NOAA updated it’s hurricane forecast for the U.S. Atlantic Hurricane Season on Thursday August 7. Now there is an 85% probability that we’ll see an “above normal” hurricane season, up from a 65% probability forecasted recently at the beginning of the season. Please visit the NOAA web site for their prediction and story. (READ HERE)
Rio Grande Valley
Hurricane Dolly After Action Report
From K5REW
Former DEC District 3 ARES
South Texas Section
August 5, 2008
Although a couple of active hams who are key stations in the local EmComm plan and the subsequent Dolly operations were severely affected by the Hurricane strike, no injuries or serious loss of property were reported at this point to our group. Active in the Brownsville EOC at request of the EMC were K5VC and KF0MP who braved much more than the storm to maintain amateur communications at that location. KB5TMC bravely stood by at Cameron County EOC blocks away, and Harlingen EOC ham radio positions were operated by ham operators recently licensed from a group of Police Department communications dispatch employees. WA9IES and XYL stood by at National Weather Service Brownsville on two meters and WB5GFU with KC5RFW and WA5ZIP provided the best Net Control Station talent available in the State or Nationally, by far. This effort without any doubt continues to be the only significant ham radio effort that took place in the Rio Grande Valley especially in Cameron County which was the focus and location of Dolly’s landfall.
Dolly didn’t force any severe communications blackouts but there were situations where specific cell sites failed, public safety radio systems lost channels and telephone outages were reported in South Padre Island and Port Isabel. City and County EOC operations along the river were able to maintain their collective electronic communications means, and therefore our official mission “to provide communications when all else fails” was not required from hams in the area. We dodged a huge bullet.
As in any emergency such as a hurricane our public safety and public works responders were overtaxed and overwhelmed. Ham radio operators were pressed into service to assist local shelters and fire stations, Salvation Army, Red Cross and the Baptist Men’s Kitchen feeding unit during the response and recovery phase of Dolly. These agencies and others enjoyed tremendous support by STARS (South Texas Area Repeater Society) using the only wide area coverage repeater that remained operational due to it’s advanced emergency backup generator system with associated linked stations in the Rio Grande Valley. The STARS network operates it’s cornerstone repeater on 146.70 MHz with Echolink and IRLP nodes with “autostart - drop load” or “ADL” emergency generator status.
We are making recommendation to our served agencies (CUSTOMERS) that permanent EOC locations be selected and allowed to have ham radio equipment including outside antennas installed as soon as possible. No EOC in Cameron County except the Harlingen Police Department had any ham radio or antenna equipment installed and available. Hams had to bring their own antennas along with their own radios and power supplies in order to operate. This made it very difficult to setup services such as WinLink and Airmail as well as other digital modes, not to mention plain voice communication.
Our very dedicated ham operators listed below by call sign were very active in providing emergency communications before, during and after Hurricane Dolly with operations support. Ham elements of the Salvation Army and Red Cross including Baptist Men’s Kitchen enjoyed the use of the wide area repeater network through 146.700 repeater. During the relentless and slow arrival of the storm and it’s subsequent stall just offshore of Brownsville and South Padre Island communication was established via WinLink with the State EOC (SOC), MARS and SHARES HF stations and which continued during the recovery phase of the operations.
Although the Ham Operators mentioned below were active through STARS EmComm Group there appeared to be no other organized ham radio response or recovery efforts outside of MARS and DHS SHARES (who also are closely coordinated with STARS) in the Rio Grande Valley. Many thanks go to the following hams who made it all happen for the EOC and local government response plan, including Salvation Army, Red Cross and Baptist Men’s Kitchen:
KF0MP, K5VC, KB5TMC, W5CZI, WA9IES, K5RAV, KD5ZZE, N5SLI, WB5GFU, KC5RFW, WA5ZIP, N5PVL, N5RGV, KC5MOL, K5REW, WA4BEW, AB0EG, and many others who call the Rio Grande Valley their home.
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PLEASE REMAIN ALERT FOR UPDATES AND DEVELOPMENTS. AS OF SUN JULY 20th 11:30 p.m. there will be morning conference calls across the State to determine the next phase of planning and preparation for possible arrival of a CAT 1 or possibly a CAT 2 Hurricane. As of tonight we remain in a “CONDITION 4 OPS NORMAL” mode which can be updated at anytime. (See “alerts-status” page by clicking the link at top). Also please review some of the information on the links to the right of this story. You’ll find the latest Hurricane information there as well as very important prepardness, planning and operations information on the links. Additional information will be provided as available, 24/7 for Tropical Storm Dolly.
This year’s exercise will run from July 28th through August 1 and involve local Ham Radio two-meter systems from the Lower RGV, Laredo and El Paso. Prior to the exercise beginning on Monday July 28th the STARS group in the Valley will monitor the STARSLINK network for arriving Med Rangers coming into the Valley during the 26th and 27th, Saturday and Sunday.
During the exercise repeaters will connect the Texas State Guard Medical Rangers deployed in the Lower Rio Grande Valley with Texas State Guard Medical Rangers deployed in Laredo and El Paso. Said Sgt. Newton of the Medical Rangers, “Our primary intentions in the area of Ham Radio will be to practice and work with ham radio teams in the Rio Grande Valley, Laredo and El Paso to the extent where we can gain additional knowledge and experience that we can use when the need arises in a real emergency such as a large hurricane striking the Lower Valley area”.
Texas State Guard Med Rangers have requested that the Lower RGV and Laredo areas be interconnected in real time using current IRLP or Echolink capabilities. Our IRLP connection is being configured by Pat N5SLI and hopefully will be available to the Med Rangers by their arrival. We’ll also be using Echolink to backup, possibly as the primary connection depending upon how our IRLP efforts succeed.
The Medical Rangers battalion begins arriving on Saturday and Sunday July 26 and 27 for Operation Lone Star 2008 which actually begins Monday morning July 28th. Our Lower Rio Grande Valley Ham Radio efforts will be focused on both the arrival of the troops on the way down and providing the STARLINK two meter communications system between Laredo and Lower Rio Grande Valley locations via IRLP and/or ECHOLINK.
PHASE ONE: July 26th and July 27th
Local volunteer ham operators will be scheduled to monitor the Valley STARS repeater link system for the purpose of offering directions, highway information, Hotel and Motel information and old fashioned ham radio fellowship for the arriving State Guard Medical Rangers. If you are able to volunteer for a two or three hour shift, or longer please email a message to k5rew@sparcstakeout.us. Remove the “takeout” in the email address in your email program. It should read sparcs dot us.
PHASE TWO: July 28th through August 1st.
Local volunteer hams will be assigned to instruct, monitor and assist Medical Ranger communications team members in activating and operating IRLP or ECHOLINK systems in order to connect with the members of the other Med Ranger teams dispatched to Laredo using the Laredo two-meter network there. A copy of the instructions will be provided to those who can volunteer.
On the Medical Ranger end, they will be striving to coordinate and familiarize new as well as experienced ham radio operators (who will be assembling along the Rio Grande River from across the State), in operating ham radio communications using two meters both in repeater and simplex mode and the use of IRLP and ECHOLINK in “reaching beyond” when such systems actually survive in large scale disaster situations. July 2006 which was the first planned use of local ham radio operators with a Military unit anywhere saw that a priority was placed on ”simplex” two-meter communications. Current planning indicates a worst-case scenario with doubtful survivability of radio towers, electricity and repeater networks in the path of a landfall hurricane. ”We’re supposed to be the service that provides communications when all else fails,” said K5REW a member of the STARS network, CHARRO Ham Radio Club, US Navy MARS, and the DHS SHARES HF Network, and volunteer in the City of Brownsville and Cameron County Emergency Operations Centers. ”The Amateur Radio Service is a great technology-base for lots of “whiz bang” gadgets and electronic projects, but when it comes to providing disaster communications which is what Hams are famous for, we have to depend on the fact that we do what we do without infrastructure. Once we depend upon infrastructure to accomplish our customer’s expecations, we’re sunk”.
During this exercise you may hear new hams and old using the local system. They couldn’t be in a better place to have wonderful people with ham radio licenses standing by who will be more than glad to help out. Don’t be bashful to jump in and provide assistance if you hear a strange call sign having a brief challenge in practicing their new skills. And especially if you hear someone requesting information. We’ll be hosting these hams as our Guests in their stay here in the Valley with us, and hope to be responsive and informative to their needs, best can be.
| Hurricane | Year | Category Storm | Deaths |
|---|---|---|---|
| Galveston | 1900 | 4 | 6,000 |
| Corpus Christi/Keys | 1919 | 4 | 600* |
| Audrey (Sabine Pass) | 1957 | 4 | 390 |
| Galveston | 1915 | 4 | 275 |
| Carla (Port O’Connor) | 1961 | 4 | 46 |
| Velasco | 1909 | 3 | 41 |
| Freeport | 1932 | 4 | 40 |
| Brownsville | 1933 | 3 | 40 |
*More than 500 of 600-900 estimated deaths lost on ships at sea.
The Texas estimate of deaths was 284.
Sources: National Hurricane Center, Texas Weather by George Bomar
| Hurricane | Year | Category Storm | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alicia (San Luis Pass) | 1983 | 3 | $3 billion |
| Allen (Port Mansfield) | 1980 | 3 | $600 million |
| Allison | 1989 | Tropical Storm | $500 million |
| Celia (Corpus Christi) | 1970 | 3 | $453 million |
| Carla (Port O’Connor) | 1961 | 4 | $408 million |
| Claudette | 1979 | Tropical Storm | $400 million |
| Beulah (Brownsville) | 1967 | 3 | $200 million |
| Audrey (Sabine Pass) | 1957 | 4 | $150 million |
| Bret (Padre Island) | 1999 | 4 | $75 million |
During the test, NHC Director Bill Read, KB5FYA, addressed the Amateur Radio community on the VoIP Hurricane Net and on the Hurricane Watch Net. Read spoke about the importance of Amateur Radio in hurricane-related disasters and thanked Amateur Radio operators for their support in past hurricanes. He encouraged hams to continue to provide that strong support as WX4NHC enters its 28th year of service and the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season begins. Read made several contacts with Amateur Radio operators during the test. CLICK FOR MUCH MORE!
The Climate Prediction Center outlook calls for considerable activity with a 65 percent probability of an above normal season and a 25 percent probability of a near normal season. This means there is a 90 percent chance of a near or above normal season.
CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE STORY
(May 18, 2008) — In November 2007, ARRL President Joel Harrison, W5ZN, wrote to the American Red Cross (ARC) regarding concerns voiced by ARRL volunteers. In 2006, the Red Cross stated it would implement background checks that included, among other things, a credit check and a “mode of living” check for its staff and volunteers, including ARES volunteers providing services to the Red Cross during disasters. ARRL saw these portions of the background check as unneeded and inappropriate for ARES service.
(FOR FULL STORY CLICK HERE)
WA5ZIP activated Skwyarn at 2:10 p.m. on Sunday April 27, 2008 as severe thunderstorms began to develop along the border and lower Rio Grande Valley. Although no physical damage has been determined by this afternoon’s frontal passing, people all over the Valley including local hams have been celebrating the much needed rain. The last rainfall in the lower Valley was in January of this year! On this activation the control operator position at NWS in Brownsville was manned by KC5RFW of Edinburg who shouldered some of the ongoing committment with the NWS Office in Brownsville. Salute!
15 total check-ins from across the area rounded out the net with reports from all stations checking-in: n5sli k5rew kb0vwg wa4bew kc5rfw ab0eg k5rav kf0mp k5dg ae5r kd5pmp (Crystal at harlingen P.D.) n5icq n5pvl ke5qzl w5stx and wa5zip as Net Control!
Thanks to all stations and several who were monitoring but did not check in, for your contributions to the Skywarn net and we look forward to seeing you each Thursday on the local EmComm Net at 6:30 p.m. central on 146.70 MHz.
PROVIDED FROM ARRL “VIEW FROM FLAGLER COUNTY” K1CE Rick Palm please subscribe to ARRL ARES E-Letter for more! —————————————–
During Katrina, and recently the Nevada earthquake, traditional cellular voice service was overwhelmed due to a combination of damaged infrastructure and system overloads. In many cases, however, it was noted that Short Messaging System (SMS or “text”) would often function when voice circuits would not.
It’s also possible to send these SMS messages via e-mail in most cases, using SMS Gateways. If you are deploying ham radio EmComm team members into an affected area, you should test their cell phones for this capability before they leave. It’s also important to limit the message length, since most carriers restrict SMS messages to 160 characters. Below is a list of the major carriers in North America that offer SMS gateway services. Others can usually be found using search engines.
An SMS gateway provides an easy way for you to communicate with deployed ham radio EmComm team members, family members, or anyone whose cell phone number and carrier you’re sure of. In many cases, we were able to help people outside the affected area reach their loved ones more quickly using these gateways.
Also, before deploying in approach of Katrina and Rita, we purchased inexpensive pre-paid cell phones at Wal-Mart for two or three of the other major carriers (we carry T-Mobile phones). These included Verizon, Cingular (AT&T), and Spring. Even in some of the worst areas impacted by the storms, we were usually able to communicate on at least one of the phones we had with us. This adds an important degree of team safety.
– Les Rayburn, N1LF, Shelby County, Alabama Emergency Coordinator NCS-SHARES NCS-047
Alltel
[10-digit phone number]@message.alltel.com
Example: 2125552555@message.alltel.co
AT&T Wireless (now part of Cingular)
[10-digit phone number]@mmode.com
Example: 2125552555@mmode.com
Boost Mobile
[10-digit phone number]@myboostmobile.com
Example: 2125552555@myboostmobile.com
Cingular
[10-digit phone number]@mobile.mycingular.com OR [10-digit number]@cingularme.com
Example: 4152555555@cingularme.com
Nextel (now Sprint Nextel)
[10-digit telephone number]@messaging.nextel.com
Example: 7035552555@messaging.nextel.com
Sprint PCS (now Sprint Nextel)
[10-digit phone number]@messaging.sprintpcs.com
Example: 2125552555@messaging.sprintpcs.com
T-Mobile
[10-digit phone number]@tmomail.net
Example: 4252555555@tmomail.net
Verizon
[10-digit phone number]@vtext.com
Example: 555255555@vtext.com
Virgin Mobile USA
[10-digit phone number]@vmobl.com
Example: 5552555555@vmobl.com
Hurricane 2008 TX Skywarn Alerts