Hurricane Ike - Saturday

Ike came in last night. Came across Galveston and right up I45 to Houston. As I write this there are over 4 millions of people without electricity. Word is that it may take several weeks to get everything fully restored. News media are in a frenzy showing destruction. The expected wall of water that was going to wipe Galveston Island clean, did not happen. There was water to be sure, but not as high as forecast. Upon daylight various responding agencies and the openly curious came out and started looking around. It has been said on the media that this will be the largest search and rescue Texas has ever had. Military, state, and private flying resources from all over the US are staged and ready as soon as the winds are down enough for them to operate. Boats and high-lift vehicles (trucks on big wheels, etc) are ready to go. Everyone is waiting for the word.

Locally, all efforts are directed to caring for the evacuees and getting them ready to go home when it's safe to do so. It could be in a day or two, or in a week or two. Just depends on how badly things were torn up. In the ARES radio room, there has been only local traffic of Hams checking in to see what if anything has been needed from them. The Red Cross is taking care of all the shelters and weather conditions here have been good all through the Ike event. Red Cross has their own communications set up this time and all normal telephone and Internet services are available. We remain on alert in stand-by if we are needed. We are needed in the areas affected and a call has been put out for any Ham available to go to Lufkin, TX, tomorrow for ?long to assist with shelter communications and possibly responder communications damaged by Ike. There may be additional requests for other areas east of Houston and in the Galveston area. The State EOC may put out a call state wide for Hams to assist. Many hams from all over will give their time and use their equipment to give service.

I'm off tomorrow and will be back in the radio room on Monday and every day thereafter until we are told to stand down. If more stuff needs to be put in today, I'll update. Keep watching.

C U later. .-.-.

Service

I'm a Ham (Amateur Radio Operator) and as such I'm occasionally called on to assist with communications when some sort of emergency or disaster occurs. Gustav is one such occasion. The San Antonio Emergency Operations Center was activated on Sunday morning and I was asked to assist by working the evening shift. The SAEOC consists of virtually all agencies that will have a need to provide assistance and coordination of services to those persons affected by an disaster or emergency. There is a building designed to house the operations. From there the various agencies talk directly with each other and then disseminate information to the individual agencies' employees providing services. The EOC has extensive communications capabilities. Many of the communications are interoperable, meaning they can talk to each other via radio, Internet, fax, and other electronic means of communicating. However, most of these systems are centralized and dependent on the equipment continuing to function. These systems are great for most situations and certainly fill the need for everyday use. Then comes a storm and electrical service is interrupted, communications towers are blown down, underground cabling is flooded, and the whole thing stops. That's when we Hams step forward and provide basic communications to keep emergency responders, well, responding. Our systems are not dependent on centralized sources of power or equipment. Our radios are individually owned and cared for. Our systems can be set up in the middle of a muddy field, under a tent and powered from batteries and/or small generators. We communicat with other Hams inside the area of need to pass info back and forth to agencies in crisis. We communicate with other Hams outside the area of concern to pass requests for supplies, equipment, and aid for the agencies in need. We also, as time allows, pass information on peoples' welfare. When you live in an area struck by a disaster or hurricane and can't get information out to loved ones living outside the area, we can pass basic information about your welfare to relatives and friends outside. When you live outside the area, we can pass requests for information into the area and hope someone can contact the people you are concerned about on a face-to-face basis, or find out where you've gone (shelter or hospital or where ever).

So, that's what I've been called to do. Volunteer Hams work shifts in twos and threes at the EOC ready and standing by to provide communications when all else fails. And, its not just when other systems fail. We also help by communicating during times of overload. An example: a shelter may be located at a school and there are limited numbers of phone lines available to call for supplies, keep track of who is there, how many are there, and what is needed to support them while they are there. We try to have a Ham standing by with the shelter directer. When phones get tied up, the shelter directer can turn to the Ham and through the Ham make request for any or all of the needed services. Since there are Hams at the EOC, the request comes in and is directed to the appropriate agency for response.

Yesterday evening I was there and it was quiet. Some evacuees had come in by buss and plane. As they were unloaded, counts of persons were made and shelters alerted. They were then taken to the shelters and their needs arranged. We even had pets come in with the evacuees. Pets are provided for as well. Among the pets was one chicken.

Now that the storm has come ashore, there may be more evacuees coming to San Antonio. If so, the EOC is on-duty and ready. AS part of the EOC, the Hams will be there. I'm scheduled to go back at 4pm for an eight hour shift. One note on the operations. It's designed to house a hundred or more people, and lots of electrical equipment. It has full facilities for restrooms, eating, and taking a short break from the action. It's designed to survive hurricanes and tornados. It's a big building. It also has a very efficient air conditioning system. In the great room it stays comfortable. We are in a small room with three air ducts in the ceiling. It gets cold in there. Today, I'm wearing warmer clothes than yesterday. By the time I left last night, I was shivering. Brrr.

C U later. .-.-.

Community Service

With hurricane Dolly churning along the coast and just now going ashore (07-23-08, 17:01UTC), I'm monitoring the local Emergency Coordinator radio frequency. The local EOC has a complete Amateur Radio station and it's being manned by volunteer Hams. The Hams activated the station early this morning and asked for other Hams to "sign in." At this time we are all on stand-by waiting word of how much involvement the San Antonio/Bexar Co. area will have. It depends on how much damage and recovery is needed as the hurricane goes further in land and spends it's self over the semi-desert of West Texas and Mexico. Since the hurricane never got to a Cat-3, our services may not be needed.

The services Hams provide in these situations is having Hams located at evacuation centers and hospitals to help pass information in and out of the EOC, the Red Cross, Salvation Army, and other groups supporting evacuees. Hams also stand-by at other key facilities like police and sheriffs' departments to assist if those departments' communications fail. That doesn't happen often, but Katrina showed everyone just how fragile emergency responders systems can be.

I've been monitoring all morning - from about 11:30UTC - and will continue until bed time this evening. Tomorrow may bring rain and thunder storms and maybe some evacuees from the Rio Grande Valley. Many folks down there live in sub-standard housing and it doesn't take much to put them on the street. If there is a lot of damage to the Valley, the local agencies there may have folks transported to us. So, I'll be listening closely for the next couple of day. If the call up comes, I'll go and do whatever is needed in the Ham-ish way.