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 Previous: ARRL Goes to Bat for Arizona Amateurs, Seeks BPL Field Trial Shutdown |  Next: Hams assist hospital after telephone outage |
NEWINGTON, CT, Aug 18, 2004--ARRL West Central Florida Section Manager Dave Armbrust, AE4MR, says Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) volunteers from within or from outside Florida are urgently needed at the Hurricane Charley command post he's heading up in Charlotte County. There's also a need for command trailers. With cellular telephone service still unreliable and power still out, Armbrust says, Amateur Radio has been a communications mainstay.
"We have cellphones down here that come and go--they're hit and miss," Armbrust told ARRL today. "The only reliable communication we have here is Amateur Radio." He said many of the two dozen or so ARES volunteers in Charlotte County have been on duty for several days since the Category 4 storm came ashore at Punta Gorda--in Charlotte County and north of Fort Myers--and blasted across the Florida Peninsula August 13. They now need relief, and Armbrust is running out of hands. "We're out in the field trying to handle so many different things that it's almost overwhelming," he said. "I am way, way short on operators."
 An unidentified amateur assists with relief efforts in the DeSoto County town of Arcadia--also hard hit by the storm. |
Armbrust says ARES needs trained and knowledgeable emergency communicators--and especially those with leadership skills--with their own equipment. He made a special plea for ARES groups with emergency communications vans or trailers, so operators can stay out of the hot sun. Armbrust has been coordinating communication for the recovery effort from a Winn-Dixie 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).
Volunteers may coordinate through Ron Wetjen, WD4AHZ, at the emergency operations center in Sarasota or directly to AE4MR via the National Traffic System. Wetjen said he's in contact with Armbrust at the Charlotte County staging area via 2 meters.
Among other storm relief duties, Amateur Radio operators have been handling emergency traffic--10 pieces on August 17 alone, Armbrust said--and assisting the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in setting up HF communication to the state emergency operations center in the capital of Tallahassee. ARES also has been providing communication for search-and-rescue teams and supporting American Red Cross humanitarian relief efforts.
In addition, Armbrust said, radio amateurs have been handling outgoing health-and-welfare traffic from storm victims now living in shelters, providing or supplementing communication for law enforcement agencies and even handling some dispatching duties as needed. They're also deployed at area hospitals, some of which have experienced spotty communication. Several repeaters are up and active for emergency traffic (regional repeaters are on 145.43 MHz and 442.950 MHz).
The most severely stricken communities are in largely
rural areas of western and central Florida made up of smaller towns. Hams have
been part of the effort to check on residents and determine what they need and
to "make sure everyone's okay," he said. "We have small towns that no one's
even been to yet."
 St Lucie County CRT radio amateurs established a trunking system that allowed Arcadia fire and police to use their own radios. The emergency communications van--a converted ambulance--can operate on HF, 6 and 2 meters, CB, Marine and any public service frequency. [Pete Rimmel, N8PR, Photos] |
Armbrust emphasized that Hurricane Charley cut a broad swath across Florida, and the devastation is widespread. "This looks like a war zone," he said. "It looks like this mission is not going to be over anytime soon."
Hot, humid weather has aggravated the relief effort, especially for emergency medical service personnel who not only are dealing with storm-related health issues but with those resulting from the heat.
"The sun is killing us down here," Armbrust said. "These people are waiting in line to get money from FEMA because they don't have any money and they have no access to it, and they're collapsing in line." He said when three people fell victim to the heat yesterday, it took 20 minutes to get the message to the 911 center. As of today, that sort of communication lag has been solved. "We're doing that in 30 seconds," Armbrust said.
ARES teams from Florida 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 from Southern Florida were in Punta Gorda, the DeSoto County town of Arcadia and elsewhere.
In Sarasota County, Wetjen said he spent August 13 with a search-and-rescue team in the storm's immediate aftermath, and he's been volunteering at the emergency operations center since then. Amateurs from Sarasota County--northwest of Punta Gorda--were among those responding to the mutual aid call.
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 and has
been relying on its own Amateur Radio resources. SATERN also has taken on
responsibility for health-and-welfare inquiries, both via Amateur Radio and
through its Web site.
| Previous: ARRL Goes to Bat for Arizona Amateurs, Seeks BPL Field Trial Shutdown | Next: Hams assist hospital after telephone outage |
