[KYHAM] Report on Health and Welfare

[n4dit]

I have spent the day at the Bluegrass ARS radio shack in the basement of
the Bluegrass Chapter of the American Red Cross (8:00 AM until 4:00 PM).
During that time I listed all names that have appeared in e-mails asking for
assistance I received through the Bluegrass ARS list serv, and KYHAM
through about midnight last night, and a couple names I was asked to
find information about through personal telephone calls.. ALL names have
been listed in one or more sources including Ham H&W nets with teams
working near the affected areas; through internet web pages that have been
set up to show the names of persons who are OK, or persons whose where-
abouts are unknown, or who are deceased. I have listed the persons who
live in Mississippi with 1. A H&W group manned by Air Force Hams near
Biloxi and Gulfport; 2. WLOX.com's list set up to report on persons in the
Biloxi/Gulfport area; and, 3. gulfcoastnews.com which has a very extensive
list of persons (numbering more than 500), and the list is growing. Anyone
who is concerned about a friend or relative in southern Mississippi should
check gulfcoastnews.com periodically during each day. . .but have patience.
There must be millions (yes, millions) of persons checking this list and it
takes forever to go through the list. . .and it crashes often. The folks who
maintain this web service have added servers to help relieve the load, but
it still is very slow. As I said, have patience. I finally got into it reliably at
about 5:30 this morning.

During the day today, I talked to Hams on nets in Mississippi, Louisiana, and
Texas, and the concensus of everyone, especially those who live near the
effected areas, is that reliable information will not be available for weeks.
The only exception would be if a person was in a disaster relief center. Ron Dodson,
you might contact those folks who asked you to find people and let them 
know that there are many folks, Hams and others, who are searching for
information about the people whose names you sent out on the list servs,
but it's going to take a lot of time. The persons who asked you try to get
information will be contacted directly if the person(s) they need information
about are located. 

NO ONE is allowed into the areas legally. . .and even those areas that
were not totally devastated will not allow anyone to return to their own
neighborhood until after Labor Day. The  devastated areas (Biloxi no longer
exists. . .Gulfport no longer exists. . . and other towns and cities that I can't
spell no longer exist) will not be opened for peple to enter until many days,
or weeks, from now. Those people who got out before the hurricane hit will
be able to contact their relatives and friends. . .but it will be their responsibility
to do so. No one knows where they escaped to or which direction they traveled
in to get away. Unless of course they were taken to a relief center. Mississippi
still does not have electricity, or telephones, or any services. Cell phone cannot
be used. . .all the relays have been blown down. As a whole, Mississippi had
considerably more damage than Louisiana since the track of the hurricane
ran the entire length of the state.

What I listened to today on the ham bands was pathetic. . .I talked on nets
on 80 meters and 40 meters. . .and monitored others on 20, 40 and 80. . .
and there are thousands of Hams trying to find information about folks. . .
and traffic is being passed about the damage and about folks who didn't
leave their homes and who now are missing or known dead. It is still
very early and as I mentioned earlier, not much information is available,
so what I heard today will be nothing compared to what will be found
in days to come.

Believe me, there are a lot of Hams out there trying to help find folks and
we can be proud of the fact that they represent a very important part of
our "Hobby." Working together in the time of dire need!

Bill/N4DIT