[MarinTeams] Storm Preparation

[Bill Smith]

As you are no doubt aware, a strong storm is slated to impact our area in
the next 24-48 hours.  According to the National Weather Bureau, the first
effects of the storm are forecast to arrive sometime after midnight tonight,
and continue through the morning.  The storm is thought to continue through
Thursday day with the worst over before Friday.

 

Now is a great time to check flashlights, charge cell phones and radios in
anticipation of potential power outages.

 

With respect to CERT Radio, it is always important to keep in mind that we
are citizen volunteers and that as individuals no special action should be
taken except in the case of dire emergency.  An emergency condition exists
only with the inability of first responders to marshal resources, and from
this vantage point it seems we are a great distance from anything remotely
approaching that condition.  If an incident develops, stay away and let
first responders take care of the situation.

 

The storm has attracted some attention, however, and it seems a good
opportunity to ready ourselves as an exercise.  One thing we can do is
establish a reporting center which will appear as a simple status report on
our CERT Radio webpage http://www.certradio.org <http://www.certradio.org/>
.  We are taking steps to prepare this capability.  Each of us can also
monitor the repeaters, or if they are disrupted, we can use simplex Channel
3.  One suggestion is that we turn on our radios at the top of each hour and
listen for five minutes past each hour.   We should be able to identify any
issues at that time, and if needed we can extend our operations to longer
listening intervals.  Let's hope there will be simply hours of quiet,
however don't hesitate to converse using the repeater, after all we are
amateurs and we can always start a directed net if needed.

 

As exercise, utility disturbance (e.g. power outages), and transportation
will likely be of interest.   We might also note instances of very heavy
downpours, or reports of unusually strong winds.

 

In the worst case, we can appoint our own area contact representatives in
Northern, Central and Southern Marin.  Unfortunately, our West Marin
repeater is still under reconstruction and we have to rely upon simplex
communications to contact stations in that area.  Locations at high
elevations should monitor Channel 3 (145.640 MHz) for any activity in
addition to monitoring the 146.775 MHz repeaters.

 

All in all, remember safety is the primary concern.  We do not deploy, but
thanks to all of you, perhaps we can demonstrate the communications resource
we have in amateur radio.

 

73 de Bill, AB6MT

415-258-0864

hbco2 at hbco2.com