Katrina - the story continues

Ham radio operators continue as the communications backbone of the post hurricane Katrina rescue effort. Mark Abramovich, NT3V, is here with the latest:

Amateur radio operators from all across the country have responded in a big way to the call for help from the Hurricane Katrina disaster zone.

The American Red Cross plea for operators - transmitted through the American Radio Relay League - drew responses by the hundreds. So many, in fact, that there's now a hold on the call for operators and a stand-by list has been assembled.

Bob Josuweit, an assistant ARRL Section Manager in Eastern Pennsylvania and CQ Magazine's Public Service editor, says hams have shown their true spirit.

"The response has been absolutely phenomenal," Josuweit says. "According to the section manager for Alabama who's helping to coordinate things in Alabama, the response has been fantastic. He has suggested that people just stand by because the need will still be there.

"He suggested monitoring the ARRL website and waiting until the next call up is posted." And, Josuweit has suggested anyone deciding to take off on their own runs
the risk of running into serious trouble with federal, state and local authorities in the states hit by Katrina.

"Some areas with martial law or the equivalent thereof, you are being stopped without proper ID and having an assigned task," Josuweit advises. "So, it's really important to work through local government or loca agencies to have a plan before you go down there."

Allen Pitts, W1AGP, the ARRL's media and public relations manager, spent three days in the disaster zone at a Red Cross disaster headquarters center in Montgomery, Alabama.

The headquarters served as a clearinghouse for volunteers, including Amateur operators, who were assigned to duties in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana.

Pitts, who just returned, gave Amateur Radio Newsline his on-the-ground perspective. He says the operations center was set up inside a large department store. And, it's the place where hams were sent to get their assignments.

"Greg Sarratt (W4OZK), Section Manager, was talking with them, finding out their capabilities," Pitts recalls. "Most of the time, he knew they were coming; and then making assignments based on their capabilities to where he knew the needs were.

"We were primarily working with the Red Cross which is a primary served agency in the area. And Greg was getting continuous updates of where the Red Cross was setting up shelters, food kitchens and other operations and then we would be matching people out and deploying them as quickly as we possibly could."

Pitts says he was most impressed by the care and professionalism of all involved. "There had to be at least 400 people from the Red Cross and all that were there just processing the thousands of volunteers going on through," Pitts says. "It was absolutely huge, it was noisy, but it was organized very well and the one thing I found in this entire time while people were really frazzled, really hectic, really beat, and pushed to the limits.

"Not once, not even once did I ever hear a cross word or an argument. Everybody was trying to work together, trying to understand. And if there was disagreement, they would be working it out. OK, what's best for the people."

Pitts says the operations center kept in close contact with those who had been sent out.

"The hams were finding a number of different things," Pitts says. "Some areas were not as bad as were initially reported and other areas were absolutely destroyed.

"And so we were getting various reports from different places where some hams were saying: 'Gee, I'm not sure what we should be doing' and other hams were saying: 'Please, send more help, send more help. I've never seen anything like this.' "

Pitts describes the volunteer hams as a diverse group with a sole purpose.

"Some of them looked at it as an adventure and that was OK," Pitts says. "But, it's an adventure in service. They also were very aware that they would see things which they had never seen before and the emotions would be running high. We kind of talked with them about that. But they were
dedicated to setting things up and doing in right."

Pitts says it's clear amateur radio's role will continue to be an important one in parts of the hurricane disaster zone in the weeks ahead.

"My guess is that this is going to be going on, and this pure guess on my part, I have no better crystal ball than most people," Pitts says. "But my guess is we're probably going to need people for at least another three weeks, possibly longer."

Pitts says the media has picked up on the success of amateur radio in the aftermath of Katrina.

"There have been articles in The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, there's one that just came out in Christian Science Monitor, and all of them are basically saying the same thing that amateur radio came through when the other communications capabilities failed," Pitt says.

Now, Pitts says, it's up to those hams who are helping out in any way in the wake of Katrina to continue telling amateur radio's side of the story.

"As things start to slow down and you have time, the media is going to be looking for human interest stories, looking for people, local people that can tell the story of 'I was there' or 'I did that,' "

"And I would encourage hams all around the country who have been part of this - there's thousands of them. Go to your local paper, call your local radio station and let them know that you were there, that you were handling traffic, that you were monitoring things and then offer to talk to them about amateur radio and its capabilities."

Mark Abramowicz, NT3V
Amateur Radio Newsline

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