[Ares-races] Hurricane Watch Net, WX4NHC Activate for Hurricane Charley

[BillLennox at aol.com]

Hurricane Watch Net, WX4NHC Activate for Hurricane Charley 

NEWINGTON, CT, Aug 11, 2004--The Hurricane Watch Net (HWN)  
<http://www.hwn.org/>  activated on 14.325 MHz at 1800 UTC today to track the fast-moving 
Hurricane Charley. Forecasters and emergency management officials also are keeping 
a close eye on Tropical Storm Bonnie--now in the Gulf of Mexico--which 
threatens the Florida Panhandle and northwestern Florida. Hurricane Charley--now a 
Category 1 storm with maximum sustained winds of 75 MPH with higher gusts--is 
forecast to brush by the western edge of Jamaica later today. 

"We plan to be quite active perhaps through the weekend as Charley has now 
been declared a Category 1," said HWN Manager Mike Pilgrim, K5MP. The HWN also 
requested the Maritime Mobile Service Net <http://www.mmsn.org> to relay 
information of the activation to affected areas and to notify potential reporting 
stations in the storm's path to stay tuned to the HWN. 

Pilgrim requested that all other stations eager to assist remain silent on 
the sidelines until requested to transmit. The net already has gathered 
ground-level weather data from at least one amateur station in Jamaica for relay to 
WX4NHC <http://www.wx4nhc.org>, the Amateur Radio station at the National 
Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami. The net was seeking stations in Cuba to check into 
the net. 

WX4NHC activated operations today at 1800 UTC in concert with the HWN. 
Amateur Radio Coordinator John McHugh, K4AG, said the operation was expected to 
continue through August 13, as the Charley approaches US. 

During hurricane emergencies trained HWN members provide essential 
communication support to WX4NHC, which disseminates storm updates via the net. The HWN 
also collects observed or measured weather data and post-storm damage reports 
via Amateur Radio in the affected areas and relays that information to 
forecasters via WX4NHC. The ground-level weather data assists NHC forecasters in 
predicting a storm's path and behavior. 

ARRL Southern Florida Assistant Section Manager Evelyn Gauzens, W4WYR, said 
the Key West Emergency Operations Center (EOC) already has opened, and the 
Miami-Dade EOC plans to activate August 12 at 0930 UTC. According to Gauzens, 
authorities in the Florida Keys are asking tourists there to voluntarily evacuate. 
"All the Amateur Radio Emergency Service teams are in place and standing by 
to do their jobs," she said. "We're expecting winds and a lot of rain." 

Gauzens worried that Charley and Bonnie could end up affecting opposite ends 
of Florida at the same time. 

The American Red Cross is expected to open five special-needs shelters in the 
Miami area. The Salvation Army has announced it's preparing for both Bonnie 
and Charlie with a three-front disaster response in Florida. "All 43 Disaster 
Emergency Response Teams from Pensacola to Jacksonville to Key West have been 
placed on standby for immediate response upon the impact of the storms," said 
Kevin Smith, the Salvation Army's Florida director of emergency disaster 
services. 

As of 1800 UTC, the NHC had posted a tropical storm warning and a hurricane 
watch for Jamaica in advance of Hurricane Charlie. A hurricane warning remains 
in effect for the Cayman Islands, and a hurricane watch is in effect for parts 
of western Cuba as well as the Florida Keys from Dry Tortugas to Craig Key. 

"Additional watches will likely be required for portions of the Florida 
Peninsula later today," the NHC said. The Center cited Air Force Hurricane Hunter 
aircraft reports indicating that Charley had attained hurricane strength. 

As of 1800 UTC, Charley's center was some 90 miles south of Kingston, 
Jamaica, moving to the west-northwest at almost 18 MPH. A gradual turn to the 
northwest was expected over the next 24 hours or so. Bands of squalls with 
tropical-storm force winds are likely to affect much of Jamaica today and tonight, the 
NHC said, and forecasters anticipate further strengthening of the storm. 
Tropical-storm force winds extend up to 115 miles from the storm's center. 

Above-normal tides accompanied by large and dangerous battering waves are 
likely along the Jamaican coast today and the Cayman Islands tonight. Rainfall 
totals of up to 6 inches are likely in association with Hurricane Charley. 


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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