From the Aftermath Comes Improvement

As many of you know, I recently relocated from Carrollton, Texas, a surburb of Dallas, to Huntsville, Alabama. Last Tuesday, Feb 5, as severe weather roll through the southeast, north Alabama got her share.

One of the first things I did when I got involved in Amateur Radio was to sign-up for ARES, RACES, and SkyWarn. Now for those of you that are unfamiliar with those organizations, let me take just a minute to explain.

ARES & RACES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service & Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Services) are organizations dedicated to augmenting communications during emergencies. Although they have different origins and have historically existed as separate entities, they are now reaching a melding point such that they are essentially interchangeable. During hurricanes Katrina & Rita, Amateur Radio volunteers through their service with ARES and RACES passed thousands of messages into and out of the storm ravaged areas when no other form of communication worked. These are your radio amateurs serving their community!

SkyWarn is a National Weather Service sponsored organization created and operated to support the NWS' severe storms forecasting and reporting activities. While not limited to amateur radio operators, this program draws a significant amount of its value and information from hams in the field reporting on weather conditions and relaying damage reports.

So, as I moved to the Huntsville area, the first contacts I attempted were with the ARES/RACES & SkyWarn communities and have been working in those programs ever since. As we debriefed on last Tuesday's storms a couple of points of interest came out and I wanted to share those with every ham I know. I believe these are important!

Warnings Fail In the Last Mile
Across the southeast on February 5th, the NWS offices did a stellar job issuing warnings and alerting the public to the dangers at hand. In some cases, as much as a 30 minute waring of incoming tornados was possible. Yet despite such forecasting ability, many lives were still lost. As I discussed this topic with my friend Steve, KD5YPB, last night it became clear that the failure was in the "last mile" of communication.

In all fairness, the warnings in north Alabama came between 3 am and 5 am when most of the population was sleeping. But as we saw, severe weather know no clock. How do we warn people tucked away in their beds? The answer is simple...weather alert radios with SAME technology.

Each time the NWS issues a watch or warning, it is broadcast on NOAA Weather Radio. Those signals can be received with many different types of receivers including specially designed weather radios. The weather service also encodes special data in this signal to automatically turn on these radios and sound an alarm in the event of a watch or warning for a specific area! Having one of these by your bed during severe weather season should be a must!

Now, I know I'm probably preaching to the choir here because most hams already have one. But here's the $64,000 question for you Mr. Ham...how many of your neighbors have one? For the ones that do, is it setup correctly? You are the local radio expert in your neighborhood. Serve your community one neighborhood at a time!

Along the same lines, do you have phone numbers for all your neighbors? Could you call them to alert them to severe weather at 3 am?

We cannot look to warning sirens, TV alerts, and talk radio to warn our friends and family in the middle of the night! Take action today to make your neighborhood a safer place.

Remember, this is a hobby and your Federal Amateur License is granted in the interest of community service. You have an obligation to do everything you can to help your community so get out there and get after it...TODAY.

Thom, K5JTR