ARRLWeb: Northeast Amateur Radio Volunteers Aid Massive Storm Response, Recovery

North Shore ARES District Emergency Coordinator Eric Horwitz, KA1NCF, pauses in front of the boards at the Peabody, Massachusetts, EOC, while North Shore Assistant Emergency Coordinator Matt Dempsey, KB1MRH, logs reports received. [Jim Palmer, KB1KQW, Photo]

High waves batter Atlantic Avenue in Marblehead, on Massachusetts' North Shore. [Jim Palmer, KB1KQW, Photo]

High winds downed trees throughout New England, such as this one in Peabody [Jeff Arnold, K1EMS, Photo]

. . . and this one in Marblehead. [Nat Henricksen, KB1OCS, Photo]

In Swampscott, flood water blasts through an open manhole like a geyser. [Mike Griffin, KB1OHZ, Photo]

In Salem, strong winds caused the facade of this building to crumble, causing the street to be closed. [Mike Griffin, KB1OHZ, Photo]

"This was a long-duration event that impacted the region for several days," said ARRL Eastern Massachusetts Section Emergency Coordinator Rob Macedo, KD1CY, who's also ARES SKYWARN coordinator for the Taunton National Weather Service office.

Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) volunteers in New Hampshire continue to deal with a communications outage in Nottingham that was caused by the storm. New Hampshire ARES and Eastern Rockingham County ARES are backing up landline telephone service, including 911, between Nottingham and the New Hampshire Bureau of Emergency Management. Operations could last for several days. "This is not a drill!" ARRL New Hampshire Section Emergency Coordinator Tom Richardson, AB1CL, said in alerting ARES members this week.

"Cell service is poor due to cell system reliance on land lines," he said April 18. "State officials and Verizon are working on a plan to restore limited phone service. This will take time, perhaps a few days."

While he's out of the country, Richardson has turned over the SEC reins to Acting SEC Mike Pelletier, KA1UVH. Pelletier says five checkpoints have been set up around the community where the public can report emergencies normally handled by 911. He said the nor'easter flooded the telephone company's switching station with three and one-half feet of water, causing the service outage.

ARES nets were reported active on the Port City and Saddleback repeaters to coordinate personnel. An ARES team also is staffing the New Hampshire Homeland Security and Emergency Management EOC radio room in Concord, the state capitol. A 2-meter base station was set up in the Nottingham EOC, and Eastern Massachusetts ARES has offered additional personnel, if needed.

The mountains of northern New England received up to two feet of snow and up to seven inches fell across southern New Hampshire and northwestern New Hampshire. Most of the rest of the region saw heavy rainfall -- three to six inches on the average with isolated higher amounts in southern and central New England. In some areas, the rainfall caused earlier snowfall to melt, exacerbating the problem. The result was significant flooding of rivers, streams and urban areas, coupled with mudslides and bridge and road washouts.

Amateur Radio ARES, RACES, SKYWARN and Military Affiliate Radio System (MARS) volunteers monitored river levels for authorities. The Nashua, Farmington, Connecticut, Blackstone, Pawtuxet, Piscataquog, Shawsheen, Souhegan and Merrimack rivers were among those overspilling their banks. Homes and businesses had to be evacuated in some communities. Flooding of smaller rivers and streams added to the problem. Along the Merrimack, Bill Ohm, W1OHM, reported activity with ARES/RACES operations to support the Chelmsford, Massachusetts, Emergency Management Agency with river flooding reports. The Bristol, Connecticut, area witnessed the worst flooding in 20 years along the Pequabuck and Farmington rivers, based on SKYWARN reports. The Massachusetts State EOC was at its highest level of activation early this week.

Along the coast, Amateur Radio volunteers reported widespread minor to moderate flooding across coastal eastern Massachusetts over the course of some six tide cycles Sunday through Wednesday. Macedo says the worst high tide came Tuesday night as strong northeast winds coupled with an astronomically high tide to cause significant flooding in Marblehead, Salem, Lynn, Scituate, Hull and the Plum Island area of Newbury.

In Nantucket, the ocean claimed one home during high tide, while numerous cars got stuck in coastal flooding, and motorists had to be rescued. More than a dozen Amateurs reported coastal flood conditions. A few families had to evacuate during the worst high tides.

Winds gusting between 60 and 75 MPH brought down trees and power lines. Macedo says that at the height of the storm, some 45,000 customers were left without power in Massachusetts alone. Trees and tree limbs also fell on cars and houses, in some instances causing significant damage.

Amateur Radio SKYWARN provides some 500 to 600 reports of snowfall, rainfall, flooding, wind damage and wind-speed measurements. More than a dozen repeaters served formal and informal SKYWARN gatherings, including the Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, N1IMO-N1IMN linked repeater system and the KB1AEV Connecticut linked repeater system. The New England Reflector system, IRLP 9123, EchoLink *NEW-ENG* Node: 9123 reported more than 40 connections with stations in areas affected by the nor'easter.

Macedo reports SKYWARN operations at the Taunton NWS office's WX1BOX, were active for 40 hours straight -- from 8 AM Sunday through midnight Tuesday. "This was a rare case where SKYWARN had to remain active through the overnight hours," he said. "What was equally rare was the high level of reporting received, even though it was during the time when people are typically sleeping." Macedo said.

The stormy weather prompted an additional SKYWARN activation and NWS Taunton operations late Tuesday and into early Wednesday morning for coastal flooding in coastal eastern Massachusetts. Five ham radio volunteers worked shifts at the NWS office. Lower-profile SKYWARN activations were initiated to keep an eye on high flood-tide cycles and river flooding.

At the Massachusetts State EOC, RACES' WC1MA was active from 6 PM Sunday through 7 PM Monday, monitoring not only the storm but the Boston Marathon. The race went on despite the rough weather. Conditions improved by afternoon. More than 200 Amateur Radio volunteers deployed for the Boston Marathon while operations for the nor'easter were under way. Eastern Massachusetts ARES went on standby to support storm operations.

"This was a test of our ability to have a large amount of resources deployed for the large storm as well as for a large event, and things went very well." Macedo said.

North Shore ARES DEC Eric Horwitz, KA1NCF, and Emergency Coordinator, Jim Palmer, KB1KQW, used the occasion of the storm to establish a relationship with Peabody Emergency Management and participated in activity at the town's EOC. Parts of Peabody, including downtown, have flooded five times in the past decade.

"The mayor of Peabody actually came over and monitored Amateur Radio traffic with the National Weather Service in Taunton and the Massachusetts State EOC in Framingham." Palmer said.

Western Massachusetts SEC John Ruggiero, N2YHK, reported some localized ARES activity as a result of the nor'easter. Mutual-aid ARES teams in Western Mass were on alert but not activated.

Shelters opened in Greenfield and Leominster to house flood victims, and ham radio volunteers were on hand to support communication. Franklin County DEC Tom Foxwell, N1OTS, oversaw the Greenfield operation, while Northeast Worcester County EC Jerry Rogich, AA2T, handled things in Leominster, both using local volunteers. The Greenfield EOC was open for a time. In Northampton flooding caused some apartment dwellers to evacuate. Some roadways throughout the region were washed out or flooded over.

In Connecticut, ARES went on alert to support the American Red Cross and the Department of Emergency Services and Homeland Security. A SKYWARN net fired up to gather reports of flooding, high water levels, power outages and rainfall totals, reported Hartford-Tolland Counties SKYWARN Coordinator Roger Jeanfaivre, K1PAI.

Connecticut SEC Brian Fernandez, K1BRF, said ARES volunteers staffed emergency management facilities in two of the state's five regions, "largely along the shoreline where there has been flooding in low-lying areas." Some evacuations occurred. ARES volunteers also staffed selected EOCs and, briefly, shelters in affected areas.

In Northern New Jersey, DEC George Sabbi, KC2GLG, in Bergen County reports that Bergen Amateur Radio Association volunteers supported communication for a Red Cross shelter in Lodi, that housed some five dozen clients. At one point, the shelter lost its telephone service and power was out. Radio amateurs on site used handhelds to facilitate communication until backup power arrived.

Bergen County SKYWARN provided weather observations, as more than seven inches of rain caused the closing of many roads throughout the county. "Fire departments throughout Bergen County are pumping basements on a continual basis." Sabbi said.

New York City-Long Island Section ARES also responded to what many have called “the worse rainstorm to hit the Greater New York City area in more than a century. New York City-Long Island SEC Mike Lisenco, N2YBB, said all ARES members through the section were put on standby Saturday in anticipation of the storm, due to hit around midnight.

In New York City, the Red Cross called upon DEC John Healy, KA2ABV, to staff up to nine shelters. The Salvation Army also asked ARES to remain ready. A staff of 30 ARES volunteers was assembled for the first 24-hour period, “with more to come if needed,” Healy said.

The Big Apple got more than eight inches of rain, which caused scattered flooding, but the predicted 50 MPH winds never materialized, and the danger was over by the next day, and New York City District ARES was able to stand down and secure.

ARES teams in Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island also were prepared in advance on April 14. Most of Long Island was spared the brunt of the storm, however. There were some scattered power outages, coastal flooding with roadway damage and downed trees, normal telecommunications were not interrupted, and no one evacuated.

Weather conditions in the Northeast continue to improve, with a sunny and mild weekend expected, allowing the region to dry out easing recovery operations in the hardest-hit areas.