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 Previous: Make a Map of Your Radio Club |  Next: ARRL.NET Traffic Blocked by Comcast |
 Twisted poles, torn canvas shelters and scattered debris recall the fierce, quick storm that wiped out the CARS Field Day site in Florida. [Pat Bryson, N4RAT, Photo] |
NEWINGTON, CT, Jul 2, 2003--Members of the Clearwater Amateur Radio Society (CARS) won't soon forget Field Day 2003, when extreme winds and rain spawned by what later became Tropical Storm Bill literally blew away the club's FD site on Indian Rocks Beach, Florida. In Kansas, meanwhile, an Amateur Radio Emergency Service communications van was called out from the Kaw Valley Amateur Radio Club (KVARC) FD site just as the event was getting under way. No one was injured in either incident.
ARRL West Central Florida Section Manager Dave Armbrust, AE4MR, says the group should have taken the hint when they saw spotted several NOAA "hurricane hunter" aircraft in the air from MacDill Air Force Base just across Tampa Bay from the FD site. The 5A operation included three recreational vehicles, a trailer, a 40-foot aluminum tower, a satellite array, four canvas shelters and a canvas carport.
West Central Florida Section Emergency Coordinator John Townsley, AE4GB, was on 40 meter SSB when the fast-moving storm struck the site around 10:20 PM Saturday. "I unscrewed the twin lead from the antenna tuner, Townsley said. "As the bare wire brushed across my hand I felt a shock like I was hit by a spark plug wire. Then the wire flew out the window."
 The storm spared little at the CARS site, but all radio gear was recovered undamaged. |
Townsley says when he removed a coax feed line and shoved it outside, the rain sprayed through the narrow window opening "like a large spray nozzle under high pressure." Turning on the radio inside his RV, Townsley found a SKYWARN net already in progress. Via the National Weather Service's ham station WX4TBW came back a recommendation to evacuate to shelter at the nearby 4-H clubhouse--the only solid structure in the area.
Meanwhile, club member Dan Hawthorne, AI4ET, made his way to the 25-kW generator that continued to energize temporary power lines running along the now soaked ground to each station at the site. "Electric lines lying in an inch of water, frequent lightning and high winds made for a dangerous combination," Townsley said.
The storm--which lasted about a half hour--wiped out the food station and damaged or blew down all canvas structures. Awnings on the RVs were twisted and torn, while push-up antenna support poles were bent and folded and the antennas damaged or destroyed altogether. "The aluminum and canvas carport had flown about 60 feet," Armbrust said. "All Field Day logs were totally destroyed." The radio gear survived relatively unscathed, however.
While the CARS Field Day score won't go down in the Amateur Radio record books, Armbrust expressed relief that no one was injured and that the group's communications training and teamwork really paid off. Armbrust said the NWS reported winds of more than 60 MPH nearby and suggested that a "gustnado" or very small F0 tornado might have struck the area.
The WX4TBW
SKYWARN net remained in operation for another three hours to provide weather
updates and to receive spotter reports. Severe thunderstorm warnings later went
up in several counties.
 The Kaw Valley AMCOM II communication van. |
In Kansas, the AMCOM (Amateur Communications) van was called in from the Kaw Valley Amateur Radio Club Field Day site to assist the Topeka Police Department.
The Field Day
ops barely broke stride. "With the help of those operating the Field Day
station, the HF radios and related equipment was removed from AMCOM and put
back into service on a table under an awning," said Steve Hamilton, KB0JYL,
who's ARRL State Government Liaison and an Official Observer in
Kansas.
 The interior of the Kaw Valley AMCOM II communication van. |
"Those operating Field Day adapted and continued on with activities, proving once again that Amateur Radio operators are versatile and adaptable. They proved to be good team players."
Police needed the van to help check out a possible hazardous materials incident--a suspicious substance at US Postal Service substation. Soon on the scene, the AMCOM van assisted with communication among various federal, state and local authorities on the scene. Although several postal workers were taken to the hospital, the substance was later determined to be some kind of cleaning powder.
"AMCOM was
released just after 2 AM Sunday and returned to its quarters," Hamilton said.
"Thanks to those who helped and to those who kept Field Day going despite the
interruption."
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