

SOC was at full operations and would announce when they would request

full mobilization of all agencies. This decision was made just two days

later and an additional Alert Notification was sent to the membership to

begin emergency net operations on July 22 at 8 AM.

 

"Our mission was to support the TXMF and the SOC with HF communications

by expanding the normal net schedule and establishing a full-time

liaison," Martin said. "In addition, requests were sent to the other

MARS services in the region asking for liaison stations to participate

in the Army nets. Fortunately, a hurricane exercise had been completed a

week before and the exercise operations order was used to execute this

mission. We reacted to the storm the same way we trained for the

emergency."

 

Beginning on July 22, Texas MARS opened E-nets at 8 AM, 1 PM, 7 PM and

10 PM, with a 6 AM net opening the next day. While the Net Control

Stations were in Texas, support was received from Oklahoma and Louisiana

Army MARS. TXMF was notified that Texas Army MARS had received

permission from Army MARS Headquarters to deploy HF communications teams

with their deploying elements as was done during a previous exercise.

During the emergency, the nets had an average of 25-30 check-ins; all

traffic was sent via MT63 or Winlink 2000.

 

Martin said that all MARS stations in the affected area were off the air

during the height of the storm. MARS member Tom Whiteside, N5TN/AAR6CQ,

was able to facilitate the use of the Winlink network, exchanging

traffic with the Harlingen Emergency Operations Center; Harlingen is

about 27 miles north of the Mexican border, in Texas's southern tip.

This area was one of the hardest hit areas in the state.

 

As Hurricane Dolly approached Harlingen, Sergeant Gerald Manthey,

KC6CNN, Harlingen's Director of Emergency Communications, was on duty at

the EOC. Manthey has been the driving force in the Rio Grande Valley for

Winlink, as well as pushing amateur voice capabilities in the area with

surrounding agencies. Harlingen became the South Texas ARES' fifth

EMCOMM PMBO in December of 2007 with both local VHF Packet and HF PACTOR

capability.

 

Due to a localized power failure, the EOC was soon running on generator

power. During the storm, Manthey kept in touch with both the SOC and the

Emergency Operations Center in San Antonio. He also kept in touch with

other hams in the valley via both voice and Winlink.

 

"Winlink is the perfect tool for this sort of thing," said Manthey. "You

can send messages and get them when you have time. The system works very

well even without the Internet."

 

Manthey communicated with the City of Brownsville EOC, the Cameron

County EOC, the Valley Baptist Medical Center and individual amateurs

via Winlink throughout the storm. One of those hams was ARRL West Gulf

Division Vice Director David Woolweaver, K5RAV, who operates a Winlink

RMS Packet station in Harlingen. The AE5R station was the first test of

the new RMS Relay program that provides for local message hubbing during

an Internet outage.

 

* Hams Active as Hurricane Dolly strikes Caribbean, then Texas: The

Hurricane Watch Net wound up about 19 hours of operation,

experiencing some of the worst band conditions we've seen in many

years. Most of the traffic to the National Hurricane Center on

14.325, was relayed off of 40 meter frequencies by Bob, K5SIV. The

Net also put out regular advisories to those in the affected area in

English and Spanish. -- tnx John Ellis, NP2B, Section Manager, Virgin

Islands Section  

 

Later, as Hurricane Dolly made landfall near Brownsville, Texas, on

July 23, the VoIP Hurricane Net was active for a 24-hour period,

reports Rob Macedo, KD1CY, of the VoIP Hurricane Net. We had N5CCW on

the air from the National Weather Service in Corpus Christi, Texas,

and W5DCH from the Driscoll Childrens Hospital EOC and several other

Amateurs from the Corpus Christi, Texas area.  They assisted with

relaying reports from their area as well as from the affected area of

Brownsville, Texas which included sustained hurricane force winds

with gusts to 105 MPH. We owe a debt of gratitude to these stations

for being on the system with us despite their pressing issues

locally, said Rob Macedo, KD1CY, Director of Operations for the VoIP

Hurricane Net. The Driscoll Childrens Hospital briefly went to a code

black emergency mode as a tornado, related to the outer rain bands of

Dolly, was sighted near the hospital. The code black was lifted after

it was determined the hospital would not be affected by the tornado.

Lloyd Colston, KC5FM, relayed rainfall reports in excess of 10 inches

from the Texas Emergency Net. Those reports were then relayed through

the VoIP Hurricane Net to the National Hurricane Center.

 

MARS emergency operations continued until 10 PM on July 24 when Kevin

Lemon, the State RACES officer, stood down the Amateur Radio operation.

Army MARS also ceased operations at the SOC, but remained on call in

case of a flooding event. "Hurricane Dolly was a serious but not major

storm," Martin said. "Even at that, there were times when communications

were out due to winds or flooding. Volunteers in MARS and the Amateur

Radio community provided what was needed to get through the storm and

are standing by for any after effects." -- Thanks to Texas State Army

MARS Director Dave Martin, K5YFO/AAA6TX, and Tom Whiteside, N5TW/AAR6CQ,

for the information

 

ARRL "In Brief" Article: Georgia Hams Meet with FEMA...

 

The following ARRL "In Brief" article is on Georgia Hams meeting

with FEMA. See short article below:

 

* Georgia Hams Meet with FEMA: On July 30, representatives from the ARRL

Southeastern Division and Georgia Section participated in the FEMA

Region IV, Regional Emergency Communications Coordination (RECC) Working

Group meetings near Atlanta. Southeastern Division Director Greg

Sarratt, W4OZK; Georgia Section Manager Susan Swiderski, AF4FO, and

Georgia Section Official Observer Coordinator Michael Swiderski, K4HBI,

represented ARRL and Amateur Radio. In the meetings, Sarratt talked

about ARRL, ARES, Amateur Radio and their value to FEMA, while Susan

Swiderski gave a talk on MARS. "We are proud to be a part of FEMA's

RECC," Sarratt said. "This will help to enhance FEMA and ARRL's working

partnership. It is very beneficial to meet any of the communications

leadership of FEMA and other agencies in the region. These meetings,

coordination and learning about each other are critical elements before

the disaster strikes. I was also very happy to meet several Amateur

Radio operators attending the meeting in their professional capacity."

Headquartered in Atlanta, FEMA's Region IV territory includes Alabama,

Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina

and Tennessee. Region IV is FEMA's largest geographic region and the

most common challenges are tornados, hurricanes and other storms that

can cause flooding and flash flooding. -- Thanks to Greg Sarratt, W4OZK

 

ARRL Letter Article: Hams Ready for Fay...

 

The following ARRL Letter Article was on Hams being ready as Fay

affected much of the Florida peninsula:

 

==> HAMS READY FOR FAY

 

While Tropical Storm Fay made landfall over Key West, Florida at 3 PM

EDT on August 18, Amateur Radio operators throughout Florida were

prepared "just in case." As Fay crossed Key West, Florida Emergency

Management officials noted that while "Fay is no Hurricane Charley," it

is following the same general path as 2004's Charley, a Category 4

hurricane and one of the most destructive hurricanes in recent history

for the area; at least 13 people were killed in that storm.

 

All three of Florida's ARRL Section Managers are working cooperatively

as Fay tracks through the state. After sweeping through the Keys, Fay

next made landfall in Cape Romano at approximately 4:45 AM on Tuesday,

August 19. Landfall on Florida's mainland was initially expected to hit

more to the north..

 

Fay is edging west-northwestward and is about to make its third landfall

at Flagler Beach, Florida and then will continue to migrate

west-northwestward across northern Florida. The National Weather Service

reports that Fay continues to produce torrential downpours and states

flooding is the major concern now. Locations on Florida's eastern coast

from Cocoa Beach to Melbourne to Fort Pierce have picked up 8 to 26

inches of rain as of August 21; a report of 26.2 inches of rain has been

received near Melbourne, resulting in numerous reports of flooding

around the area.

 

According to Julio Ripoll, WD4R, of WX4NHC <http://www.wx4nhc.org/>, the

Amateur Radio Station at the National Hurricane Center (NHC), Fay came

close to reaching hurricane strength "several times in her track through

Cuba and Florida. The surface reports collected via ham radio continue

to be very important, no matter how high or low the wind speed. They

fill in gaps between governmental weather stations and give the

hurricane forecasters a better idea of the wind field range and local

flooding."

 

Plans are in place for several shelters to be opened and responses ready

for issues relating to the flooding. ARRL HQ staff are following events

closely and are in contact with members and ARES leaders in the affected

areas.

 

ARRL Letter Article: Gulf Coast Prepares for Gustav...

 

The following ARRL Letter article was on the Gulf Coast preparations

for Hurricane Gustav...

 

==> GULF COAST PREPARES FOR GUSTAV

 

As of Friday, although Tropical Storm Gustav is still several days away

from landfall on the US mainland, disaster preparations are being rolled

out along the Gulf Coast. ARRL Leadership Officials, with the support of

the ARRL Headquarters staff, are taking measures that will facilitate

emergency communications among ham volunteers, among hams and served

agencies such as the Red Cross, and among Leadership Officials during

the expected emergency and in its aftermath. ARRL Section Managers in

the Gulf Coast states of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and

Texas are marshaling resources and setting up procedures that will take

effect as the storm approaches the mainland.

 

Support from the ARRL Headquarters staff includes referrals from local

and national media, shipment of Amateur Radio equipment via the Ham Aid

program, Section Manager liaison and referral of inquiries from Amateur

Radio operators. Two special Web sites are available for Amateur Radio

operators looking for information and volunteer opportunities:

<http://www.arrl.org/gustav/> and <http://www.arrl.org/gustav/vol.html>.

In addition, news will be updated on the ARRL Web site over the weekend

and early next week, as Gustav moves toward the Gulf Coast.

 

On Thursday, as Gustav was slamming into Haiti and heading toward

Jamaica, WX4NHC, the Amateur Radio station at the National Hurricane

Center in Miami, activated at 12 PM EDT (1600Z). The NHC requested all

land based stations as well as ships at sea in the areas affected to

send them weather data (measured or estimated) and damage reports.

 

A post to their Web site stated: "If you are in the affected area and

normally monitor on a local Net on VHF, 40 or 80 meters, we would

appreciate your checking into the HWN NET or EchoLink/IRLP Net once per

hour to receive the latest Hurricane Advisories and to report your local

conditions. Please do not venture outside during the hurricane to gather

weather data."

 

In addition, the VoIP Hurricane Net activated Thursday at 11 AM EDT

(1500Z), according to a post by Jim Palmer, KB1KQW, VoIP-WX Net

Scheduler.

 

Also on Thursday, FEMA posted a news release that said, in part: "The

Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency

(FEMA) is coordinating plans and preparatory activities of numerous

federal agencies in close communication with state, tribal and local

officials as Tropical Storm Gustav threatens to return to hurricane

strength prior to impacting Gulf Coast states. All residents in the

region are encouraged to make personal preparations. Information is

available at www.Ready.gov on how families and individuals can best

prepare before the storm.

 

"FEMA and its federal partners are in close communications with states

along its potential path in order to review plans, pre-station assets

and personnel, and respond to any request for assistance. FEMA's work

with states using a Gap Analysis tool to determine in advance of storms

where federal assistance is most likely to be needed has helped federal

and state agencies to develop pre-scripted mission assignments and other

contingency plans to help improve response and recovery efforts."

 

The news release also provides details on preparations now underway by

several other agencies, including the American Red Cross and the Army

Corps of Engineers.

 

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal declared a state of emergency for his

state on Wednesday, and he activated 3000 National Guard troops, with

more on call. The state of Mississippi declared a state of emergency on

Thursday. Governor Haley Barbour stated, in part: "I urge all

Mississippians to please take this storm seriously. One of the most

important lessons we learned after Hurricane Katrina was that there is

no substitute for awareness and self-help, especially in the days before

the hurricane is predicted to hit."

 

ARRL web Article: Mississippi Hams Reflect on Hurricane Gustav, Prepare for Hanna and Ike...

 

The following is an ARRL web article on Mississippi Hams reflecting

on Hurricane Gustav and preparing for possible impact from Hanna

and Ike which did not occur but the main focus of the article was

on the effect of Hurricane Gustav on Mississippi. See article below:

 

Mississippi Hams Reflect on Hurricane Gustav, Prepare for Hanna and Ike

 

After several days of harrowing watching and waiting for Hurricane

Gustav to make landfall, the storm slammed into southeast Louisiana

Monday afternoon, leaving flooding, wind damage and power outages in

its wake and evacuees eager to go home. As Amateur Radio operators

across the area moved from an emergency response stance to clean-up,

evaluation and repair, the need for some changes to operations and

equipment became clear, as well as the vastly improved response as

compared to Hurricane Katrina.

 

At Poplarville, Mississippi -- county seat of Pearl River County --

Emergency Operations Center Communications Officer David Moore, N5ELI

said, "We have some stuff to do, but it's not bad." He noted a

defective antenna that was discovered during operations for Gustav,

as well as a few operational details that need to be worked out

before future events. But, noted ARRL Mississippi Section Public

Information Coordinator Larry Wagoner, N5WLW, who manned the

Emergency Operations Center in Picayune, Mississippi, essential

services were provided in spite of the problems, as contact was

maintained with the shelters in the area as well as other individuals

and agencies needing assistance.

 

Harrison County Emergency Coordinator and District Emergency

Coordinator for the Gulf Coast District Tom Hammack, W4WLF, echoed

that reaction, noting the heavier damage to his coastal community:

"The harbors are torn up," he observed, saying that a small tornado

had been sighted near the port, which reportedly damaged a few

buildings in the area and knocked out power for a time.

 

"We had communications with the Coast Guard representatives, on 2

meters, as well as marine VHF," Hammack said. "We had hams at other

locations as well." He noted that Ed Byrd, KA5VFU, had the radio

links to the area hospitals working, too. "In general it went pretty

fair," he said. "This was a cakewalk for us compared to Katrina,"

Hammack noted, adding, "But the further west went you go, it wasn't

any cakewalk at all. Hancock County (located due west of Harrison

County) got hit pretty hard."

 

North of the coast, Tim Purvis, N5UDK, Emergency Coordinator for

Stone County and Assistant Emergency Coordinator for the Gulf Coast

District noted that one mobile home was destroyed in the storm. "All

in all, it went real well," he said. Like the other officials in the

area, he said the storm was a learning exercise for the Amateur Radio

community. "We need to get our repeater to a higher location and we

need to get more people with emergency Yagis." He said in some cases,

hams in outlying areas of the county had a hard time making it into

the repeater during the storm. "These are people who may have lost

or taken down their antennas," he said, "and they were trying to

operate on a mag mount on top of a refrigerator from 20 miles away."

 

One problem noted by several officials in the area was the signal

propagation from the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MSEMA)

office near Jackson. "A new antenna up there would help," said one.

"We had a real hard time copying signal from MSEMA," said another.

 

Local hams were not the only ones learning lessons from the storm.

Purvis noted that while the MSEMA official at the Stone County

Emergency operations Center was familiar with Amateur Radio, the

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) representative did not

know anything about ham radio and the service that hams provide

before the storm. By the end of operations Tuesday, she had quite an

education, Purvis said, noting that she was not only very impressed

with what hams can do, but now wants to become licensed as an Amateur

Radio operator herself and is very interested in SKYWARN operations.

"We have a feather in our cap on that one," Purvis said.

 

SKYWARN operations went well across the region, as hams from all

over the southern Mississippi area called in to report sightings of

severe weather and damage from the storm. "Like you (in Pearl River

County), we were inundated by warnings and reports," Purvis said,

adding, "I just wish we could get all those people to sign in on a

regular basis."

 

Local officials said the area fared much better in Gustav than in

2005's Hurricane Katrina. "Compared to Katrina, we didn't lose any

local communications, phone or Internet. In Katrina, they lost

everything," said Purvis. "Our major function was communications

with the shelters, storm spotting and being on standby for other

services," he added.

 

Stone County had one shelter open, which closed early Tuesday. Those

requiring longer stays were transferred to shelters in Picayune and

Hattiesburg because the shelter location -- Stone County High School

-- was needed for restoration on school. The Stone County shelter

housed about 50 people at one point. The shelter in Picayune had

about 130 people maximum -- mostly from Louisiana, where nearby New

Orleans and St Tammany Parishes remained closed Tuesday.

 

By Tuesday morning, crews were out evaluating damage to local power

lines, cable TV, phone lines and trees, and hams were getting ready

for the next time they are called to serve, keeping a close eye on

Hurricane Hanna and Tropical Storm Ike -- already forming in the

Atlantic.

 

Tom Hammack said it all: "We did what we were asked to do."

-- Larry Wagoner, N5WLW, ARRL Mississippi Section Public Information Coordinator

 

ARRL Web Article: Hurricane Nets Stand Down from Gustav, Get Ready for Hanna...

 

The following ARRL Web Article was on VoIP Hurricane Net operations

during Hurricane Gustav. See article below:

 

The Voice over Internet Protocol Hurricane Net (VOIPWX) has deactivated

for what was Hurricane Gustav -- now Tropical Storm Gustav -- as it

hammers the Gulf Coast with heavy rainfall, flooding, storm surge

and even tornadoes. The VOIPWX Net had numerous EchoLink and

Internet Radio Linking Project (IRLP) nodes from the affected area

on the system; several stations from outside of the affected area

provided critical information from contacts within the affected area.

As operators stand down from Gustav, the Net is preparing for

tropical storms Hanna and Ike, as well as monitoring the progress of

Tropical Depression 10.

 

"The Net did exactly what we were intending," said Director of

Operations for the VoIP Hurricane Net Rob Macedo, KD1CY. "It provided

a very high level of disaster intelligence gathering and situational

awareness for WX4NHC, the Amateur Radio Station at the National

Hurricane Center, as well as other regional and national agencies."

 

VoIP Public Information Officer Lloyd Colston, KC5FM, stations on the

VoIP Hurricane Net recorded sustained measured winds of 100 MPH in

Houma, Louisiana before spotters in that area lost their wind

instrumentation. "A measured wind gust of 78 MPH was recorded in

Slidell, Louisiana. Due to high winds, many trees and wires were

downed and roofs were torn off structures. A ham operator reported

that the large span roof and a wall of the Houma Convention Center

were severely damaged. Reports out of New Orleans indicated several

wind gusts of 101 MPH. Another ham reported a levee break in

Scarsdale, Louisiana that was stabilized by sandbaggers," Colston said.

 

Roof damage and flooding from storm surge was also reported in parts

of Southern Mississippi while the Southern Alabama area suffered

significant flooding on the Bayou Serra River with a flood stage

that crested around 5 feet over flood stage. A complete listing of

reports is available on the VoIP Hurricane Net Web site.

 

Macedo said that the N5OZG repeater link in New Orleans and the

KG4VVO link to the W4IAX repeater were critical nodes in the

affected area: "They were two of almost 25 nodes and EchoLink PC

stations from inside the affected area supporting the Net. We

recognize every single station that provided us critical reports and

information and appreciate their sacrifices in providing us this

information."

 

ARRL Letter Article: Amateur Radio Operators Were Ready for Hurricane Gustav...

 

The following is an ARRL Letter Article on Amateur Radio Operators

being ready for Hurricane Gustav.

 

==> AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS WERE READY FOR HURRICANE GUSTAV

 

After several days of harrowing watching and waiting for Hurricane

Gustav to make landfall, the storm slammed into southeast Louisiana

Monday afternoon, leaving flooding, wind damage and power outages in its

wake and evacuees eager to go home. As Amateur Radio operators across

the area moved from an emergency response stance to clean-up, evaluation

and repair, the need for some changes to operations and equipment became

clear, as well as the vastly improved response as compared to Hurricane

Katrina. As the storm made its way inland, ARRL Division, Section and

public information volunteers in and around the area impacted by the

Category 2 hurricane, reported that they were preparing to deploy

themselves and other volunteers to strategic locations once conditions

allow.

 

Throughout the week, staff at ARRL headquarters coordinated conference

calls between key emergency communications volunteers, Division and

Section leadership officials and ARRL HQ in order to facilitate

communications among the participants and to respond to any requests for

assistance. Dennis Dura, K2DCD, ARRL Emergency Preparedness and Response

Manager, commented: "Based on what we hear and what we receive in the

daily situation reports, it will really dictate what kind of response

we're going to have. In the beginning of a storm event, we don't have a

clear idea of what the needs are. Once those on the scene tell us what

they need, we will support them. Requests for emergency communications

personnel will come from Section Managers or their designees, and we as

an organization will meet those requests. Gustav is different from

Katrina in a lot of ways. For one thing, people are much better prepared

down there."

 

On Monday, September 1, Louisiana Section Manager Gary Stratton, K5GLS,

told conference call participants that he was expecting to head to the

Baton Rouge Red Cross Marshalling Center the next day. He reported that

credentialing for ham volunteers who will be sent to locations

requesting Amateur Radio support was being handled, and emergency nets

were activated. Louisiana Section Emergency Coordinator Jim Coleman,

AI5B, expected to head to Baton Rouge Tuesday as well.

 

Assistant South Texas SM Mike Schwartz, KG5TL, of Muldoon, reported that

4500 New Orleans-area evacuees were relocated to shelters in surrounding

counties. He reported that about 20 ham radio operators were ready to

travel to where they are needed. "When we find out, we're ready to

deploy," he said.

 

Mississippi SM Malcolm Keown, W5XX, of Vicksburg, expressed concern

about the impending effects from Gustav. He said up to 20 inches of rain

could fall in central Mississippi, and tornado warnings have been

issued.

 

Southeastern Division Vice Director Sandy Donahue, W4RU, mentioned that

numerous Red Cross shelters have been set up in Georgia to handle the

needs of evacuees.

 

Northern Florida Section Manager Paul Eakin, KJ4G, offered the services

of four Winlink stations to forward messages from the states more

directly affected, as needed.

 

ARRL Directors Henry Leggette, WD4Q, of the Delta Division, Greg

Sarratt, W4OZK, of the Southeastern Division and Coy Day, N5OK, of the

West Gulf Division also took part in the September 1 conference call, as

did West Gulf Vice Director Dr David Woolweaver, K5RAV, and Delta Vice

Director Karl Bullock, WA5TMC.

 

At Poplarville, Mississippi -- county seat of Pearl River County --

Emergency Operations Center Communications Officer David Moore, N5ELI,

said, "We have some stuff to do, but it's not bad." He noted a defective

antenna that was discovered during operations for Gustav, as well as a

few operational details that need to be worked out before future events.

But, noted ARRL Mississippi Section Public Information Coordinator Larry

Wagoner, N5WLW, who manned the Emergency Operations Center in Picayune,

Mississippi, essential services were provided in spite of the problems,

as contact was maintained with the shelters in the area as well as other

individuals and agencies needing assistance.

 

Harrison County Emergency Coordinator and District Emergency Coordinator

for the Gulf Coast District Tom Hammack, W4WLF, echoed that reaction,

noting the heavier damage to his coastal community: "The harbors are

torn up," he observed, saying that a small tornado had been sighted near

the port, which reportedly damaged a few buildings in the area and

knocked out power for a time.

 

"We had communications with the Coast Guard representatives, on 2

meters, as well as marine VHF," Hammack said. "We had hams at other

locations as well." He noted that Ed Byrd, KA5VFU, had the radio links

to the area hospitals working, too. "In general it went pretty fair," he

said. "This was a cakewalk for us compared to Katrina," Hammack noted,

adding, "But the farther west went you go, it wasn't any cakewalk at

all. Hancock County (located due west of Harrison County) got hit pretty

hard."

 

North of the coast, Tim Purvis, N5UDK, Emergency Coordinator for Stone

County and Assistant Emergency Coordinator for the Gulf Coast District

noted that one mobile home was destroyed in the storm. "All in all, it

went real well," he said. Like the other officials in the area, he said

the storm was a learning exercise for the Amateur Radio community. "We

need to get our repeater to a higher location and we need to get more

people with emergency Yagis." He said in some cases, hams in outlying

areas of the county had a hard time making it into the repeater during

the storm. "These are people who may have lost or taken down their

antennas," he said, "and they were trying to operate on a mag mount on

top of a refrigerator from 20 miles away."

 

One problem noted by several officials in the area was the signal

propagation from the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MSEMA)

office near Jackson. "A new antenna up there would help," said one. "We

had a real hard time copying the signal from MSEMA," said another.

 

Local hams were not the only ones learning lessons from the storm.

Purvis noted that while the MSEMA official at the Stone County Emergency

operations Center was familiar with Amateur Radio, the Federal Emergency

Management Agency (FEMA) representative did not know anything about ham

radio and the service that hams provide before the storm. By the end of

operations Tuesday, she had quite an education, Purvis said, noting that

she was not only very impressed with what hams can do, but now wants to

become licensed as an Amateur Radio operator herself and is very

interested in SKYWARN operations. "We have a feather in our cap on that

one," Purvis said.

 

SKYWARN operations went well across the region, as hams from all over

the southern Mississippi area called in to report sightings of severe

weather and damage from the storm. "Like you (in Pearl River County), we

were inundated by warnings and reports," Purvis said, adding, "I just

wish we could get all those people to sign in on a regular basis."

 

Local officials said the area fared much better in Gustav than in 2005's

Hurricane Katrina. "Compared to Katrina, we didn't lose any local

communications, phone or Internet. In Katrina, they lost everything,"

said Purvis. "Our major function was communications with the shelters,

storm spotting and being on standby for other services," he added.

 

Stone County had one shelter open, which closed early Tuesday. Those

requiring longer stays were transferred to shelters in Picayune and

Hattiesburg. The Stone County shelter housed about 50 people at one

point. The shelter in Picayune had about 130 people maximum -- mostly

from Louisiana, where nearby New Orleans and St Tammany Parishes

remained closed Tuesday.

 

By Tuesday morning, crews were out evaluating damage to local power

lines, cable TV, phone lines and trees, and hams were getting ready for

the next time they are called to serve, keeping a close eye on Hurricane

Hanna and Hurricane Ike.

 

ARRL Letter Article: ARRL Ham Aid Go Kits Support Amateur Radio Operations

During Hurricane Gustav and Beyond...

 

The following ARRL Letter Article is on ARRL Ham Aid Go Kits supporting

Amateur Radio Operators during Hurricane Gustav and Beyond:

 

==> ARRL HAM AID GO KITS SUPPORT AMATEUR RADIO OPERATIONS DURING

HURRICANE GUSTAV -- AND BEYOND

 

As Amateur Radio operators prepared for Hurricane Gustav, the ARRL

deployed complete radio stations comprised of industry-donated Amateur

Radio equipment, thanks to the generous contributions of ARRL members to

the Ham Aid Fund. Created in 2005 to assist with the response to

Hurricane Katrina, the Ham Aid Fund is designated to finance Amateur

Radio equipment needed for disaster response. In preparation for

Hurricane Gustav, ARRL received requests for radio equipment from

Louisiana and Texas. The shipping costs for this equipment were covered

by the Ham Aid Fund.

 

According to Assistant Manager of the ARRL Membership and Volunteer

Programs Department Norm Fusaro, W3IZ, several kits were shipped to

Louisiana; Fusaro is handling Ham Aid requests during Hurricane Gustav.

"We sent three HF kits, 3 VHF/UHF kits and a combination kit complete

with HF, VHF and handheld transceivers to the Louisiana Office of

Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP) facility in Baton

Rouge, as well as four VHF/UHF base antennas and a support box that

included coax, rope, wire antennas and connectors." Fusaro also said

that a 600 W amplifier was sent to Jim Coleman, AI5B, in Bogalusa,

Louisiana to be used at the Emergency Operations Center there, and an HF

radio was sent to Joel Colman, NO5FD, of New Orleans, replacing his rig

that was damaged during set up at the firehouse.

 

"To me, these Go-Kits ramp up ARRL's ability to support Amateur Radio

volunteers in the field when the next big disaster hits," said ARRL

Chief Development Officer Mary Hobart, K1MMH. "They won't replace or

supplant anything that's already on the ground and working well, but the

kits will strengthen it and add flexibility to Amateur Radio's overall

response capabilities."

 

In setting up these Go Kits, League staffers consulted with volunteers

who were in the field during Hurricane Katrina to find out what gear

served them best or what they wished they'd had but didn't. The Go Kits,

stowed in rugged, waterproof Pelican 1650 containers, enable the League

to loan out needed equipment on a moment's notice. "The idea is that

this makes it easy to ship," explains Fusaro, "and since they're less

than 50 pounds apiece, they can be shipped by air."

 

The HF Kit contains a 100 W HF transceiver, a tuner and antenna, a

microphone and a power supply. The VHF/UHF Kit includes a dualband

mobile transceiver, power supply, headset, 10 handheld transceivers and

a supply of alkaline batteries. In the Handheld Transceiver Kit are

eight dualband handheld transceivers and antennas, plus a stock of extra

batteries. The Support Kit includes a length of BuryFlex RG-213 coaxial

cable, rope, 15 foot jumper cables with battery clamps at one end and an

Anderson Powerpole on the other. The kit includes various fittings and

adapters to connect to the power distribution unit and to make RF feed

line connections. All kits contain any necessary manuals.

 

Hobart said it's imperative to sustain and enhance ham radio's emergency

communication capabilities for the future: "Disasters happen to be one

place Amateur Radio can shine," she pointed out. "We need to maintain a

high level of readiness to do those things that are second nature to

ARES members, but that the public is just coming to recognize." Making

the Go Kits available to ARES teams, Hobart said, will help to cement

Amateur Radio's position as a community resource. "We want to be able to

ensure that we have the personnel and the equipment," she said. "With a

disaster of any magnitude, we need to be ready."

 

Since the arrival of Hurricane Gustav, Hobart said that the Ham Aid fund

has been depleted. "With more storms on the horizon, the ARRL is seeking

member contributions to rebuild the Ham Aid Fund. This vital lifeline of

resources to support the ARRL Field Organization and Amateur Radio

Volunteers will benefit from the renewed generosity of radio amateurs."

Contributions in any amount can be made online

<https://www.arrl.org/forms/development/donations/basic/>.

 

 

 

 

 

ARRL Letter Article: ARRL, Amateur Radio Gears up for Hanna, Ike...

 

The following ARRL Letter Article gives additional Amateur Radio

preparedness information prior to Tropical Storm Hanna and

Hurricane Ike's impact on the region:

 

==> ARRL, AMATEUR RADIO GEARS UP FOR HANNA, IKE

 

As the ARRL Headquarters staff continues to support response and

recovery efforts in Louisiana and the areas impacted by Hurricane

Gustav, yet another storm begins to shift some of the focus eastward.

Tropical Storm Hanna, currently forecast to impact the North and South

Carolina coastline early Saturday morning, has begun to activate ARES

preparations from Florida northward. Hanna is responsible for at least

137 deaths in Haiti.

 

According to the National Weather Service (NWS), a hurricane watch is in

effect from north of Edisto Beach, South Carolina to Okracoke Inlet. A

tropical storm watch remains in effect from Edisto Beach southward to

Altamaha Sound, Georgia. A tropical storm warning remains in effect for

the Central and Northwestern Bahamas. A tropical storm watch means

tropical storm conditions are possible within 36 hours.

 

ARRL Emergency Preparedness and Response Manager Dennis Dura, K2DCD, has

begun to put protocols in place to support any of the ARRL Sections that

may be impacted by Hanna. "We are beginning the coordination efforts

with the individual Sections that could be on the receiving end of what

is becoming an active storm season for the United States mainland. While

Hanna currently remains a tropical storm, we must ensure that all

Amateur Radio preparations are in place in case the storm turns into a

hurricane."

 

According to ARRL North Carolina Section Manager Tim Slay, N4IB, hams in

his state are ready for Hanna. "The Amateur Radio Station at the State

Emergency Operations Center is ready to go. We will begin operating from

there on Friday at 8 PM and go until about mid-day on Saturday or for

however long is needed." Slay also said the Tarheel Emergency Net, the

North Carolina HF ARES Net that meets on 3.923 MHz, has been tested and

is prepared for the incoming storms.

 

Slay said that hams in his state have verified that the equipment is all

in working order at the State Emergency Operations Center. The South

Carolina Healthcare Emergency Amateur Radio Team (SCHEART)

<http://www.scheart.us/> -- a system of strategically located repeaters

linking 64 South Carolina hospitals by Amateur Radio, forming a

statewide emergency communications network -- is also on alert.

 

ARRL South Carolina Section Manager Jim Boehner, N2ZZ, said South

Carolina Governor Mark Sanford has called for a voluntary evacuation for

those who live along that state's coastal areas. "It's incredibly

important that we be prepared [for Hanna] and for people in areas that

could be the most affected to be prudent," Governor Sanford said. "More

than anything, this storm may serve as a reminder to everyone along the

coast to be prepared for what could still come your way in this season.

That means having a full tank of gas, a storm kit and an evacuation plan

as these storms head our way."

 

The Weather Channel's Tim Ballisty called Hanna an "ugly mess" since the

storm is not acting like a typical storm: "Hanna has no markings of a

classic-looking tropical cyclone. It is a highly disorganized tropical

storm and will have a lot to do in a short period of time to organize

and strengthen to a hurricane."

 

Ballisty warned that people should not be fooled by Hanna's appearance.

"It is important to note that one should not focus solely on [Hanna's]

center of circulation," he said. "In fact, the worst of Hanna may not

actually be found close to the center of circulation but rather away

from it. Impacts such as tropical storm-force gusts, tropical downpours

and very choppy surf will be felt hundreds of miles away from the

center. That being said, the center of Hanna is projected to make

landfall near the coastal South Carolina/North Carolina border, or

perhaps just east of there, very early on Saturday morning."

 

After landfall, Hanna is expected to spread rain and breezy conditions

up the mid-Atlantic and Northeast coast on Saturday, impacting several

major cities. Due its rapid forward speed, the storm will not linger.

Hanna will be exiting off the New England coast by as early as

mid-morning Sunday. Rainfall totals are not expected to come anywhere

close to what was seen with Hurricanes Fay or Gustav.

 

"If nothing else, [Hanna is] a good dress rehearsal for Ike if Ike were

to come," said Peter Judge, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Emergency

Management Agency.

 

Fast on Hanna's heels, Ike is the third major hurricane of the 2008

Atlantic hurricane season; it is not yet threatening any land. A

Category 4 hurricane on Thursday, Ike was downgraded to Category 3 early

Friday morning.

 

For now, Ike is of no threat to land, but could threaten the Bahamas by

Sunday and into early next week. Residents of the Bahamas should monitor

Ike carefully the next several days. Ballisty said that as of now, it is

too early to tell if Ike would have any impact on the United States.

"The entire Southeast coast should pay close attention to the progress

and forecast track of Ike," he said.

 

Josephine, a tropical storm in the eastern Atlantic remains fairly weak.

It continues to struggle with maximum sustained winds now near 50 MPH;

this storm is currently no threat to land; however, the storm continues

to feel the effects of wind shear and dry air, and this may keep any

additional strengthening in check. Josephine will continue to move

west-northwest over the next several days and will not be a threat to

land in the near future.

 

ARRL Letter Article: Tropical Storm Hanna Made Presence Known on Eastern Seaboard...

 

The following ARRL Letter Article is on Tropical Storm Hanna making its

presence known on the Eastern Seaboard:

 

==> TROPICAL STORM HANNA MADE PRESENCE ON KNOWN EASTERN SEABOARD

 

Tropical Storm Hanna made its way up the East Coast of the United

States, making landfall on the North/South Carolina border at 3:15 AM

(EDT) Saturday, September 6. The storm produced tropical storm-force

winds gusts, with some locations experiencing sustained tropical

storm-force winds. Amateur Radio operators in the Carolinas and

northward were prepared for the storm.

 

According to ARRL North Carolina Section Manager Tim Slay, N4IB, hams in

his state were ready for Hanna, with personnel in place at the Amateur

Radio Station at the State Emergency Operations Center. Slay said plans

called for the hams to start operating from there Friday evening, going

until about mid-day on Saturday when the EOC was secured at 12:30 PM.

 

The Tarheel Emergency Net, North Carolina's HF ARES Net that meets on

3.923 MHz, was on stand-by status Friday night, going active at 6 AM

Saturday. North Carolina Section Emergency Coordinator Bernard Nobles,

WA4MOK, said the Net remained active "until Emergency Management

[officials] release Amateur Radio. The Tarheel Net received reports from

across the state, mostly about the amounts of rainfall, which are

anywhere from 1 to 5 inches."

 

Nobles said that the Amateur Radio station at the North Carolina Eastern

Branch Emergency Operations Center in Kinston began operations at 6 AM

Saturday. Later that morning, the EOC lost commercial power and the

amateur station went on battery power until power was restored, about an

hour later. Operations at the Eastern Branch were secured around noon.

 

According to Nobles, Hanna has not been as bad as expected, but there

were several thousand people without power in North Carolina's coastal

region. "We have been incredibly fortunate," North Carolina Emergency

Management spokeswoman Jill Lucas said. "We have had no significant

damage. We have had some trees down and local flooding, but nothing

significant."

 

ARRL South Carolina Section Emergency Coordinator Charlie Miller, AE4UX,

reported that on Friday evening, the South Carolina Emergency Management

Division had the State Emergency Operations Center at Operations

Condition 1 (OPCON 1) -- the highest level of alert -- with the SEOC

manned 24 hours a day. "All normal communications modes are

functioning," he said. At 9:30 AM on Saturday, the SEOC closed and all

county EOCs returned to normal operations. "During Hanna, no

communications outages -- beyond normal day-to-day outages -- were

reported," he said.

 

On Saturday, "Port buoys are being inspected by the Coast Guard, and all

three South Carolina ports are anticipated to be opened this morning,"

Miller said. "During Hanna, 22 Red Cross shelters received 650 people;

eight people sought shelter in a shelter designated for 'special medical

needs.'"

 

Miller said that there were no reports of injuries or "significant

damage" in South Carolina.

 

ARRL Sections up the coast to Maine were notified on Friday on reporting

protocols if ARES was activated in response to Hanna. From Friday

evening throughout Saturday, status reports were received from the

Eastern Massachusetts, Eastern New York, New York-Long Island, Northern

New Jersey, Southern New Jersey and Virginia Sections.

 

ARRL Letter Article: Hurricane Ike Eyeing Galveston Island...

 

The following ARRL Letter Article is on Hurricane Ike eyeing Galveston

Island prior to landfall in the September 12th-13th timeframe and

Amateur Radio preparedness efforts:

 

==> HURRICANE IKE EYEING GALVESTON ISLAND

 

Hurricane Ike -- currently a Category 2 hurricane, but expected to reach

Category 3 status sometime today -- is poised to make landfall near

Galveston Island around 3 AM early Saturday, if it keeps on its current

track and speed. Hams in Texas and Louisiana have had a bit of a

breather since Hurricane Gustav

<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2008/09/03/10311/?nc=1> came through

two weeks ago. ARRL Section leadership in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma,

Mississippi and Arkansas reported in ongoing conference calls with ARRL

Headquarters that they are ready for Ike.

 

* South Texas

 

According to ARRL South Texas Section Emergency Coordinator Mike

Schwartz, KG5TL, the following counties in South Texas have received

mandatory evacuation orders: San Patricio, Aransas, Matagorda, Brazoria,

Galveston, Chambers, Jefferson, Hardin and Orange. Calhoun, Victoria and

Jackson have been issued voluntary evacuation orders, while certain ZIP

codes in Harris County -- home of Houston, the country's fourth largest

city -- received mandatory evacuation orders. Schwartz said that

Emergency Management Officials in New Braunfels have requested Amateur

Radio communications support.

 

"People are heading out of town, up Interstate 45, out of Houston, and

Interstate 290, to San Antonio," Schwartz said. Austin, the state

capital, is in the South Texas Section, and Schwartz said that that city

will serve as the State's marshalling center. Schwartz also reported

that ARES and RACES groups have been working in tandem "very well" with

each other.

 

In September 1900, Galveston experienced the worst hurricane (a Category

4 storm in today's measurements) -- some say the worst natural disaster

-- in US history; more than 8000 people perished in that storm

<http://www.1900storm.com/>.

 

* North Texas

 

In ARRL's North Texas Section, Section Emergency Coordinator Bill Swan,

K5MWC, said approximately 15 American Red Cross shelters are already

open. "ARES members will be providing communications at these

locations," he said. "Many coastal residents escaping from Ike are

expected to head up to the North Texas Section."

 

According to Swan, Emergency Management Agencies in the Section will

move up to Condition 3 -- an alert status -- as soon as the storm comes

through. "Right now, there are agreements in place throughout the area

for county-to-county aid."

 

Amateur Radio operators are providing support to FEMA Region VI during

Hurricane Ike, Swan said, "through the establishment of a coordination

communications link that state agencies can request FEMA support, as

well as to respond to requests from FEMA for information that agencies

can use in their response to those impacted by Hurricane Ike." FEMA

Region VI covers the states of Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and

Louisiana. "FEMA has been very pleased with the activity and support of

Amateur Radio here in the North Texas Section," Swan said.

 

Swan said that the coordination link "will provide the basis for future

interfaces with FEMA as the amateur community in Region VI seeks ways to

provide support as a part of the National Response Framework,

specifically to the Emergency Support Function #2 of that Framework that

deals with communications. It will also serve to identify those areas

where Amateur Radio can provide a service to FEMA. The role of Amateur

Radio is still evolving, but it is clear that the amateur community can

assist in providing interoperability between agencies at the local,

state and national level." A 2 meter link has been opened to FEMA

Regional Headquarters in Denton, just north of Dallas.

 

* West Texas

 

ARRL West Texas Section Manager John Dyer, AE5B, said that while his

Section isn't expected to feel the storm as his counterparts in the

other two Sections will, hams in West Texas are ready for whatever is

needed. He said that three shelters for those with special medical needs

are being set up in the West Texas Section in Lubbock, El Paso and

Amarillo, as well as Oklahoma. "The State is considering using the

airport in Midland as a way to get in and out of the area. With the

storm coming in, they don't think that the airports in Dallas [NTX] or

Houston [STX] will be very usable."

 

Section Emergency Coordinator for the ARRL West Texas Section J. T.

Caldwell, WA5ZFH, reported that portions of Presidio County are more

than 11 feet above flood stage after persistent rains over the last few

days. Presidio County sits on the banks of the Rio Grande, the natural

border that separates Texas from Mexico. "Reservoirs in Mexico are 106

percent full," Caldwell said, "and authorities there are dumping water

from their reservoirs that feed into the Rio Grande, and we are looking

at that to cause some major flooding."

 

Public Information Officer Steven Polunsky, KE5GDR, reported that the

water being released into the Rio Grande is causing major problems. "We

do not know at this point how long the release [from the reservoirs to

the Rio Grande] will continue," he said. "It is creating a hazardous

situation affecting Presidio and Brewster Counties. Redford, a town in

Presidio County, has been isolated for three days. Food is being

airdropped. The road to Lajitas is under five feet of water."

 

Lubbock, Caldwell said, is being "inundated with remnants of Tropical

Depression Lowell in the Pacific," and there is "some concern" how much

rain the area will receive when the storms meet up with each other. "The

ground here is completely saturated. We're in trouble if we get rains

from Hurricane Ike. It could turn into a severe flooding event, since

the water has virtually no place to go," he said.

 

* Louisiana

 

In Louisiana, Section Manager Gary Stratton, K5GLS, said that Cameron

Parish is "completely underwater," and that mandatory evacuation orders

have been issued for Cameron, Calcasieu, Lafayette, Iberia, Lafourche,

Jefferson and St Bernard Parishes; Beauregard, Allen, St Martin,

Iberville, St Mary, Livingston, Terrebonne and Plaquemines Parishes have

receive voluntary evacuation orders.

 

"Eighteen shelters, including a special needs shelter in Shreveport,

have been opened," Stratton reported. "ARES is providing communications

support in each of these shelters."

 

* Arkansas

 

Arkansas Section Manager Dave Norris, K5UZ, said his main concern is

flooding. "The ground here is over saturated from Hurricane Gustav," he

said. "In tracking the storm, we're on the 'bad side' of it. Tornados

are a big concern, so SKYWARN is in a 'wait and see' mode and doing what

we can to get everything prepared."

 

Amateurs in the Arkansas Section are on standby, waiting to see if their

assistance is needed in the Louisiana and South Texas Sections, Norris

said.

 

* Mississippi

 

Mississippi Section Manager Malcolm Keown, W5XX, reported that there is

one shelter open on the coast, but there has not been a request for

Amateur Radio support for that shelter. "Hancock County - the county

closest to Louisiana on the coast - has been issued mandatory evacuation

orders, and the National Guard has been deployed to assist with anything

needed down there," Keown said. "Highway 90, which runs parallel to the

coast, has been closed."

 

* Oklahoma

 

Oklahoma Section manager John Thomason, WB5SYT, said he has been in

contact with that state's Emergency Operations Center. "We have two

concerns right now in Oklahoma," he said, "Flooding and preparations to

host evacuees fleeing Ike. We're in a state of readiness." Saying that

the governor has declared a state of emergency, Thomason said that

Oklahoma Section leadership is in contact with the Salvation Army and

American Red Cross.

 

* Hurricane Ike's Progress

 

At 10 AM (CDT) Friday, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported that

Ike was heading toward the west-northwest near 12 MPH, with its center

about 295 miles east of Corpus Christi, Texas and about 195 miles

southeast of Galveston, Texas. A turn toward the northwest is expected

later today, with a turn toward the north expected on Saturday.

Forecasters at the NHC said that Ike's center will be very near the

upper Texas coast by late Friday or early Saturday. Because Ike is a

very large tropical cyclone, weather will begin to deteriorate along the

coastline soon.

 

Isolated tornadoes are possible on Friday over portions of Southern

Louisiana and extreme Southern Mississippi, the National Weather Service

said. Isolated tornadoes are possible Friday night over portions of

Southwestern Louisiana and Southeastern Texas.

 

If Ike keeps on its current track, forecasters are calling for the storm

to make landfall along the Central Texas coast early Saturday morning as

a major hurricane. A hurricane warning is in effect from Morgan City,

Louisiana, to Baffin Bay, Texas. A tropical storm warning remains in

effect south of Baffin Bay to Port Mansfield, Texas. A tropical storm

warning is also in effect from east of Morgan City to the

Mississippi-Alabama border, including the city of New Orleans and Lake

Pontchartrain.

 

ARRL Letter Article: Hams in Texas and Surrounding States Active as

Ike Pounds Gulf Coast...

 

The following ARRL Letter Article is on Hams in Texas and Surrounding

States being Active as Hurricane Ike Pounds Gulf Coast:

 

==> HAMS IN TEXAS AND SURROUNDING STATES ACTIVE AS IKE POUNDS GULF COAST

AND INLAND AREAS

 

As Hurricane Ike weakened and became a tropical storm and then a

tropical depression after slamming ashore near Galveston, Texas early

Saturday morning, hams in several ARRL sections were supporting agencies

with their communications needs. Although the final word on all the

locations where ARES was providing communications support has yet to be

reported, it was clear that Amateur Radio played a part in the response

to the massive storm.

 

In a conference call with ARRL Headquarters staff the morning of Sunday,

September 14, ARRL section leadership reported that ARES was supporting

Emergency Operations Centers throughout the region, and that equipment

shipped to the Gulf Coast under the Ham Aid program was either being put

to use or held for possible use as requests arrive.

 

* Texas

 

South Texas Section Emergency Coordinator Mike Schwartz, KG5TL, whose

section took the brunt of Ike's wind and rain, reported that he had

spoken earlier to 9th District Emergency Coordinator Brian Cater,

KC5YSM. Cater said his district, located to the east of Houston and

Galveston, had lost power, but some food was available at hotels and

other venues that were using backup generators. Electric utility poles

were holding up well, since many had been replaced with newer ones after

2005's Hurricane Rita.

 

Schwartz reported that ARRL North Texas Section Emergency Coordinator

Bill Swan, K5MWC, sent two communications vehicles and a couple of ham

radio operators from his section to the Orange area in South Texas.

 

Hams in the Houston and the surrounding area responded to calls earlier

this week to assist served agencies with Points of Distribution (POD)

around the Greater Houston area. These PODs are set up to distribute

water, ice and food to area residents dealing with Ike and that storm's

aftermath. According to Joe Gadus, KD5KTX, an ARRL Public Information

Officer in the South Texas Section, members of ARES South Texas District

14 -- under the leadership of District Emergency Coordinator Jeff

Walter, KE5FGA -- were manning at least six PODs. "These hams provided

communications between the National Guard units at the PODs and the

Harris County Office of Emergency Management to coordinate the delivery

and resupply of food, water and MREs (meals ready to eat) to the victims

of Hurricane Ike," he said. "Most of the participating amateurs are also

victims [of the storm], having suffered property losses and power

outages expected to last approximately three weeks."

 

Late Sunday, the Texas State Operations Center released a Situation

Report that included the following:

 

"Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Services (RACES): State emergency

communications operations began at 1800 Thursday, September 11, with the

activation of the State RACES network. Operations consisted of

monitoring joint emergency frequencies. These were operated by RACES and

ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service) and other civil/Amateur Radio

Clubs.

 

"Military Affiliated Radio Service (MARS): Texas MARS operators

activated AAN6ETX (Texas SOC MARS station) at 0800 local on September

13, 2008. AAN6ETX was put into 24/7 operation beginning at 1900 local on

September 13. The MARS and RACES have been actively teaming together to

solve problems and get information to the appropriate parties. Increased

activity began on Saturday after the storm made landfall and damage

assessments were in progress. Five reports were received from Houston

Transtar, which had no other means of submission, other than Winlink.

Messages and critical information regarding safe routes were relayed to

a relief group heading into the Orange County area. At one point contact

between the SOC and the City of Port Arthur was lost and the MARS

station was able to connect them with a Navy MARS/ARES/RACES person in

the area. The MARS is also supporting and monitoring Task Force IKE's

recon team via AAR6NAC. As of Sunday, September 14, 2008, the combined

RACES/ARES/MARS nets received and relayed multiple emergency

communications reports to the SOC, and local jurisdictions."

 

* West Texas

 

Meanwhile, remnants of Tropical Storm Lowell are still affecting

residents of the West Texas Section. Section Emergency Coordinator J.T.

Caldwell, WA5ZFH, reported that the levees in the town of Presidio -- a

town on the banks of the Rio Grande of about 5000 people -- are holding,

"but water is close to the top." Even before Ike hit, that town was more

than 11 feet above flood stage resulting from rains left by Lowell.

Mexican authorities have been dumping water from their reservoirs that

feed into the Rio Grande, causing that river to flood, affecting Texas

towns in the region.

 

"Additional water is being released from Luis Leon dam in Mexico,"

Caldwell said; a portion of the levee broke on the Ojinaga, Mexico side

Tuesday night at approximately 11 PM CST. Presidio's lowest areas have

been evacuated. Emergency workers also shut down the Presidio-Ojinaga

International Bridge connecting the city to Ojinaga, Chihuahua, Mexico,

which was in danger of flooding as the Rio Grande continued to rise

Tuesday. "Do not travel down here if your intent is to get to Ojinaga,"

Presidio City Administrator Cynthia Clarke warned travelers, adding that

there had been three breaks in a levee. "There's no way to get across."

 

"The forecast calls for the river level to rise sequentially each day,"

Caldwell said. "No one currently expects the levees to hold... [and]

residents have been advised that if they hear sirens, immediately leave

and seek higher ground -- hundreds of residents have [already] been

evacuated. The shelters here have since been combined into one shelter

at the Presidio Elementary School with about 120 people in it," with

more expected as the levees breech or overtop.

 

* Louisiana

 

From Louisiana, where residents are recovering from the effects of

Hurricane Gustav, Section Manager Gary Stratton, K5GLS, reported to

those on the conference call that Amateur Radio volunteers have had

constant telephone communications through the Ike emergency, and there

have been no problems at all with VoIP systems

<http://www.arrl.org/qst/2003/02/VoIP.pdf>. There is supplemental

sheltering for Hurricane Gustav and additional shelters for Ike. Most

shelters are supported by local clubs and ARES groups around the state,

working with EOCs. Section Emergency Coordinator Jim Coleman, AI5B, is

participating in Louisiana VOAD conference calls

<http://www.nvoad.org/>.

 

* Arkansas

 

From Arkansas, Section Manager David Norris, K5UZ, reported via e-mail

that SKYWARN nets in the state were busy Saturday and Sunday. "Several

tornados were spotted and tracked with some causing damage in Cabot and

possibly Apin. There has been quite a bit of straight-line wind damage

in the state, and as of 10 PM September 14, approximately 20,000

customers were without power. Many trees are down in my area and both of

my 75/80 meter arrays have fallen victim to the storm. No tower

collapses here, just a lot of mangled wire."

 

* Illinois

 

After the remnants of Ike and Lowell brought 9 inches of rain to the

Chicago area, Illinois Section Manager Tom Ciciora, KA9QPN, reported

Monday morning that "Grundy County ARES activated in support of county

EMA efforts in flood control. One shelter is activated at this time.

Additionally, both Kane and Kendall Counties have been especially hard

hit with numerous road closures and evacuations. It was a real

character-builder for Kane County, as their EOC also flooded yesterday."

 

* ARRL Headquarters Maintaining Coordination Efforts

 

Following Sunday's conference call, the group of ARRL section leaders

and Headquarters staff who had been participating in conference calls

that spanned three major storms on three consecutive weekends agreed to

suspend them. They can be reestablished on short notice, however. In

addition, W1AW suspended its monitoring and coordinating operations as

of 6 PM Eastern Time Sunday.

 

Coordination of Amateur Radio's response to the recent hurricanes

continues, and ARRL Headquarters continues to participate in national

conference calls coordinating the response efforts on an as-needed

basis, as do volunteers in Texas and Louisiana.

 

Only on September 15, were many of the VOAD and other supporting agency

crews beginning to be able to move in to areas that have seen the most

destruction. ARRL Headquarters will be receiving further reports of the

exact contributions hams are making in the recovery effort, and we will

share them as information arrives.

 

ARRL Letter Article: Areas Not Directly in Storm's Path Also Affected By

Ike and Lowell...

 

The following ARRL Letter Article is on Areas not directly in the

path of Ike and a Pacific tropical system in Lowell being impacted

with severe weather and activations:

 

==> AREAS NOT DIRECTLY IN STORM'S PATH ALSO AFFECTED BY IKE AND LOWELL

 

While Hurricane Ike, as well as Tropical Storm Lowell, caused severe

damage in and around the impact zone of the Texas Gulf Coast, the

storm's aftermath was felt as far north as Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and

Kentucky. Just like their counterparts on the Gulf Coast, ARES members

in the Midwest are assisting served agencies in their area.

 

While Ohio was not in the direct path of Hurricane Ike, that state is

definitely feeling the aftermath of the storm as more than 2 million

homes -- 18 percent of the population -- in the southwest portion of

that state and neighboring Kentucky have been without power since

Sunday, according to a story on ohio.com, an online service of the Akron

Beacon Journal.

 

On Wednesday, ARRL District Emergency Coordinator for Ohio District 4

Robert Spratt, N8TVU, reported that the Butler County Emergency

Management Agency had requested ARES assistance to "move a shelter

trailer that can support up to 450 clients from the Hanover Township

Fire Department to the City of Hamilton," a distance of about 5.5 miles.

Spratt said that the shelter was being established to house those

residents whose homes had been structurally damaged or deemed unsafe.

 

Hurricane-force winds of up to 78 MPH blew through Ohio on Sunday,

causing damage in 84 of the state's 88 counties, said Ohio Governor Ted

Strickland. The governor declared a State of Emergency, allowing the

Ohio Department of Transportation to help local communities remove

debris from roads.

 

Calling the power outage "the worst and widespread I have seen," a

spokesman for the Dayton Power & Light Company said that 50 transmission

poles that support larger voltage lines were down and some utility poles

"were snapped in two." A spokesman for Duke Energy (which serves Ohio

and Kentucky) said that even with the influx of electrical crews from

outside the area, "We're still looking at some customers being without

[electrical] service until Saturday or Sunday."

 

In Illinois, Governor Rod R. Blagojevich declared seven counties --

Cook, DuPage, DeKalb, Grundy, Kane, LaSalle and Will -- disaster areas.

With the state proclamation, state assets and personnel will be provided

to affected communities to help them respond and recover from the

floods.

 

On Monday, September 15, the Grundy County ARES team was activated at

11:30 AM, said DEC Bob Cockream, AA9EE. "The KB9SZK VHF repeater was

closed to all but flood-related and emergency traffic. We supplied a

person to assist with communications to the Red Cross shelter at the

Coal City High School, and another two hams to the village hall to help

with both radio and phones. We had seven other EMA/ARES members working

the field delivering sand bags and checking in on residents, as well as

checking water levels, and reporting back to the village hall."

 

Neil Ormos, N9NL, DEC for Cook County/Chicago, reported that he hasn't

heard of any ham radio activations in Cook County yet, "but if people

have been activated, they may be too busy to report. In general,

conventional communications systems are working. The Red Cross has four

shelters open in Cook County, but they are using conventional

communications and have not sought ham radio assistance."

 

In Indiana, only one county -- Harrison County in the southern part of

the state -- has had an official ARES activation. According to AEC Scott

Taylor, K9SET, the area had no phones -- either landline or cell -- or

electricity. "I recorded several 70 MPH gusts on Monday, and there are

many, many trees and power lines down, as well as major structural

damage to homes and business here in my town of Corydon. It may be three

to five days for some to get power. Only a few businesses seem to have

power, but no residences have it at this time."

 

In Dearborn County and Southeastern Indiana, there has been "much storm

damage," said Dearborn County EC Ken Courtney, WA9BLA. "On Tuesday, we

had winds here from 1:30 PM to 5:30 PM; on Sunday, we recorded gusts of

70 to 80 MPH across the area wide -- hurricane Category 1 strength. A

mobile home rolled over and a semi was blown over on the I-275 bridge to

Kentucky. There have been four fatalities in the Greater Cincinnati

area, all with trees falling on people; one fatality was in Ohio County,

Indiana."

 

Courtney said that several hams will be doing disaster damage surveys

later this week for the Dearborn County Homeland Security Agency.

 

The ARRL is still receiving reports from the field concerning recovery

efforts from these states. We will be updating our information as it

becomes available. To catch up on the latest information, please visit

the ARRL Web site <http://www.arrl.org>.

 

ARRL Letter Article: W1AW Supports Echolink Operations During Ike...

 

The following ARRL Letter article is on W1AW supporting Echolink

Operations during Hurricane Ike:

 

==> W1AW SUPPORTS ECHOLINK OPERATIONS DURING IKE

 

Throughout the course of Hurricane Ike, operators at W1AW, the Hiram

Percy Maxim Memorial Station, hooked into the HF radio of ARRL West Gulf

Vice Director David Woolweaver, K5RAV, via EchoLink

<http://www.echolink.org/>.

 

According to W1AW Station Manager Joe Carcia, NJ1Q, the link enabled

hams in Newington to monitor the Texas Emergency Net. "Through Dr

Woolweaver's initiative, we could use EchoLink in this fashion to assist

ARRL HQ staff monitor critical Net operations using HF -- a capability

we have never taken advantage of before."

 

Carcia said that the reason the HF/EchoLink connection was used was due

to the frequency the Texas Emergency Net was using. "The Net was on 75

meters," Carcia said, "and propagation did not favor us here in New

England to be able to hear the transmissions. By using Dr Woolweaver's

link, we could hear everything on the Net."

 

During the monitoring sequence, Woolweaver changed the frequencies on

EchoLink to enable ARRL HQ to stay on top of and monitor conversations

related to message relays, Coast Guard contacts and Health and Welfare

traffic from across Texas and the surrounding states. According to ARRL

Emergency Preparedness and Response Manager Dennis Dura, K2DCD, this

capability will be critical to future emergency communication response

at ARRL Headquarters: "Without the EchoLink/HF connection, we here at

ARRL would not have able to be in contact with ARRL South Texas Section

Leadership."

 

Woolweaver is working on getting more Texas stations involved in the

EchoLink network to help out with future emergencies. He said that

EchoLink can be successfully utilized to monitor and to engage stations

on VHF and HF. "Using stations with EchoLink node capabilities and

access to VHF and HF equipment, W1AW and other personnel at HQ will be

able to become active participants and consultants in local and regional

operations," he said. "You cannot underestimate the value of first hand

information. The EchoLink to remote HF connection allows W1AW and ARRL

staff to monitor and participate in local and regional operations any

where any time. It does not get much better than that!"

 

ARRL Letter Article: Hurricane Kyle VoIP Hurricane Net Operations...

 

The following is the ARRL Letter Article on Hurricane Kyle VoIP

Hurricane Net Operations in the Canadian Maritimes:

 

==> CANADIAN AND AMERICAN HAMS PROVIDE "TEXTBOOK EXAMPLE" OF AMATEUR

RADIO'S EMCOMM ROLE

 

On Sunday, September 27, the VoIP Hurricane Net <http://www.voipwx.net/>

formally activated at 5 PM EDT to provide surface reports as Hurricane

Kyle affected portions of extreme Northeastern Maine, New Brunswick and

Nova Scotia, Canada. The activation was in coordination with WX4NHC

<http://www.wx4nhc.org/>, the Amateur Radio Station at the National

Hurricane Center (NHC), to support their operations for Hurricane Kyle.

 

"The Canadian Maritimes rarely get hurricanes, but we received some of

our highest quality reports that included measured wind data every 15-20

minutes, as well as damage reports from radio amateurs in the area. They

did a fantastic job," said Director of Operations for the VoIP Hurricane

Net Rob Macedo, KD1CY. "We reached out to many of the IRLP and EchoLink

stations in this area and the response rate from those amateurs

connecting to our Net was extremely high."

 

Assistant WX4NHC Coordinator Julio Ripoll, WD4R, agreed: "The Canadian

amateurs provided critical surface reports to the National Hurricane

Center that we wouldn't have received otherwise. I was very impressed

with the level and detail of the reports we received." The National

Hurricane Center in Miami works closely together with the Canadian

Hurricane Centre

<http://www.atl.ec.gc.ca/weather/hurricane/index_e.html> when tropical

events impact this area of the world.

 

The storm downed trees and wires, prompting power outages over portions

of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, Canada. A measured wind gust to near

95 MPH was reported in Lockeport, Nova Scotia by a ham radio operator

with a weather station within a couple hundred feet of the coast of the

Atlantic Ocean.

 

ARRL Emergency Preparedness and Response Manager Dennis Dura, K2DCD,

acted as Net Control for most of the Net's activation; Dura also serves

as Assistant Director of the VoIP Hurricane Net Operations. "I, too, was

extremely impressed with the level of support from the Canadian amateurs

in providing situational awareness and disaster intelligence for

Hurricane Kyle," he said. "The work these hams performed was a textbook

example of the role Amateur Radio plays in events like this. Many

lessons were re-learned tonight, lessons that need to be re-taught in

areas impacted by tropical events."

 

On Saturday, prior to Kyle's arrival in the Canadian Maritimes, Dura

began providing information to the Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC)

<http://www.rac.ca> through their ARES e-mail reflector. Sunday's

information sharing was escalated with direct contact with RAC Vice

President for Field Services Bob Cooke, VE3BDB. "This event provides an

opportunity for cross border support, as it's certainly not every day

that a tropical event is aimed at a Canadian Province without first

hitting the States," Dura said. Cooke echoed this in his message to the

RAC Section Emergency Coordinators, District Emergency Coordinators and

local Emergency Coordinators, urging "every Radio Amateur to participate

to the best of his or her ability."

 

Elsewhere in the tropics, Sub-Tropical Storm Laura has formed in the

open Atlantic, but is currently only a threat to marine or shipping

interests. Laura may briefly reach hurricane strength before weakening

over the colder waters of the Northern Atlantic.

 

ARRL Letter Article: Radio Amateurs Assist with Hurricane Kyle Operations..

 

The following ARRL Letter Article is on Radio Amateurs assisting with

Hurricane Kyle operations:

 

==> RADIO AMATEURS ASSIST WITH HURRICANE KYLE OPERATIONS

 

As Hurricane Kyle brushed its way across the Eastern New England region

on its way to the Canadian Maritimes, hams in the area were prepared for

impact. Heavy rain associated with a stalled out boundary, as well as

some influence from Kyle, caused heavy rainfall and flooding in the

region.

 

"We were lucky to have a 12-18 hour lull in rainfall between the rain on

Friday and what came on Saturday," said Director of Operations for the

VoIP Hurricane Net and SKYWARN <http://www.skywarn.org/> Coordinator Rob

Macedo, KD1CY. "We were also lucky that most of the direct influence

from Kyle remained offshore, or this situation would've been much

worse." Over the 3 day period, 3 to 6 inches of rain fell over much of

Eastern New England, Connecticut and parts of Central Massachusetts and

Eastern New Hampshire. Some areas, Macedo said, received more than 8

inches, resulting in pockets of flooding with a few brooks going out of

their banks.

 

The Amateur Radio station at the National Weather Service in Taunton,

Massachusetts, WX1BOX, coordinated SKYWARN operations Friday afternoon

through Sunday. According to Macedo, this station covers much of

Southern New England. Farther north, the National Weather Service's

office in Gray, Maine's station, WX1GYX, coordinated SKYWARN efforts in

that area. Macedo said that amateurs at theses stations mostly received

reports of rainfall amounts and flooding.

 

The Hurricane Watch Net (HWN) <http://www.hwn.org/> also provided

reports to the National Hurricane Center (NHC)

<http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/>. HWN Net Manager Dave Lefavour, W7GOX, said,

"Propagation was tough. We think most hams in Kyle's path were making

preparations for this rare Canadian hurricane, but we were able to pick

up and relay some actual ground observations to the National Hurricane

Center. The NHC is always looking for first-hand ground observations of

weather conditions to help them understand what the storm is doing below

radar and satellite visibility." The HWN relays information obtained on

14.325 MHz to hams at the National Hurricane Center operating WX4NHC.

 

District Emergency Coordinator for Maine District 3 Phil Roberts, K1PAR,

activated ARES Nets in his region -- Knox, Waldo, Hancock and Washington

Counties -- on Saturday night. All ARES members in the affected counties

were on standby. In Southwestern Maine, all ARES members were also on

standby for possible activation by their respective served agencies.

 

Maine Section Emergency Coordinator, Bryce Rumery, K1GAX, provided

reports all day Sunday to ARRL Headquarters. On Sunday evening, Rumery

advised all District Emergency Coordinators and local Emergency

Coordinators to "stand down their ARES members no later than 0500 Monday

morning or earlier if possible at the discretion of the DEC or EC."

 

According to e-mail reports, New Hampshire hams were also on alert

throughout the day, Macedo said.

 

That's all for this edition of the SKYWARN Newsletter!

 

Respectfully Submitted,

 

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)

ARES SKYWARN Coordinator

Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator

Pager #: (508) 354-3142

Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875 (After 6 PM)

Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503 (After 6 PM)

Work Phone #: 1-800-445-2588 Ext.: 72929 (8 AM-5 PM)

Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com

http://ares.ema.arrl.org

http://www.wx1box.org

 

 

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