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 Previous: The K7RA Solar Update |  Next: FCC Emergency Communications Declaration Policy Prefers VHF-UHF |
 National Weather Service graphic showing current position and projected path of Hurricane Charley. |
NEWINGTON, CT, Aug 13, 2004--The Hurricane Watch Net (HWN) resumed operation today as Hurricane Charley approaches landfall near Tampa Bay. Hurricane warnings are posted for the Florida Keys and much of the western Florida coastline. The net has been gathering ground-level weather data from stations in the lower Florida Keys and others along the western Florida coast.
"We will stay engaged as long as needed into Friday night," said HWN Manager Mike Pilgrim, K5MP. "We appreciate all assistance to direct people in the affected area to our net at 14.325 MHz and also continue to remind them to monitor current events at our Web site." Pilgrim said the net also was directing those seeking health-and-welfare traffic to monitor the Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Net (SATERN) on 14.265 MHz.
Many Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) teams in
Florida or in the storm's potential path are already activated or preparing to
activate. In Polk County--just inland from the Tampa-St Petersburg area, ARES
Emergency Coordinator Evans Mitchell, KD4EFM, has elevated his ARES team to "Condition
Red." His ARES team will maintain shelter communications via a local 2-meter
repeater and monitor ARES HF nets on 40 and 75 meters.
ARRL West Central Florida Section Manager Dave Armbrust, AE4MR, this week encouraged all Florida ARES members to be ready in case they're needed in their communities or for mutual aid in another affected county elsewhere in the state. He said he's coordinated with Northern Florida SM Rudy Hubbard, WA4PUP, and Southern Florida SM Sherri Brower, W4STB. A special session of the South Florida ARES Net (SFAN) has been called up on 7242 kHz.
Georgia SEC Mike Boatright, KO4WX, says the Georgia State Operations Center (SOC) activated today with support from the Georgia Emergency Management Agency ARES team. He requested all Georgia ARES members to stand by for possible activation of the statewide ARES net. "Stations in coastal Georgia should make immediate preparations to protect property and to prepare to operate under emergency conditions," he said.
ARRL North Carolina Section Manager John Covington, W4CC, said North Carolina Emergency Management was expected to activate its Eastern Branch Office emergency operations center, and the Amateur Radio station there would be staffed. "We are alert, aware and preparing, just in case," he said
SATERN National Director Pat McPherson, WW9E, reports that The Salvation Army has set up an Amateur Radio station at the Tampa Bay Salvation Army Disaster Center.
"Bif Craine, K4LAW, and the Tampa Bay Amateur Radio Club are assisting The Salvation Army during the course of Hurricane Charley providing HF access to SATERN and the Hurricane Watch Net plus providing local communications for The Salvation Army Florida Division's personnel and response units for the event," McPherson said. Club members also were handling communication for more than three dozen shelters set being set up in the area, he said. SATERN will handle emergency communications in addition to health-and-welfare traffic.
As of 1800 UTC, the center of Hurricane Charley was some 60 miles southwest of Ft Myers, moving toward the north-northeast at nearly 20 MPH. Now a Category 4 hurricane, Charley is packing sustained winds of 145 MPH with higher gusts, and is expected to make landfall on Florida's west coast this afternoon.
The HWN is working in cooperation with WX4NHC at the National Hurricane Center in
Miami. The net activated August 11 as Charley threatened the southern coast of
Jamaica. During hurricane emergencies trained HWN members provide essential
communication support to WX4NHC, which disseminates storm updates via the HWN.
The net also collects observed or measured weather data and post-storm damage
reports via Amateur Radio in the affected areas and relays that information to
forecasters via WX4NHC, which also gathers similar data via the Internet from non-Amateur Radio sources. The
ground-level weather data assists NHC forecasters in predicting a storm's path
and behavior.
| Previous: The K7RA Solar Update | Next: FCC Emergency Communications Declaration Policy Prefers VHF-UHF |
