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 Previous: Surfin': It's About Time |  Next: ARES on Fire Duty in Northern California |
St Lucie County CRT radio amateurs established a trunking system that allowed Arcadia fire and police to use their own radios and to communicate--just as though their tower had not been toppled by Hurricane Charley. The trailer provided power for the trunking system. The emergency communications van--a converted ambulance--can operate on HF, 6 and 2 meters, CB, Marine and any public service frequency. |
Hundreds of thousands of Floridians remain without power. |
Hams from Sarasota brought a 100-foot mobile crank-up tower to Arcadia to assist with Amateur Radio emergency communication. "Many logistics and welfare calls went through this system," says Pete Rimmel, N8PR. [Pete Rimmel, N8PR, Photos] |
(L-R) Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist, WX4NHC Coordinator John McHugh, K4AG, Meteorologist Michelle Mainelli and NHC Director Max Mayfield. [NHC Photo] |
NEWINGTON, CT, Aug 16, 2004--An as-yet unknown number of Amateur Radio operators remain in emergency mode today as Florida recovers from the devastating blow landed August 13 by Hurricane Charley. Authorities ordered the evacuation of an estimated two million people ahead of the storm. Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) teams have been supporting relief agencies and--with phone systems overloaded or out of service--also bridging the telecommunications gap. The storm--which blasted into the Charlotte County community of Punta Gorda on Florida's Gulf Coast and killed at least 17--is being called the worst in more than a decade. Damage is expected to be in the billions of dollars. ARRL West Central Florida Section Manager Dave Armbrust, AE4MR, has been coordinating communication for the recovery effort from a supermarket parking lot staging area in Charlotte County (Exit 170 off Interstate 75, then west on King's Highway or look for AE4MR-7 on APRS). Armbrust reports he needs additional volunteers.
"Currently Amateur Radio is the primary means of communication, and we have just about maxed out our local WCF Amateur Radio capabilities after almost three days of activity," he said late Sunday afternoon. With some three dozen cellular towers in Charlotte County reportedly down, Armbrust's cellphone is out of service, and he has no other telephone or e-mail capability. Charlotte, Hardee and DeSoto counties in the West Central Florida Section were hard hit. Florida Power and Light estimates that more than 350,000 people are without power, and some may have to wait until the end of the week or longer before it's restored.
ARRL Southern Florida SM Sherri Brower, W4STB, says ARES groups from Miami-Dade, Martin, St Lucie, Broward, Okeechobee and Palm Beach counties have been deployed to relieve amateur operators on duty in the affected communities. Disaster Communications Assistance Teams (DCATs) from Southern Florida were in Punta Gorda, the DeSoto County town of Arcadia and elsewhere, and arrangements are under way to relieve them later in the week. "Of course, SKYWARN was active in just about every county in the peninsula during the event," Brower noted.
In Sarasota County, Ron Wetjen, WD4AHZ, said he spent August 13 with a search-and-rescue team in the storm's immediate aftermath, then put in a 22-hour shift at the emergency operations center. Amateurs from Sarasota County--northwest of Punta Gorda--were among those responding to the mutual aid call. Wetjen said he's been in contact with Armbrust at the Charlotte County staging area via 2 meters.
Brower said that outside offers of help came from a Salvation Army/ARES team in Oklahoma, individual amateurs arriving to assist relatives, and Georgia ARRL SM Susan Swiderski, AF4FO. Southern Florida Section Emergency Coordinator Jim Goldsberry, KD4GR, and Assistant SM Jeff Beals, WA4AW, were assisting Brower in coordinating mutual aid to the affected areas.
Amateurs in several counties lost HF capability and have been using VHF to stay in touch. "We have been holding special sessions of ARES nets four times a day since Thursday," Brower said. "During the storm we used local repeaters and simplex frequencies for tactical traffic and shelter operations in many counties."
The Hurricane Watch Net (HWN) on 14.325 MHz stayed busy last week tracking the approaches of Hurricane Charley and Tropical Storm Bonnie, which came ashore August 12 near Apalachicola. The HWN secured August 14 after what Net Manager Mike Pilgrim, K5MP, called "three and a half long days." The HWN worked in concert with WX4NHC, the Amateur Radio station at the National Hurricane Center in Miami, to collect ground-level weather data from participating amateurs. WX4NHC also gathers weather data from amateurs via EchoLink and IRLP and from non-Amateur Radio sources via the Internet.
Assistant WX4NHC Amateur Radio Coordinator Julio Ripoll, WD4R, said the station received many reports via the HWN as well as from Cuban nets. "A statement monitored over Cuban state TV mentioned that ham radio was the only means of communications from the affected area." Ripoll cited reports indicating that four died in Cuba, and homes schools and factories suffered severe damage.
In the US, Ripoll says, reports were heard via Amateur Radio when a shelter housing some 1200 storm refugees lost its roof during the blow. Injuries were said to have been minor.
Lloyd Colston, KC5FM, in Oklahoma told ARRL that more than 70 hams participated in the VoIPWX nets for Tropical Storm Bonnie and Hurricane Charley. "The hams there are able to function 24/7," he said. "The net linked repeaters in Florida over EchoLink, IRLP and eQSO." At one point, he reported, a station in Australia served as the net control.
Ripoll say he got a chance to promote Amateur Radio's value when a reporter from a major network asked, "Isn't ham radio as ancient as the Model T?"
"I replied, 'Try using your satellite phone to call us in the middle of a hurricane,'" Ripoll said. "He quickly understood why the old art of ham radio is still very reliable during major disasters and many times the only means of communication out of a disaster area." Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist visited WX4NHC during the Hurricane Charley activation, and Ripoll said Crist "was very impressed with the use of Amateur Radio at NHC."
The Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network (SATERN) on 14.265 MHz spent nearly five days in continuous operation. The Salvation Army has been providing meals, household necessities and other assistance to residents displaced by the storm. SATERN worked closely with the HWN and the Maritime Mobile Service Net (MMSN) on 14.300 MHz to assist in handling emergency communication from affected areas. It also has taken on responsibility for health-and-welfare inquiries, both via Amateur Radio and through its Web site.
SATERN National Director Pat McPherson, WW9E, reports that The Salvation Army set up an Amateur Radio station at the Tampa Bay Salvation Army Disaster Services Headquarters. Members of the Tampa Bay Amateur Radio Club assisted The Salvation Army during Hurricane Charley by providing HF access to SATERN and the HWN as well as local communication for Salvation Army response units. Club members also handled communication for shelters set up in the area, McPherson said.
"This kind of inter-organization collaboration is helpful and necessary to get the job done," he said over the weekend. "Beyond that, it seems as if the Amateur Radio world is listening and waiting to help when an event such as this occurs, and it's edifying to realize the positive impact of their dedication to the task of helping others." McPherson said The Salvation Army values its relationships with ARRL, ARES and the other organizations that "support us to help get the job done," he said.
SATERN has stood down from continuous operation and will resume its normal net schedule on 14.265 MHz. "We feel from this point on, any additional emergency traffic can be handled by our operation at 1400 UTC on 14.265 MHZ," he said. "We have processed more than 300 health-and-welfare messages, and the SATERN Web site H&W operation will continue to handle the remnants of that potential."
North Carolina SM John Covington, W4CC, said the state emergency management agency activated its Eastern Branch office with Amateur Radio support. The Tar Heel Emergency Net ceased continuous operation the evening of August 14.
"Around 60 American Red Cross shelters were opened during the storm, and at one point 1600 people had made use of these shelters," Covington said. Many shelters now have closed, and the remaining were not reporting communication problems, he said. "There have been some reports of a tornado in Tyrrell County as a result of the storm, and some other rough spots, but overall, we dodged a bullet this time," Covington concluded.
ARES teams in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia were believed active as Hurricane Charley moved up the Eastern Seaboard after traversing the Florida Peninsula.
Another storm is waiting in the wings, although at this point Hurricane Danielle poses no threat to land. As of 1500 UTC, the Category 2 storm was 915 miles west-northwest of the Cape Verde Islands and moving toward the northwest at about 17 MPH. Forecasters say the hurricane could gradually shift northward, however.
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