IRESC activities during Hurricane Ike

In response to the threat from Hurricane Ike, the International Radio Emergency Support Coalition 'IRESC' is now on Level 3 Activation, meaning that a 24/7 formal net is established on the IRESC Echolink conference and associated HF, VHF and UHF link stations.

Because both English-speaking and Spanish-speaking Caribbean islands are threatened, IRESC is using its English/Spanish bilingual members as Net Controllers.

Emergency nets in Cuba are now operating on 7045kHz and 3750kHz.  We are told that many stations are working on battery power as little mains power is available in the affected areas - this of course means that signals are weak and even the most distant amateur operators are asked to keep very well clear of these frequencies.

So far, many reports from TV and Radio Internet stations, as well as blogs and forums from the islands in question, have been translated and passed to the VoIP Hurricane Net for potential forwarding to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. 

IRESC has also translated and forwarded direct emails from amateur radio operators in Cuba and has passed Health & Welfare traffic for Haiti and the Turks & Caicos islands.

Direct contact with fellow amateurs in Haiti in particular has unveiled the human tragedy developing there, with accurate meteorological reporting from many locations bringing benefits to those further along 'Hurricane Alley'. 
Reports 'on the ground' in support of official measurements are particularly beneficial to our future understanding of these immense and deadly storms.

IRESC continues to seek connections at any level and by any means into the affected areas, including activity to establish its Internet-HF Gateway in Panama to assist in monitoring emergency amateur radio nets remotely via VoIP.

IRESC is actively seeking new members who live in areas of the world that are often threatened by natural disasters.

IRESC will also take direct information or requests for assistance from the general public concerning Hurricane Ike, via its website www.iresc.org where there are facilities for providing data directly to its operational Incident Database.

For further information, please contact IRESC External Affairs Officer Steve Richards g4hpe@iresc.org or visit our website at www.iresc.org.