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ARES-RACES Activate After Severe Weather in Pacific Northwest
NEWINGTON, CT, Dec 15, 2006 -- Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES)/Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) teams across Western Washington activated December 14 after severe weather struck the Pacific Northwest, ARRL Western Washington Section Manager Ed Bruette, N7NVP told League Headquarters. Four people died, and nearly 1.5 million homes and businesses in the region were left without electrical power today in the wake of the strong winds and heavy rainfall. Bruette said that while the region took "a pretty good hit," the communications infrastructure "pretty well stayed intact" with only pockets of no telephone service.
"The need for ARES/RACES was to be staged and have circuits established at the local EOCs and ECCs in case of major communication outages, with a secondary mission to support Red Cross shelters, if opened," Bruette explained. "I'm fairly certain every local ARES/RACES team in Western Washington was activated." Bruette said the State of Washington did not activate its RACES station in the capital of Olympia.
Winds approaching 70 MPH were clocked at SeaTac Airport, Seattle's official observation point. Bruette says a number of windows were blown out at the airport, and flights were cancelled. Schools also were closed today. He predicts electrical power may not be restored in outlying areas for several days.
"In my home county of Kitsap -- across the Puget Sound and directly west of Seattle -- there were so many downed trees that dispatchers directed law enforcement not to report them unless they endangered public safety or had taken down power lines too," Bruette recounted. "There were enough trees on roadways that those of us who manned the fire district headquarters stations had some concerns about our ability to get home after we were secured."
Several major highways were closed due to downed trees, while others fell victim to flooding. "Sections of I-5 were under water," Bruette told ARRL Headquarters. "The 520 floating bridge across Lake Washington was closed as was the Hood Canal Bridge, where 75 MPH winds were clocked."
Bruette said the Tacoma Narrows Bridge had to be closed to traffic for several hours due to high winds -- a historical first.
After weathering the worst of the storm at his fire district headquarters, Bruette says he returned home to find he still had power -- and "all my antennas are unharmed." Other radio amateurs in the region were not so lucky, he added.
Bruette says the storm damage has affected public safety agencies' ability to respond. "An apartment fire started about 20 minutes ago in Issaquah -- east of Seattle," he said. "It took the fire department over 15 minutes to arrive because of all the blocked roads. Normal response time is about three minutes."
Page last modified: 06:37 PM, 15 Dec 2006 ET
Page author: awextra@arrl.org
Copyright © 2006, American Radio Relay League, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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