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 Previous: Cosponsor List for CC&R Bill, HR 4720, Continues to Grow |  Next: FCC Declares Communications Emergency for Gulf Coast |
NEWINGTON, CT, Sep 24, 2002--The Hurricane Watch Net and W4EHW at the National Hurricane Center in Miami have stood down for the time being, but members and volunteers are staying alert to the movements of a trio of storms in the Eastern Caribbean, the Atlantic and in the Gulf of Mexico. The HWN is expected to reactivate on 14.325 as at least one of the storms regains hurricane strength later this week.
"HWN is standing down at this time but catching our breath for tomorrow and beyond," Hurricane Watch Net Manager Mike Pilgrim, K5MP, said today. Over the weekend and on Monday, Amateur Radio provided weather and damage reports as well as emergency communication during Hurricane Isidore. The HWN and W4EHW first activated for Isidore around midday on September 19 and remained on the air until late in the evening of September 20. They reactivated 12 hours later and remained on the air until the afternoon of September 23.
After striking the western tip of Cuba and doing considerable damage to the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, Isidore--for now a tropical storm--is setting its sights on the US Gulf Coast. Current predictions show that Isidore could regain hurricane strength over the Gulf of Mexico and affect parts of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia when it reaches landfall Thursday morning.
Watches and warnings already have been issued for the for the northern Gulf Coast; a hurricane watch is in effect along the northern Gulf Coast from Cameron, Louisiana, to Pascagoula, Mississippi. Tropical storm warnings are in effect from east of High Island, Texas to Destin, Florida, and along the Gulf Coast of Mexico from Cabo Catoche to Veracruz.
The Gulf Coast Amateur Radio Emergency Service Net on 7285 kHz (days) and 3873 kHz (evenings) activated on September 23 in anticipation of the storm's arrival. ARRL South Texas Section Manager Ray Taylor, N5NAV, said the Texas state emergency operations center was scheduled to join the net. In addition, the American Red Cross reports that, in anticipation of the storm's arrival, it's moved some 20 emergency response vehicles (ERVs) to Mississippi and Louisiana Gulf Coast regions as well as additional staff and vehicles into Atlanta.
Over the weekend in Cuba, International Amateur Radio Union Area C Emergency Coordinator Arnie Coro, CO2KK, reported ham radio provided communication with remote sections of western Cuba during Isidore's passage. That included contact with two long-range weather radar sites. Coro was among those handling net control duties for the Cuban Hurricane Emergency Net on 40 meters. For the first time ever, an Amateur Radio station, CO9BNA, was on the air from the national headquarters of the Cuban weather service (Instituto de Meteorologia).
"Hurricane Isidore struck us really hard!" reported Coro, who also made Amateur Radio's role in the storm activation the primary topic of his own DXers Unlimited broadcast over the weekend on Radio Habana. While details on damage aren't yet available, Coro said members of the Federacion de Radioaficionados de Cuba (FRC--the Federation of Cuban Radio Amateurs) volunteered to provide emergency communication to Cuba and to neighboring countries using two nets--one for weather radar and surface data and the other for emergency traffic.
"Amateur Radio has received wide coverage over the Cuban mass media during the past several days," said Coro.
On more than one occasion, the Cuban net got in contact with W4EHW to compare notes on the storm. "W4EHW and CO2KK had several contacts during the peak of the emergency, and data from both weather services was exchanged as we have done in the past," he said. He also credited the HWN with helping to coordinate "our mutual efforts to deal with this devastating hurricane."
After veering in a surprise move toward the Yucatan Peninsula, Isidore raked several communities and was blamed for four deaths before it was downgraded to a tropical storm September 23. Assistant W4EHW Amateur Radio Coordinator Julio Ripoll, WD4JR, said Isidore "meandered over the Yucatan Peninsula all day" on Monday. "Reports received via ham radio indicate severe building and infrastructure damage along the northern coast of the Yucatan," he said. "Merida has reported several hospitals with broken windows; no electrical power, flooding and rain totaling more than 30 inches since landfall."
In some cases, Amateur Radio provided the sole means of contact with the outside world.
In addition to the fatalities, Ripoll said, ham radio reports indicated many others were reported missing and some small villages were said to have been destroyed. Others were cut off completely, out of radio contact and inaccessible at this time.
He said W4EHW was on the air for 64 hours, sometimes with two or three volunteer operators on both 20 and 40 meters, and, given Isidore's path through Cuba and Mexico, the station made extensive use of its bilingual operators. Ripoll credited many Mexican amateurs with staying on the air late into the night to sending valuable surface weather observations via the HWN, the Mexican Emergency Net the Central American Emergency Net and even via e-mail.
Ripoll said W4EHW also conducted several propagation experiments on 80, 40 and 20 meters with the Hurricane Hunter aircraft as it flew through Isidore over Cuba and the Yucatan. "Captain Dave Tennesen, NL7MT, transmitted live reports of 'horrendous' sea surface conditions as they flew through Isidore," Ripoll said. He said it was the first time a contact was made on 80 meters. A new HF antenna on the plane will be used to further test W4EHW's abilities to provide backup communications from the National Hurricane Center. "Further propagation and antenna experiments are planned during future hurricanes," he said.
Isidore generated considerable rain and coastal flooding. As a large tropical storm, it's now moving toward the north-northwest at around 8 MPH. It boasts sustained winds of 60 MPH with higher gusts.
Meanwhile, as of today, all interests on Hispaniola, Cuba, Jamaica, and the Bahamas were being advised to stay informed about the progress of Tropical Storm Lili as it approaches hurricane strength. Lili was reported moving to the west at 16 MPH with maximum sustained winds near 70 MPH and higher gusts. It could become a hurricane by early September 25. "A hurricane watch will likely be required for Haiti later today," the National Weather Service said September 24. Tropical Storm Kyle is moving southwest in the Central Atlantic and gaining strength.
Official advisories are available on the NHC Web site.
The Hurricane Watch Net and W4EHW cooperate
to gather and disseminate real-time, ground-level weather data and damage
reports from Amateur Radio operators to assist forecasters. The HWN also
functions as a backup communication link for the NHC, emergency operating
centers and the National Weather Service.
| Previous: Cosponsor List for CC&R Bill, HR 4720, Continues to Grow | Next: FCC Declares Communications Emergency for Gulf Coast |
