[KYHAM] KEN Session for Dec. 16, 2002: KY SECTION ARES: Our Year in Review

[Ron Dodson]

There is no training as such for this coming week's Ky
Emergency Net.
Instead, we will review some of the events which occurred
and impacted
the Ky ARES program throughout 2002.

KY SECTION A.R.E.S.: Our Year in Review

Severe weather and storm spotting was our main activity for
2002!  Seven storm spotter activations occurred in Ky on
March 29th when a major storm system moved through the state
with large hail causing wide spread damage and some
injuries. Amateur radio spotters were on duty in several
communities in Areas 2, 3, and 5 on April 28th in the wee
hours of that Sunday morning when tornadoes struck in
Webster and Breckinridge counties causing property damage,
injuries and one death in Breckinridge County to a 52 yr old
man blown 150 ft from what had been his residence.  One
Breckinridge County family of non-amateurs credited the Wide
Area Repeaters Net (WARN) with saving their lives after they
monitored the WARN's spotter net via the K4ULW/R 146.625
repeater on their scanner at 4:09 AM EDT and took cover
moments before their home was destroyed!  Again in May,
storms repeatedly rolled over the Commonwealth through the
month with high winds, heavy rains, hail and possible
tornadoes. This brought on spotter activations around the
state.  May 1st saw a hail storm of record in Area 5
counties as the cell had hail as large as softballs. Hail,
baseball and hen egg sized were reported in many counties as
these storms moved through the section. Several counties
also had flooding and hail damage from other storms during
the month.   After a respite of three months, storms again
on Sept. 20 caused some spotter activations. Storms with
torrential rains and flash flooding reappeared on Sept.
26-27 as the remnants of Hurricane Isidore passed through
the region. On November 10, 2002 the largest outbreak of
tornadoes in recent years brought ARES spotter activations
in Areas 1, 4, 5, 6, 9, 12, 13 and 14. Over 300 man hours
were logged in tracking these dangerous storms as they
crossed the section from west to east.  All totalled, more
than 70 severe storms took the lives of at least 30 people
in several easern states.

Other Monthly Section-wide News Items of Interest;

MARCH 2002 - HB 388 was made law! It amended KRS 337.100 to
include rescue squad members, emergency medical
technicians, peace officers, and members of
emergency management agencies within
the section's protections from dismissal
for tardiness or absence from regular employment
due to valid emergency services duties.
In plain language: this benefits amateurs who are
registered with Ky's Emergency Management agencies as
communications workers and find themselves actively
assisting AT THE REQUEST of an EM agency during an active
disaster. Gov. Paul Patton signed this into law on March 1,
2002.

Ky Severe Storms Preparedness Drill with NWS and KyEM
was kicked off at 10:07 AM EST on Tuesday, March 26.
24 hams actived at 21 stations across Ky on 7.231 MHz.
VHF and UHF Nets were also active in
Areas 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 13 and 14.  Total
participation: 112 Ky. + 4 out of state amateurs.

JUNE
Ky ARES assited Military Affiliate Radio System (MARS)
stations in a multi-agency communications exercise on June
8, 2002.  Ky Emergency Net (KEN) activated 7.228 MHz with
active stations in Areas 1, 2, 5, 7 and 13 participating as
well as several VHF stations.  Thanks to Ron Nutter, KA4KYI
for his efforts in acting as a coordinator between the ARES
and MARS operations and Thanks to N4MOM and K4RBH who
provided HF liaison to the Lexington/Fayette County EOC.

A 5.0 R earthquake along the Wabash Valley Fault system in
southern Indiana jarred the whole region on June 18
and reminds us of the threat we face from quakes.
Also associated with this quake, a good deal
of minor tremor activity has been occurring
every few days along the New Madrid Seismic Zone
in various locations.  Ky Emergency Net (KEN) and other nets
have used the increased awareness to refresh training on
earthquake preparedness training material through out the
end of the month and into July.

AUGUST
A good time was had by all at this year's Ky Section ARRL
Banquet and Convention in Lexington on August 3-4.
Awards were given to many amateurs for their faithful
service in ARES, NTS and other activities.  Before a
standing room only crowd, geologist Brandon Nuttall, KG4RRI
gave an outstanding program during the ARES meeting
concerning the earthquake threats and hazards
amateurs should consider when making their plans
for response in major quake events.

SEPTEMBER
The SEC attended Kentucky's first ever Terrorism Summit in
Louisville, Ky on Sept. 28.  This offered an excellent
opportunity to interact with FBI officials as well as
several EM and other public safety response agencies in the
state. Along with other training, case studies on the 1995
Oklahoma City bombing and the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon
were conducted by the incident commanders from both scenes
and the FBI special agents who worked the incidents. The SEC
also briefed a good portion of the 500 non-amateur
attendees about the role amateur radio can play and the ARRL
Emergency Communications Courses now being conducted as a
part of the homeland security grant received in July during
a lunch time 'break out session' on emergency response
options.

OCTOBER
Real weather events left uncertainty for a few days in
early October as to whether the SET would be REAL or
just the planned exercise!  Hurricane Lili cooperated and we
managed to hold the planned scenario in the end.  129 Ky
amateurs and another 13 from neighboring states operated
from around 9 AM through 11:40 AM on October 5. A total of
13 nets were active. 27 pieces of formal, written traffic
were passed as well as uncounted verbal exchanges between
amateurs and NWS offices in Louisville and Wilmington, Ohio.
Amateurs from Areas 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 13 and 14
participated. Our state EOC and 3 county EOC/EMA offices
were also active. The majority were using or had immediate
access to emergency power including the repeaters which
handled the bulk of our VHF/UHF activities.

NOVEMBER
Due to Homeland Security issues and planning,
changes to some of the 14 areas of Kentucky
Division of Emergency Management are being made.
As a result of this, our 14 KY ARES Districts
will also need to change to mirror these changes to
maintain our complement to state EM, our main
served agency.

The Area 14 KyEM office, formerly in Lawrenceburg,
will move to the state EOC in Frankfort.
Franklin County will now be Area 14 by itself
as it holds the seat of state government.
The other counties previously in Area 14 have
been divided out into neighboring areas.
This also affected the neighboring areas
to a degree.

These changes affect these counties: Green and Taylor move
from Area 12 to 5, Anderson moves from Area 14 to 6, Scott
moves from Area 13 to 7, Harlan moves from Area 11 to 10,
McCreary moves from Area 12 to 11, Boyle, Lincoln, and
Mercer are all moved from Area 14 to 12
and Garrard, Jessamine, and Woodford change from Area
14 to 13.

Members of the ARRL's Great Lakes Division have elected Jim
Weaver, K8JE, of Mason, Ohio, to lead their division for the
next three years. Weaver, with 2295 votes, topped the field
in a three-way race. Incumbent Gary Johnston, KI4LA, got
1629 votes, and Paul Daley, WT8S, picked up 783.  Former
Michigan Section Manager Dick Mondro, W8FQT, was unopposed
for Great Lakes Vice Director.

DECEMBER
SM John Meyers, NB4K will be with us for a second term as
the filing deadline has now passed and no one else has
filed to run in the SM election which had been scheduled
for early 2003.

Many amateurs participate in holiday activities within
their communities. An example; Lexington area amateurs
gave children in three area hospitals a chance to chat
with Santa via amateur radio.
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