[TNham] ETSKYWARN Monitoring Hurricane Frances

[Greg Williams]

To those who were BCC'ed, this is the only email I will send out.  You
are not on a mailing list.  :-)


With the projected path of Hurricane Frances to track across the state
of Tennessee, we at East Tennessee SKYWARN are working to prepare for
the onslaught of high winds and heavy rain this low-moving system is
expected to bring.

The current track (as of 9PM Sunday) has Frances' center tracking almost
directly over Knoxville at about 2PM Eastern Time Wednesday.  Late
Tuesday night, early Wednesday morning, we should start seeing
precipitation from Frances fall in the area.  After speaking with the
National Weather Service in Morristown, it is predicted that the major
issue from the remnants of Frances will be RAIN and FLOODING.  At this
time NO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OR HIGH WINDS are expected.

Residents and HAMs are encouraged to have extra batteries, flashlights,
and whatever flood essentials you feel you may need as the storm
approaches from Florida.

We plan to convene on 146.940 Mhz (negative offset, no tone) and use an
alternate of 147.195 Mhz (positive offset, tone disabled during severe
weather) or use 7.195 as a damage control net if 6.94 becomes
overwhelmed.

CONSIDER YOUR PERSONAL SAFETY FIRST AND FOREMOST.  Have a "battle plan"
ready for you and your loved ones.  If you yourself are in a low-lying
area prone to flooding, have an evacuation plan in place prior to the
storm.  You will not do anyone any good by becoming a victim yourself.

DO NOT DRIVE INTO FLOODED AREAS YOU DO NOT KNOW.  The majority of
storm-related deaths occur NOT from lightning, tornadoes, or hurricanes,
but from FLOODING!  Of those who die in flood events, most of the
victims are in their cars when it happens.  Driving into washed-out
roads, or roads flooded deeper than their cars an handle, often leads to
a tragic ending.  Believe it or not, just 1 inch of water can sweep your
car off the road.

Therefore, any flooded roadway you come across, DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DRIVE
INTO IT.  Also note, NO ONE at the NWS office or net control will ask
you to drive into flooded areas.  If you decide to "stormchase" (which
is not a good idea, because thunderstorms are NOT expected, nor are high
winds, hail, and tornadoes) you are taking an extremely high risk, and
do so on your own.  Again, you will do no one any good by becoming a
victim rather than a volunteer. 

SKYWARN AND ARES EMERGENCY GROUPS WILL BE OPERATING SEPARATE NETS.  Our
task at East Tennessee SKYWARN will be to report to the NWS on what the
weather is doing in the area.  In order to prevent congestion on 146.940
and 147.195, any area Emergency Services should be conducting their
group's nets on other repeaters.  We plan to coordinate with these clubs
to find out what repeaters they are on and work alongside them to better
coordinate the need for volunteers to respond to Red Cross shelters and
EOCs in the area. We WILL NOT be directly communicating with the Red
Cross unless there is a direct emergency or need for information, such
as weather reporting to the shelters as to what area(s) have flooding.
If and when we get information as to what nets are being conducted on
what frequencies, we will pass this information on to the listeners.  We
will handle the WEATHER side of the issue, while Emergency Services in
the area will be handling the ARES/Red Cross side of the issue.  This
should make things easier for HAMs who wish to help out with shelters
and those who have weather to report.

And finally, with regards to the nets, REPORT WHAT YOU SEE, NOT WHAT YOU
HEARD!!!  Many times the nets get tied up because someone reports a
situation they hear on TV, police scanner, or radio.  The nets are not
for this.  SKYWARN nets are for reporting what WE see and experience to
the National Weather Service, not what someone on television said or
what they hear from a "friend of a friend".  Granted, we do use some
discretion and try to gather as much info as we can (like requesting
confirmation of something being reported by another agency) but we
cannot tie up minutes of time on a wild goose chase because someone
heard it on TV.  We try to accommodate as many reports from as many
people as we can service, but we cannot spread our resources thin when
we are taking reports from several counties as we cover here in East
Tennessee.  Use discretion when checking in to a net and LISTEN TO WHAT
THE NET CONTROL NEEDS TO KNOW, not necessarily what could amount to
hearsay.

For the latest storm track of Frances, click on this link:
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/ftp/graphics/AT06/refresh/AL0604W5+GIF/020243W5.
gif

Greg Williams
K4HSM
East Tennessee SKYWARN
http://www.etskywarn.net