[Ares-races] SKYWARN, ARES/RACES Activate for Arkansas, Missouri Storms

[BillLennox@aol.com]

From:  www.arrl.com

NEWINGTON, CT, Dec 24, 2002--The same front that produced tornado activity in 
Mississippi on December 19 earlier touched Arkansas and Missouri with 
devastating and deadly effect. After nearly a year without any significant 
tornado activity, Arkansas was again at the heart of severe weather December 
18. Tornadoes hit several counties in Missouri December 17 and 18. One person 
died in each state a direct result of the severe weather. 

The National Weather Service (NWS) activated SKYWARN at approximately 2 PM in 
Arkansas, and participants remained active until after 11 PM. Little Rock 
Emergency Coordinator Dale Temple, W5RXU, reports that the NWS issued 48 
warnings during the nine-hour net. Temple also is president of Arkansas 
SKYWARN. 

Temple said NWS Warning Coordination Meteorologist John Robinson and 
Meteorologist-In-Charge Renee Fair praised the accuracy and dedication of the 
Arkansas SKYWARN volunteers. 

In Arkansas, hail up to two inches in diameter, heavy rain up to six inches, 
damaging straight-line winds and tornadoes developed in Desha, Faulkner, 
Lincoln, Prairie, Saline, Woodruff, Jackson, Lonoke, White and Cross 
counties. 

At the request of American Red Cross Arkansas State Disaster Director Roger 
Elliot, Richard Thompson, W5SUB, fired up the Amateur Radio station at Red 
Cross Headquarters to help coordinate the organization's efforts to provide 
needed services to about 85 families whose homes had been damaged or 
destroyed by the severe weather. "Mr Elliot credited ham radio operators in 
assisting the Red Cross to mobilize more quickly and accurately to needy 
victims," Temple said. 

Arkansas SKYWARN, the Central Arkansas Radio Emergency Net, Pulaski County, 
Little Rock and North Little Rock ARES/RACES actively supported state and 
local emergency management agencies as well as the Red Cross, The Salvation 
Army and area hospitals. 

In central and southern Missouri, several Amateur Radio Emergency Service 
(ARES) teams activated the night of December 17 when severe weather struck. 
There were multiple instances of rainfall greater than one inch per hour, and 
hail was reported in several counties. Missouri SEC Don Moore, KM0R, said 
that in a couple of instances, the NWS issued severe thunderstorm warnings 
shortly after ARES reports came in. 

Reports filed with the St Louis NWS Office included heavy rain, hail and 
damaging wind speeds. "There was a tornado reported in Laclede County that 
moved into Pulaski County, along with damaging wind speeds in excess of 75 
MPH in another area during the early morning hours of December 18," Moore 
said. Tornado activity was also reported in Springfield and the surrounding 
area. Hams also worked with the Springfield NWS Office. 

Linked repeater systems were used to pass information to the respective NWS 
offices and among local nets. Some five dozen hams involved in the response 
in three ARES districts logged double-digit work hours. Several county 
emergency coordinators said they monitored the statewide HF frequency for the 
Missouri Emergency Services Net in case there was traffic to pass. They also 
kept in contact with local governments and other served agencies in case 
Amateur Radio volunteers were needed. 




--- StripMime Report -- processed MIME parts ---
multipart/alternative
  text/plain (text body -- kept)
  text/html
The reason this message is shown is because the post was in HTML
or had an attachment. Attachments are not allowed.
Please post in Plain-Text only.---