Ham Radio responds to Midwest storms

Ham radio was among the first responders as severe weather battered the mid Western United States starting on June 4th.

Amateur Radio Newsline's Jack Parker, W8ISH, is in Indianapolis, Indiana, which is one of the states hard hit by Mother Nature's fury:

From Indianapolis, south to the Kentucky line Indiana residents have been surrounded by fast rising flood waters this past week. Torrential rains from slow moving storms dumped up to 11 inches of water on Hoosier communities across the southern part of Indiana.

Dozens of Amateur Radio operators were activated in response to calls from various county emergency operations centers. Rising waters have closed many county roads across the region.

In Johnson County, just south of Indianapolis, amateur radio operators were asked to report closed roads and bridges damaged by fast moving water. A total of eight bridges were severely damaged and one dam was breached forcing evacuations from a small lake community. By noon Saturday most major highways and county roads were closed due to waist high water. Water rescue units sent to evacuate neighborhoods had a hard time getting equipment to those in need.

Hams in Columbus and Seymour, Indiana provided communications to evacuation shelters. Several times they had to tear down and re-locate as those shelters were closed and moved to higher ground. The rain just kept coming. By Monday weary amateur radio operators were calling for relief as more shelters were opened or continued to operate.

It has been a busy month for Indiana ham radio operators. A week before the floods many of the same areas were raked by devastating tornadoes. Again, Amateur Radio communications was put to the test while providing emergency communications to area shelters and emergency management agencies across the state.

Rescue operations became so numerous local fire departments, the Department of Natural Resources and the Indiana National Guard were swamped with requests. The US Coast Guard dispatched rescue helicopters from Chicago while a contingency of US Marines located at Camp Atterbury near Columbus, Indiana postponed their training mission and began assisting with water rescues in Morgan County. The Marines are from Camp LeJune in North Carolina. They too fell victim to the tornadoes and local flooding. Their large Chinook helicopters flew search and rescue missions for several affected counties.

According to the National Weather Service records this is the worst flooding Indiana has seen since 1913. And it may not be over yet. All those flood waters are now flowing down stream causing new problems to Southern Indiana communities.

Jack Parker W8ISH
Amateur Radio Newsline