Ham Radio volunteers helping tornado
victims
Indiana Section Emergency Coordinator David Pifer, N9YNF, reports
Amateur Radio volunteers are assisting relief operations in the
wake of a November 6 tornado that left 22 people dead and 200 injured.
The twister slashed a more than 40-mile swath through part of Kentucky
and extreme southwestern Indiana in the early morning hours, wiping
out a section of a trailer park in Vanderburgh County where 18 of
the fatalities occurred.
"Amateur radio has been involved with various aspects of the
response from the beginning," Pifer said. The Salvation Army
and the American Red Cross are on the scene in the affected areas
with canteen and mass-care facilities to feed and care for relief
workers and tornado victims.
Volunteer and police officer Bob Pointer, N9XAW, at The Salvation
Army headquarters in Evansville told ARRL that three Salvation Army
mobile kitchens and three field units have been deployed in Vandenburgh
and Warrick counties, and Amateur Radio is supporting their relief
activities. Amateur Radio support, likely will be needed for up
to one week, Pointer said.
Pifer was asking prospective Amateur Radio volunteers from the
area who are willing and able to assist in the relief operation
to contact Pointer at 812-431-5054.
Pointer said Amateur Radio volunteers also provided some early
support for the American Red Cross, but that agency now has its
own internal telecommunications up and running.
The November 6 tornado, an F3 on the Fujita scale with winds of
up to 200 MPH, originated within a line of thunderstorms that struck
the region. Indiana Gov Mitch Daniels has declared a state of emergency.
Kentucky SEC Ron Dodson, KA4MAP, says SKYWARN was active as the
storms approached. "I had our Amateur Radio net going with
National Weather Service Louisville and monitored those in the counties
west of me as it approached," Dodson told ARRL. The storm hit
the Hart
County community of Munfordville, he said.
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