[Ares-races] Ham Radio response - Northeast US Blackout

[BillLennox@aol.com]

From:  www.arrl.org

Hams a Bright Spot During Power Blackout

NEWINGTON, CT, Aug 15, 2003--

       When a blip on the electricity distribution grid August 14 took out 
power to at least a half dozen states in the eastern US, many Amateur Radio 
operators were ready and able to provide whatever assistance they could. Hardest 
hit were metropolitan areas like New York City, Detroit and Cleveland. In New 
York, residents and commuters found themselves stranded in 
electricity-dependent elevators and subway or rail cars while visitors ended up stuck at airports, 
which were forced to shut down. With the cellular telephone system overloaded 
or out altogether, the incident turned into a test of Amateur Radio's 
capabilities to operate without commercial power.

       "It was a good drill," said New York City-Long Island Section 
Emergency Coordinator Tom Carrubba, KA2D. But, he adds, it was a cautionary tale too. 
"The lesson is that everybody gets a little complacent," he said. "Have 
emergency power backup and make sure it's working!" Some repeaters in the 
blacked-out Greater New York City area--including the primary 147.000 "TAC 2" 
machine--were down, but several others remained on the air with emergency power.

       By and large, Carrubba said, the system worked according to plan, and 
ARES members did what they were trained to do.  "It's going to show the worth 
of Amateur Radio," he said of the blackout response. "There were people on the 
air immediately."

       Diane Ortiz, K2DO, the Public Information Coordinator for NYC-Long 
Island was one of them. When power went down in her Suffolk County community, she 
started up an informal net on the Long Island Mobile Amateur Radio Club's 
146.85 repeater. Over the next 20 hours or so, the net passed approximately 500 
pieces of what Ortiz described as largely "health-and-welfare traffic." A lot 
of it was on behalf of individuals stuck in the city and needing to contact 
family members.

       "People are getting on and helping," she said. In addition to handling 
messages, amateurs also relayed useful information, such as which stores or 
filling stations were open and operating. Many radio and TV stations went dark 
as a result of the power failure, and hams were able to help fill the 
information void, Ortiz said.

       In the Big Apple itself, ARES New York City-Long Island District 
Emergency Coordinator Charles Hargrove, N2NOV, remained at the city's Red Cross 
Headquarters in Manhattan, where power was restored around 5 AM.  "There are some 
power fluctuations going on, and that is the main concern right now--that 
power may go off again," Hargrove told ARRL.

       ARES support of Red Cross operations, which began yesterday (Thursday, 
14 August), continues. ARES teams are providing communication for the Red 
Cross Emergency Response Vehicles (ERVs) set up at main transportation centers in 
Manhattan--Grand Central Station, Penn Station and at the Port Authority 
Terminal. ARES members also accompanied ERVs called into action to follow New York 
Fire Department personnel on more than two dozen fire calls.  "After a long 
night of operations, some ARES members went home to get some rest around 6 AM," 
Hargrove said.

       RACES organizations activated in most Greater New York City area 
counties after a state of emergency was declared. Some ARES teams--including a few 
across the Hudson River in New Jersey--activated or remained on standby to 
help if called upon. In New Jersey, a net set up on a back-up repeater 
established communication with the Red Cross lead chapter's N2ARC in Princeton--staffed 
by members of Mercer County ARES/RACES--and other New Jersey ARC chapters.

       The state of emergency included five counties in northern New Jersey, 
said SEC Steve Ostrove, K2SO. He spent about four hours at the EOC in 
Elizabeth after the blackout began. "The Elizabeth Police were impressed with the 
information I was able to provide," he said. The net stood down at about 10 PM 
after telephone communication among the Red Cross chapters had been reestablished 
and power began to be restored.

       In upstate New York, Fred Stevens, K2FRD, says the situation reminded 
him of the 1964 power blackout in the eastern US. "This is an emergency 
communicator's wildest fantasy: a major power outage in which we can demonstrate our 
preparedness," he said.  In his county, Chenango, ARES has been activated and 
the local EOC is staffed by Amateur Radio operators and the Chenango Amateur 
Radio Emergency Service net is up and running with stations on battery power 
and standing by. "We are ready for whatever might happen," Stevens said.

       Comments posted on the HamsEF reflector by Ken Davis, KB2KFV, who's 
president of the Rensselaer, New York, County ARES/RACES Club reflected that 
attitude.  "It seems that the amateurs were better prepared than the government 
sector," he said. "Amateurs in this area were up and on the air before there 
was any response from local government." Davis said Rensselaer County EC and 
Chief RACES Officer Jim Noble, K2ZP, activated ARES and mustered a net on the 
Troy Radio Club RACES repeater, requesting stations to standby and monitor the 
frequency for updates.

Michigan and Ohio
       
       Michigan Section Manager Dale Williams, WA8EFK, reports scattered ARES 
activations in his state. Williams, who lives in Dundee south of Detroit, was 
without power this morning and relying on his emergency generator. "It could 
be another 48 hours before power is restored," he said. Some ARES teams in 
Michigan were providing assistance to emergency operations centers and to the Red 
Cross, because the relief agency's telephone system relies on commercial 
power. Nets have been brought up on both HF and VHF frequencies.

       In Ohio, Section Emergency Coordinator Larry Rain, WD8IHP, reports 
that all ARES organizations in northern Ohio were activated after the power grid 
went down. Still going strong are ARES teams in Cleveland and Akron--both 
still without power. "ARES is handling communication support for Ohio Emergency 
Management in the affected cities and communities," Rain said. Power has been 
restored in Toledo, however.

       Rain reports a power surge that occurred when the electricity came 
back on disrupted the Richland County Hospital's telephone system. "Amateur Radio 
was there to provide back-up communication until 4:30 this morning," he said. 
Ohio VHF and UHF nets and the Ohio SSB net on HF have been handling 
blackout-related traffic.

       Nancy Hall, KC4IYD--who lives 20 miles west of Cleveland--said she's 
glad of two things: That she had taken the ARRL Emergency Communications Level 
I class, and that she and her husband have an emergency generator. "We used it 
to run the fridge for about two hours and then used it to run the 2-meter rig 
and HF rig to listen to the ARES nets," she said.  Hall said she just 
received a follow-up survey on the emergency communications class that asked if she 
had used any of the information she learned.  "I can now say, 'yes,'" said 
Hall, who noted that she's now signed up for the Level II class."  I will again 
highly recommend them to anyone who wants to learn more about emergency 
communication.  "She and her husband also made use of their BayGen windup radio to 
listen to local broadcasts. "We also own a hand-crank flashlight," Hall added.  
She said the family put aside drinking water early in the blackout--which 
turned out to be a good thing, because their community's emergency generator was 
only good for about two hours to run the water supply's pumps.  "I have to say 
that being a ham and knowing about emergency preparedness did make life easier 
for me and my family," Hall said.

New England

       New England states were far less affected by the blackout since most 
operate on an altogether different power grid than the one that failed. New 
England area ARES/RACES operators were in standby mode after the blackout rippled 
through the system to the South and West. Only Connecticut and sections of 
Western Massachusetts reported significant outages, and ARES nets activated in 
both states.

       ARRL Eastern Massachusetts PIC Jim Duarte, N1IV, reports the 
ARES/RACES response in the Bay State was "quick and organized, showing that our recent 
drills and training sessions have proved beneficial.  "Western Massachusetts 
SM Bill Voedisch, W1UD, reports the Leominster EOC was activated on a standby 
basis. Although he is equipped with a diesel-powered generator to supply his 
house and ham shack, his part of Massachusetts suffered no power losses.

       Parts of Berkshire County in extreme western Massachusetts suffered 
from the blackout, although power was restored fairly promptly there. Bill 
Sexton, N1IN/AAR1FP, an Army MARS member, said his emergency power capability 
permitted him to run his station and maintain e-mail contact.
       
       "We had the Northeast SHARES (National Communications System HF Shared 
Resources Program) up and running cross-country on a Condition Two readiness 
alert." Sexton said. He reports that when he called in on the SHARES channel, 
a MARS station in Nebraska responded to say he was ready to handle any relays.

       "The experience proved once gain the great strength of ham radio in an 
emergency," Sexton said. "It is self-starting, and it is everywhere."

--Steve Ewald, WV1X, contributed information for this story 


Bill Lennox
US Air Force (Retired)
Full Time College Student (Emergency Management)
KD7EFP
Assistant Emergency Coordinator - Plans (ARES), Washington County, Oregon
Assistant Radio Officer - Plans (RACES), Washington County, Oregon






































































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