[W1SMH] Fw: VU4 Update # 4 (Andamans dxpedition)

[Bruce Alexander]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bill B" <bilko at aaahawk.com>
To: "FBG" <n1fbg at arrl.net>
Sent: Wednesday, December 29, 2004 7:08 AM
Subject: Fw: VU4 Update # 4 (Andamans dxpedition)


> Ham Radio from Port Blair, Andamans DXpedition-
>
> >Subject: [YCCC] Fw: VU4 Update # 4
> >----- Original Message ----- 
> >From: "Carl Smith" <dxadmin at dxpub.com>To: <dxadmin at dxpub.com>
> >Sent: Monday, December 27, 2004 8:52 PM Subject: VU4 Update # 4
> >Hello DXers:  The following just received from Charly, K4VUD who is now
> >in Thailand. His message speaks for itself.
> >*************************************************************************
> >********
> >Dec. 27 at 2300 Z
> >Hey, a whole lotta shakin' goin' on.  Sorry to be out of touch for a
> >while, but the phone service and thus email service went out with the
> >first quake on Andaman, VU4.  This is my first minute to get to a
> >reliable
> >email service.
> >1.  Morning after Xmas, I was resting from sleep and thinking about what
> >to do that coming day when my bed started to quiver like a large train
> >was
> >coming by.  Then, the room started to rock about when I stood up.
> >Walking
> >and standing were difficult,bottles were falling off the shelves, and my
> >fifth floor room floor felt like rubber.  I got braced within the
> >bathroom
> >door until things settled down.  Then, I found my pants and shirt and
> >ran,
> >shoes in hand, down the stairs and joined everyone else from the hotel in
> >
> >the open out front.  Bharathi was already safely outside there.  She was
> >on the air at the time, but quickly figured out what was happening and
> >got
> >out.
> >2.  There were extra holiday guests at the hotel.  Various groups formed,
> >
> >and I sat with some English speakers at a table in the hotel garden.  I
> >noted to all who would listen that a BIG WAVE would come with an ocean
> >quake.  We were, by then, drinking tea and looking down on the ocean from
> >
> >about 80 feet above high tide.  The sea rapidly turned brown near us, but
> >
> >there was no real surge.  As the day went on and 8 to 10 more small
> >tremors came and went, several of us took quick runs to our rooms to get
> >necessities.  The radios were left in the room.  The roof antennas showed
> >
> >no signs of damage at all.
> >3.  As the other team members came to our hotel, we learned of the big
> >wave that hit the water front in Port Blair.  Saraha had taken some
> >videos
> >there with the water still about a foot deep over the street that fronted
> >
> >the ocean.  All team members were very OK.
> >4.  In the immediate Port Blair area, four people died (one from landing
> >on his head as he dove out his home window seeking escape), the local
> >newspaper reported.
> >5.  Port Blair and all but 4 of its citizens escaped serious damage.
> >Most
> >of you have now seen the video of the real damage that occurred in other
> >places around the Indian Ocean rim... very bad for people and property.
> >6.  By that afternoon, the team had set up one rig outside with a mobile
> >whip and tuner...powered by the Hotel generator... and Bharathi was
> >taking
> >health and welfare messages from the people standing around there.  Many
> >wanted to tell relatives on the Indian mainland that they were ok, and
> >Bharathi established contact with many India ham stations in various
> >cities as needed.  Traffic was being passed.  She told my wife in
> >Thailand
> >that I was ok via contact with an HS station who passed the message by
> >telephone in Thailand.... very nice to be a ham !
> >7. The team got cots from the hotel and, along with most others, slept
> >out
> >in the open that night.  I slept fitfully near the lobby door on a couch
> >inside, reasoning rightly this time, that the worst was over.
> >8.  I will have more reports later, but the main news for ham radio is
> >THE
> >TEAM IS COMPLETELY OK AND SAFE.  They have suspended normal DXpedition
> >operations while helping out with health and welfare messages and
> >whatever other duties may have come to them after I departed Port Blair
> >vy early  this morning (as I was originally scheduled to do).  I suspect
> >they will
> >go back to DXpedition work soon because Port Blair escaped the worst
> >damage and the after shocks apparantly have also stopped.
> >Thanks for all the good wishes.  73 for now,
> > Charles Harpole, K4VUD___________________________________________
>
>