 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||
|
|
 Previous: Hurricane Watch Net Reaffirms Plans as Ophelia Inches Toward the Coast |  Next: North Carolina Hams Gear Up as Ophelia Makes Up Her Mind |
 Amateur Radio equipment and supplies donated to ARRL for the Hurricane Katrina response is unloaded at the volunteer staging area in Montgomery, Alabama, for deployment to the field with volunteers from all over the US. [Allen Pitts, W1AGP, Photo] |
 ARRL Alabama Section Manager Greg Sarratt, W4OZK, welcomes another volunteer to the marshaling center in Montgomery, Alabama. [Allen Pitts, W1AGP, Photo] |
 Rhode Islander Matt Hackman, KB1FUP (center, holding mast), and youthful volunteers from a local Baptist church erect a VHF Yagi for use in Pascagoula, Mississippi. The antenna helped establish a VHF link to Ocean Springs. |
 SATERN volunteers Mark Griggs, KB8YMN (right), and Richard Carey, KB8OTZ, on duty in Mississippi. Griggs, with Carey’s assistance, has taken over as the SATERN Liaison Officer at the Jackson, Mississippi, marshaling area. Both Griggs and Carey were SATERN volunteers during the New York City 9/11 operation. [Jeff Schneller, N2HPO, Photo] |
NEWINGTON, CT, Sep 13, 2005--Amateur Radio equipment and supplies now arriving at the American Red Cross Hurricane Katrina relief staging area in Montgomery, Alabama, are being turned around as quickly as possible and heading out into the field with volunteers. A team headed by Alabama ARRL Section Manager Greg Sarratt, W4OZK, has been on duty for some two weeks now, overseeing Amateur Radio volunteer intake and registration and trying to satisfy the ever-changing requirements of the Red Cross and other served agencies. Sarratt says equipment that started showing up over the weekend is being inventoried and sent right into the field as needed.
"The American Red Cross and other served agencies are very thankful and appreciative that we are helping them out," Sarratt said this week. "I have talked with several ARC folks who said they could not operate without us!"
ARES and MARS member Matt Hackman, KB1FUP, was among a Rhode Island contingent processed over the weekend through the Montgomery marshaling center for duty in Mississippi. The New England volunteers were able to take advantage of the newly donated handheld transceivers, HF transceivers and antennas for use in and around Ocean Springs, Mississippi. Hackman said Red Cross personnel were using VHF simplex to keep in contact with each shelter. He and two other Rhode Islanders replaced operators rotating out of duty.
"I was assigned to the First Baptist Church in Pascagoula, which is being operated as a feeding station by the Southern Baptist Convention," he explained. "SBC is separate from Red Cross with their own relief organization and own Amateur Radio support, but very well staffed and equipped, and we are all working together."
The best estimate is that some 1000 Amateur Radio volunteers are helping out in hurricane-ravaged areas along the Gulf Coast and at evacuee centers there and in other states. For the time being, additional volunteers are being told to stand by, but that situation could change as currently restricted areas are reopened and as replacement operators are needed.
Sarratt says he has registered approximately 100 Amateur Radio volunteers through the Montgomery marshaling center. Those still in the pipeline will replace operators already on the ground in affected areas when they rotate out, he said. Sarratt rescinded an urgent call for operators put out over the weekend.
Sarratt said this week that some operators have been deployed from Montgomery to Red Cross shelters alone, while others have gone in teams of two. Amateur Radio has been the primary means of contact with the outside world for many shelters still lacking reliable communication. He noted, however, that some shelters do now have commercial telecommunication systems available.
"We have deployed many great Amateur Radio operators to the field, Sarratt remarked. "Guys have traveled from all over the USA on their own dime to do the right thing and help others. I'm very proud of them." Sarratt said several "shining stars" in the field have made the volunteer effort work well and "kept Amateur Radio looking great."
ARRL Louisiana Acting Section Emergency Coordinator Al Oubre, K5DPG, reports, meanwhile, that the emergency activation at the Louisiana State Office of Emergency Preparedness in Baton Rouge is winding down. Telephone and cell service around the state is slowly being restored, he reports, and Louisiana does not need additional help at this time.
Operators from Wisconsin were expected to arrive September 12, while others were coming in from Western Washington and Colorado.. Oubre said when St Bernard and Jefferson parishes dry out sufficiently, the Red Cross will then be able to move into that area and set up support services. At that point, he said, more Amateur Radio volunteers may be needed.
Amateur Radio stations along the Mississippi Gulf Coast have begun handling more health-and-welfare traffic. Louisiana Section Manager Mickey Cox, K5MC, says he and Benson Scott, AE5V, have been passing H&W traffic via the National Traffic System (NTS) using voice and digital modes and WinLink 2000. Cox is seeking outlets for incoming traffic bound for the affected areas.
South Texas Section Emergency Coordinator Jerry Reimer, KK5CA, reports Amateur Radio support for sheltering operations at the Houston Astrodome and other locations around the city is expected to be wrapped up by this weekend. Hams have been shadowing officials and shelter workers and providing a communication link with the Harris County emergency operations center (EOC).
In Tullahoma, Tennessee, Jimmy Floyd, NQ4U, has been among a group of operators helping to staff a communications/command center for a shelter operation housing 170 evacuees. They've been relaying messages between the shelter site and the Red Cross center. "We have also been active in communicating with other shelters on HF and attempting to locate family and friends of the evacuees," Floyd said.
In Rains County, Texas, some 60 miles east of Dallas, ARES/RACES member T.W. Ivey, K5IJT, reported his team has been keeping in contact with the county EOC via VHF repeater. Given its equipment limitations, however, the group has been unsuccessful in establishing communication with the Texas Guard, which provides shelter security.
Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network (SATERN) Liaison Officer Jeff Schneller, N2HPO, says TSA canteen are holding with their present complement of Amateur Radio operators and may not rotate them out of service. "As of today, as operators need to leave, we may just scale down," he told ARRL. "We thank all those who are assisting and were willing to assist, along with the ARRL and the National Fire Sprinkler Association, who pooled their membership for operators for us." He also thanked the American Red Cross for referring radio operators to SATERN operations.
SATERN has continued monitoring 7.288 MHz and 3.965 MHz each half hour throughout the day and evening. In addition, the SATERN Net activates daily at 1400 UTC on 14.265 MHz.
"I advise all radio operators to take the ARRL Amateur Radio Emergency Communications courses and FEMA home study courses so you are better prepared for the next time," said Schneller, who was heavily involved in the September 11, 2001, Amateur Radio response in New York City.
Observed ARRL Chief Operating Officer Harold Kramer, WJ1B,
"The Amateur Radio community has demonstrated an incredible commitment to
public service. We should be proud of our efforts."
| Previous: Hurricane Watch Net Reaffirms Plans as Ophelia Inches Toward the Coast | Next: North Carolina Hams Gear Up as Ophelia Makes Up Her Mind |
