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 Previous: Amateur Radio Equipment Donations Making a Difference in Gulf Region |  Next: ARRL President Submits Congressional Testimony on Hams' Katrina Response |
NEWINGTON, CT, Sep 14, 2005--Mindful of the Hurricane Katrina disaster, Amateur Radio Emergency Service/Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (ARES/RACES) teams along the North Carolina coast are taking no chances. They're on alert as a strengthening Hurricane Ophelia continues to move closer to landfall. As of 1800 UTC, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) reports Ophelia, again a Category 1 hurricane, is packing winds of from 80 to 85 MPH and is some 40 miles southeast of Wilmington and 70 miles southwest of Cape Lookout. The storm is moving to the north-northeast at nearly 7 MPH and is expected to reach the coast near Cape Lookout Thursday, September 15.
 The probable path of Ophelia as of 1500 UTC, September 14. (Click on the link for any updates.) [NOAA Graphic] |
North Carolina Section Emergency Coordinator Bernie Nobles, WA4MOK, said the Eastern Branch emergency operations center (EOC) in Kinston is in contact with the counties likely to be the hardest hit by Ophelia--Brunswick and New Hanover, "and whenever this storm moves northeast, contact with those counties will be more involved," he said.
Nobles said the Eastern Branch is using 3.927/7.232 MHz on HF and the Brunswick County repeater on 147.315 MHz. He was expecting to deploy to the Eastern Branch EOC himself. ARES/RACES HF operation is on the Tarheel Emergency Net, which has slightly shifted from its usual 75-meter frequency to avoid QRM from casual contacts.
The Hurricane Watch Net (HWN) activated on 14.325 MHz at 1300 UTC today, joined by WX4NHC, the Amateur Radio station at the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami. The net gathers observed and measured ground-level weather data from stations in the affected area. These reports are relayed via WX4NHC to the NHC to help forecasters.
"Due to solar flare activity, band conditions on 20 meters are not so good," a note on the net's Web site advises. "Please be patient, as we have a number of relay stations to assist."
A hurricane warning is in effect from Little River Inlet to the North Carolina-Virginia border, including Pamlico and Albermarle sounds. Although not yet ashore, Ophelia's northern eyewall will continue to move across southeastern North Carolina this afternoon and tonight, the NHC said, and over the Outer Banks tonight and Thursday.
The NHC predicts maximum coastal storm surge flooding of 5 to 7 feet above normal tide levels with large and battering waves in areas of onshore flow.
Along the Outer Banks, an evacuation order has been issued for Hatteras Island, and visitors have been told to leave Ocracoke Island. The National Park Service has closed Cape Hatteras Lighthouse and the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills. In coastal communities, schools have been closed. Nearly 100 people reportedly have already checked into a shelter set up in a Wilmington elementary school.
HWN Manager Mike Pilgrim, K5MP, says the net also is available to provide emergency backup communication to official agencies, such as emergency operations centers and Red Cross officials in the affected area. "We will also be interested to collect and report significant damage assessment data back to FEMA officials stationed in the National Hurricane Center," he said. The HWN requests that stations not check into the net unless specifically requested to do so.
In addition to the HWN's 14.325 MHz frequency, WX4NHC will monitor VoIP-WX EchoLink WX-Talk Conference Room and IRLP node 9219.
Ophelia is the 15th named storm and the seventh hurricane of
the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, which began June 1 and ends November 30.
| Previous: Amateur Radio Equipment Donations Making a Difference in Gulf Region | Next: ARRL President Submits Congressional Testimony on Hams' Katrina Response |
