This is one of the reasons that I got involved in Amateur Radio because of the Public Service aspect.
Many Amateur Radio groups around the US work with various Emergency Operations groups such as local EMA’s (Emergency Management Agency), NWS’s (National Weather Service), and Red Cross during emergencies to provide communication and support when regular lines of communication fail.
The following is an exert from the ARRL (American Radio Relay League) website:
In response to Humberto, several ARES groups were activated. According to Brazoria County Emergency Coordinator Terry Bowersmith, W5SRG, Brazoria County (Texas) ARES activated a complex Net at 6 PM Wednesday, involving repeaters in Freeport and Alvin. One member was dispatched to the Brazoria County Emergency Operations Center, and another to the Pearland EOC, while others remained in “standby ready condition. By 9 PM, Humberto had cleared Brazoria County with little rain and no damage, so we secured the operation,” according to Bowersmith.
ARRL Louisiana Section Emergency Coordinator Gary Stratton, K5GLS, said Alan Levine, WA5LQZ, District Emergency Coordinator for Southwest Louisiana, reported minimal flood damage in his area, and little wind damage. “About three spans of power lines down in this area but should be repaired within a few hours. The weather has cleared that area and will continue along a projected path across central Louisiana and Northwest Mississippi today,” Stratton said. “We were lucky that the system spawned offshore and moved inland quickly as a minimal hurricane.”
Orange County (Texas) Emergency Coordinator Rocky Wilson, N5MTX, reported that as of Thursday, Orange County had a “massive power outage”; all schools are closed, as are most retail stores and businesses, until power can be restored, expected sometime on Saturday, September 15. “Most petrochemical facilities are shut down due to no power,” Wilson said. Many oil refineries are located on the Texas Gulf Coast.
Full story at this URL: https://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2007/09/14/104/
73,
Russell Thomas, KV4S
