[MDC-EC] Hurricane Irene Update from ARRL 24-Aug

[n3sb at qis.net]

Folks;

Here's an update on what's been going on at League HQ.

73; Steve, N3SB

ARRL HQ Updates on Hurricane Irene

ARRL HQ Emergency Response Team is active and taking steps to help  
assist with response efforts to Irene. The team is meeting each day at  
9am and will provide daily updates to Section and Division personnel.

Initial Briefing Session – Thursday August 25 at 7pm Eastern Time HQ  
will be hosting a briefing session for SM’s, SEC’s, PIC’s, HQ ERT  
staff, and Division officials in the VA, NC, MD, and SC sections. This  
will be an informal session to discuss what is being done ahead of the  
storm.

Friday Briefing Session – We will have a second briefing session on  
Friday August 26 at 7pm Eastern Time. This briefing will include all  
sections in the path of the storm. Each section will be asked to  
provide an update on preparedness activities. The SM or his/her  
designee should provide the update. This briefing is for Section,  
Division, and HQ personnel and is by invitation only.

Daily briefings – If you anticipate a need for holding conference  
calls for additional daily briefings please contact Ken Bailey, K1FUG,  
to set them up. Include in your request: how many participants, will  
you need power point capability, time/date, etc.

Emergency Net Frequencies – As your emergency nets gear up for  
activation please provide this information to HQ. We can share this  
information through the website and ARRL EmComm Twitter feed.

Section Updates – Please forward any news on Amateur Radio activity to  
ARRL HQ.

Volunteers – We are already anticipating that Amateurs will contact  
ARRL HQ to volunteer (unsolicited) to assist areas impacted by the  
hurricane. We will keep a list of those that do in case assistance is  
requested from the Sections. If for any reason you think that outside  
volunteers may be needed in your Section please forward to us your  
process for outside volunteers, necessary qualifications, and a point  
of contact.

In-Section Requests – We also anticipate calls coming from Amateurs  
seeking information or wanting to volunteer within their own Section.  
Please provide a point of contact these folks can be referred to.

W1AW – W1AW will be staffed over the weekend and be monitoring  
developments. The station is available as a resource to the Field  
Organization. Additionally phone lines will also be manned over the  
weekend. These numbers will be sent out separately with other contact  
information.

Media – A media release has been sent out stating that Amateurs are  
getting ready for the storm. The Weather Channel has also been  
provided contact information to get media updates. Please make sure  
that your PIC’s are working with their media contacts.

Ham Aid – If you need to request Ham Aid equipment please do so using  
the online request form found in the “Section Managers Only” portion  
of the website.

NVOAD – Today ARRL HQ will be participating in the daily briefing with  
National VOAD partners. We have already been contacted by one of our  
NVOAD partners, Catholic Charities USA, requesting point of contact  
information for the states in the path of Irene.

Mike Corey, W5MPC

Emergency Preparedness Manager

ARRL - The national association for Amateur Radio™
225 Main Street
Newington, CT 06111
Telephone: 860 594 0222
email: w5mpc at arrl.org
web:   www.arrl.org/