Hurricane Frances recovery continues
with amateur radio help
As Florida recovers from Hurricane Frances, Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) and
Radio Amateur Emergency Service (RACES) members throughout the state this
week continued to support communication for shelters, local emergency
operation centers (EOCs) and anywhere else they
were needed.
From Palm Beach County, Southern Florida Assistant Section Manager Jeff
Beals, WA4AW, reports that ARES/RACES were activated on September 2, prior
to Frances' making landfall.
"Over 50 amateurs assisted with communications support during the
Frances operation," Beals said of the Palm Beach response. "Some
positions were manned by their operators for the first 36 hours before
relief was available." He worked with Palm Beach Emergency Coordinator
Dave Messinger, N4QPM, in the county emergency operations center (EOC).
Like much of Southern Florida, Palm Beach County remains in the recovery
stage, and some areas still were without commercial power or telephone
service at week's end.
While shelters there have closed, the EOC remained up and running to handle
logistical communications. Over the Labor Day weekend, hams were called
on to help back up the county's public safety radio system after it went
down for about 11 hours. While most of the traffic was routine, hams did
relay a fire call.
The Melbourne Hamfest, scheduled for September 11 and 12, was canceled
due to the effects of Hurricane Frances.
Southern Florida Section Emergency Coordinator Jim Goldsberry, KD4GR,
said at week's end that relief operators still were needed in Brevard
County. West Central Florida SM Dave Armbrust, AE4MR, also was looking
for volunteers for standby relief duty.
In Volusia County, ARES/RACES was active in the Daytona Beach area. Mike
Glennon, KB4JHU, came from Tullahoma, Tennessee, with his communications
trailer to pitch in.
Gary Pearce, KN4AQ, of Amateur Radio/Video News, reports that seven hams
from Tennessee and Georgia turned out to relieve exhausted Florida locals.
"Mike was stationed at one of five assistance centers in the county
where residents could pick up ice and supplies," Pearce said, adding
that Volusia County ARES/RACES EC Fred Magliacane, KF4VRS, managed to
keep going despite very little sleep during the activation.
In Clay County, southwest of Jacksonville in northern Florida, Vern Ferris,
W4NEK, reports that his ARES team provided shelter communications over
the Labor Day weekend until telephone service there was restored.
In a comments posted on the ARRL mentor reflector, Gary Johansan, WD4NKA,
in Deltona, Florida, said even Hiram Percy Maxim would be impressed by
the "old fashioned hamming" he monitored on the emergency nets.
His family
evacuated to Orlando, and he's still awaiting the restoration of electrical
power. He said cell phones were useless in large areas of Volusia County
until well after Frances left the peninsula.
"Ham Radio may be a lot of things," Johanson said, "but
one thing the twin storms have proven to us on the peninsula is this:
Ham radio is absolutely relevant."
Source: ARRL Letter - courtesy of The
American Radio Relay League
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