[Oremem/Idamem] Fw: ARLB059 Amateur Radio prepares to greet Hurricane Isabel

[ke7et]

Here is a copy of e-mail received by my station. If East Coast mars stations
get activated, we should try to monitor to see if any relay assistance is
needed.
Howard Philipson ke7et/AAM0OR/AAR0AI OR ASMD
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "ARRL Web site" <memberlist@www.arrl.org>
To: <ke7et@westband.net>
Cc: <Subscribed ARRL Members:>
Sent: Tuesday, September 16, 2003 12:45 PM
Subject: ARLB059 Amateur Radio prepares to greet Hurricane Isabel


> SB QST @ ARL $ARLB059
> ARLB059 Amateur Radio prepares to greet Hurricane Isabel
>
> ZCZC AG59
> QST de W1AW
> ARRL Bulletin 59  ARLB059
> >From ARRL Headquarters
> Newington CT  September 16, 2003
> To all radio amateurs
>
> SB QST ARL ARLB059
> ARLB059 Amateur Radio prepares to greet Hurricane Isabel
>
> Amateur Radio operators along the Eastern Seaboard are gearing up to
> greet the arrival of a diminished but still potentially damaging
> Hurricane Isabel. The storm is expected to make landfall September
> 18 along the coast of the Carolinas. The National Hurricane Center
> is warning interests from the Carolinas northward to southern New
> England to closely monitor Hurricane Isabel's progress.
>
> The Hurricane Watch Net (HWN) on 14.325 MHz and WX4NHC at the
> National Hurricane Center have announced plans to activate. The HWN
> will activate Wednesday, September 17, at 1400 UTC (10 AM EDT).  The
> storm has been downgraded to a category 2 hurricane with winds of
> 105 MPH and higher gusts.
>
> "As the hurricane achieves initial landfall, the HWN will focus
> specifically on storm reports into and out of the immediately
> affected areas and into the forecast path of the storm," said HWN
> Manager Mike Pilgrim, K5MP. WX4NHC will commence operations
> September 17 at 2200 UTC (6 PM EDT), according to Amateur Radio
> Coordinator John McHugh, KU4GY.
>
> Pilgrim requested that health-and-welfare traffic be directed to
> other nets set up for that purpose. The Salvation Army Team
> Emergency Radio Network (SATERN) plans to activate on 14.265 MHz on
> September 18 at 1400 UTC (10 AM EDT) to handle emergency and
> health-and-welfare traffic.
>
> Local emergency and informational nets also will be a part of the
> mix, and hams in North Carolina already are getting into the spirit
> of things. "There were lots of extra check�ins to the Tarheel Net on
> Monday night," said North Carolina Public Information Coordinator
> Gary Pearce, KN4AQ. As the North Carolina Section's HF Amateur Radio
> Emergency Service (ARES) net, the Tarheel Net meets on 3923 kHz
> nightly at 7:30 PM Eastern Time and on 7232 kHz during daylight
> hours, if needed.
>
> At WX4NHC, McHugh was calling on amateurs within 50 miles of the
> Atlantic coast from South Carolina to New Jersey to provide weather
> data to the Hurricane Watch Net. Net participants collect and report
> observed and measured weather data to the net to relay to the
> National Hurricane Center via WX4NHC. The net also routinely
> disseminates public storm advisories as they become available.
>
> "If you have weather equipment and are in the affected area please
> try to get that data to WX4NHC, however do not put your self in
> danger at any time," McHugh said. He also asked that stations not
> relay weather information given out by local media, since that
> information already is "in the system."
>
> McHugh said these "surface reports" are very important as they give
> hurricane specialists at the National Hurricane Center a clearer
> picture of what is actually happening on the ground during the
> storm.
>
> Section Emergency Coordinators and Section Managers in Georgia,
> North Carolina, Maryland-DC, Southern New Jersey, Western
> Pennsylvania and Southern New Jersey also report they're preparing
> for Isabel.
>
> North Carolina ARRL Section Manager John Covington, W4CC, this week
> alerted members in his section to be at the ready. "I encourage each
> of you to make personal preparations for the storm," Covington said.
> "In addition, I hope you will be able to contribute to Amateur Radio
> disaster communications, if necessary." He urged amateurs to make
> sure their equipment is working, all batteries charged and any
> emergency generators operational. "Do this today," he said, "not
> during the storm!"
>
> Covington was among those worrying less about the potential for wind
> damage than about the possibility of widespread flooding.
>
> ARRL North Carolina Section Emergency Coordinator Bernie Nobles,
> WA4MOK, reports that hams were scheduled to staff the North Carolina
> Emergency Management Eastern Branch headquarters in Kinston starting
> September 16. The amateur station at the state emergency operations
> center in Raleigh will activate September 17. An umbrella of liaison
> stations was being organized to monitor the 146.88 MHz repeater and
> the Tarheel Net.
>
> The National Hurricane Center has issued a hurricane watch from
> Little River Inlet, South Carolina, to Chincoteague, Virginia. As of
> 11 AM EDT September 16, the storm was 600 miles south-southeast of
> Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, moving northwesterly at around 8 MPH.
>
> The southeastern and mid-Atlantic coasts already have been
> experiencing large ocean swells and dangerous surf conditions.
>
> Information on the Hurricane Watch Net and WX4NHC can be found on
> the web at http://www.hwn.org/ and http://www.wx4nhc.org/,
> respectively.  Information on the Salvation Army Team Emergency
> Radio Network (SATERN) can be found on the web at
> http://www.satern.org/.
> NNNN
> /EX
>
>