[CW] Amateur Radio Volunteers Assisting Where Needed in Hurricane Response

[David J. J. Ring, Jr.]

http://www.arrl.org/news/amateur-radio-volunteers-assisting-where-needed-in-hurricane-response

ARRL <http://www.arrl.org/>


News
Amateur Radio Volunteers Assisting Where Needed in Hurricane Response
08/30/2017

*[UPDATED: 2017-08-30 at 1833 UTC]* Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES®) 
volunteers are pitching in to support communication at some Red Cross 
shelters in South Texas in the ongoing aftermath of catastrophic and 
unprecedented flooding resulting from Hurricane Harvey. ARES members also 
are serving as net control liaisons to the Harris County Office of 
Emergency Management (OEM). At least 3 dozen volunteers were assisting at 
shelters. Another dozen were on tap to serve as OEM liaisons. ARRL 
Emergency Preparedness Manager Mike Corey, KI1U, said the Red Cross is in 
need of Red Cross-trained shelter managers and volunteer management 
specialists. Anyone interested should *contact * <mcorey at arrl.org>him. 

A variety of emergency, health-and-welfare, traffic, and tactical nets in 
South Texas are active on HF at various times of the day as well as on a 
wide array of VHF and UHF repeaters, which remain available as needed. The 
Salvation Team Emergency Radio Network (SATERN) has been active on 14.265 
MHz, while the Military Auxiliary Radio Service (MARS) has been using the 
5.330.5 (USB) interoperability channel on 60 meters. As of mid-week, 
Harvey, now a tropical storm, was headed northeast toward Louisiana, where 
ARES volunteers are on standby.

This week, ARES® team members were being advised that the impact to the 
region’s communications infrastructure had been relatively minimal, 
considering the strength of the storm and the magnitude of the flooding.

ARRL South Texas Public Information Officer Mike Urich, KA5CVH, *told ARRL* 
<http://www.arrl.org/files/file/News/Audio%20News/Audio%20News%20Extra%20Edition/KA5CVH%20-%20August%2030.mp3> on 
August 30 that “hardening” of the telecommunications infrastructure to make 
it more immune to storm damage has diminished the need for Amateur Radio 
communication support and altered hams’ traditional role there. Urich 
pointed out, however, that the Amateur Radio telecommunications 
infrastructure in South Texas has remained analog, as “the lowest common 
denominator” of technology — VHF/UHF FM, and HF — and has the highest 
degree of interoperability. “That’s what we train to, that’s what we teach, 
that’s what we practice,” he said.

Urich spent more than 40 hours alternating shifts at the Harris County 
Emergency Operations Center (EOC). Urich said the area’s extensive system 
of repeaters makes it possible for local radio amateurs to serve as 
“another set of eyes and ears” in spotting and reporting problems that 
require official attention.  

The Hurricane Watch Net (*HWN* <http://www.hwn.org/>) suspended operations 
for Hurricane Harvey on August 26 after 51.5 continuous hours of 
activation. The *VoIP Hurricane Net* <http://www.voipwx.net/>, and *WX4NHC* 
<http://www.arrl.org/news/w4ehw.fiu.edu/>, the Amateur Radio station at the 
NHC in Miami, also activated as Harvey approached landfall in Texas as a 
Category 4 hurricane. VOIPWXnet has been informally monitoring *EchoLink* 
<http://www.echolink.org/> 7203, *IRLP* <http://www.irlp.net/> 9219, and 
*Allstar* <https://allstarlink.org/> *33007203 for requests from the 
affected area at the request of *Humanity Road* 
<http://www.humanityroad.org/>, said Lloyd Colston, KC5FM.

He said a station checked in via EchoLink today (August 30) to request the 
rescue of a grandmother and children. “That request was relayed to the 
United States Coast Guard Houston,” Colston told ARRL. He said hams in the 
affected region needing to relay rescue needs should first call 911, then 
their local emergency operations center, and, if those aren’t available, 
then the US Coast Guard — in that order. He also said individuals in the 
flood zone are reporting cellular telephone degradation.

ARRL *South Texas Section* <http://www.arrlstx.org/index.php> Manager Lee 
Cooper, W5LHC, told ARRL on Monday that the disaster would remain in the 
response phase for several days, although needs may change later in the 
response phase or when it transitions to the recovery phase. ARRL South 
Texas SEC Jeff Walter, KE5FGA, said ARES members could participate in any 
nets related to the storm response from home.

“Harris County and the City of Houston have issued a shelter-in-place 
order,” Walter pointed out over the past weekend. “The local region is 
paralyzed. Resources are stretched to accommodate all calls for assistance. Take 
care of your family first, then if you are able to help in the recovery 
phase contact your local Emergency Coordinator or District Emergency 
Coordinator for instruction on what to do. Do not show up without approval 
from your local EC.”

As of August 29, some 268,000 customers were without power in Texas. 
American Red Cross shelters were reporting more than 6,000 occupants in 
Texas; more than 725,000 people have been ordered to evacuate. The state 
Emergency Operations Center is at full activation, and Governor Greg Abbott 
has declared a state of disaster for 50 Texas counties, while evacuation 
orders and advisories are in effect for eight counties and several 
independent communities in Louisiana, where the state EOC is partially 
activated. A state of emergency also exists for all Louisiana parishes in 
preparation for widespread flooding.

Alfonso Tamez, XE2O, President of the *FMRE* <http://www.fmre.org.mx/> in 
Mexico, has offered South Texas “all the help you need from our country in 
ham communications.” Tamez noted the extensive Mexican community in the 
Houston area.

NASA’s Johnson Space Center (*JSC* <http://spacecenter.org/>) in Houston 
has announced that it will remain closed to all but mission-essential 
personnel through Labor Day, due to the effects of Harvey. The center will 
reopen on September 5. JSC said its primary concern was personnel and 
public safety, but that it also would allow the center to focus on its 
highest-priority mission activities, including the return to Earth this 
weekend of ISS crew members Peggy Whitson, ex-KC5ZTD; Jack Fischer, K2FSH, 
and Fyodor Yurchikin, RN3FI.

Radio Amateurs of Canada (*RAC* <http://wp.rac.ca/>) said it was monitoring 
the progress of Harvey, which could, in due course, brush the coastal 
waters of Newfoundland.
Photo Gallery 
<http://www.arrl.org/news/amateur-radio-volunteers-assisting-where-needed-in-hurricane-response#>

   - [image: Hurricane Harvey as seen from the International Space Station. 
   [Jack Fischer, K2FSH, photo]] 
   <http://www.arrl.org/images/view/News/Harvey%20from%20ISS%20Jack%20Fischer.jpg>Hurricane 
   Harvey ...

73

DR
N1EA
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