A government report has reported that "Amateur Radio went right" when so much else went wrong during Hurricane Katrina.
From AR Newline:
While news media reports on the White House report on the federal
government's response to Katrina have focused on the various failures of
the government response to the disaster, lost in the coverage was the
recognition of some of the good things that happened.
The report, released Feb. 24, mentions the contribution of amateur radio
operators in Appendix B, appropriately titled: "What Went Right."
In it, amateur radio operators draw among organizations who, quoting here
from the report: "working tirelessly to assist emergency responders that,
due to the storm, did not have the equipment and means to effectively carry
out their duties."
The report specifically cites radio operators working under the Amateur
Radio Emergency Service adn the American Radio Relay League, noting that
the operators not only monitored a whole host of distress calls but re-
routed request for emergency aid throughout the United States until
messages got to the right place.
Illustrating how one case worked, the report recalled how one call for help
made from a cell phone on August 29th from the rooftop of a home in New
Orleans resulted in the rescue of 15 people trapped by rising flood waters.
Because the caller couldn't get through to the city's overloaded 9-1-1
system, he dialed a relative in Baton Rouge. Another relative relayed
information to another family member in Oklahoma. That family member called
the American Red Cross chapter which got in touch with hams in Tulsa who
used the Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network on 14.265 Mhz to relay
the call for help.
Net operators in Oregon and Utah relayed messages back to Louisiana where
the ARES net was able to relay the location of the trapped residents who
were rescued and taken to a Red Cross shelter in Louisiana.
The report also praises the many amateur radio operators who manned
stations at the National Hurricane Center, the Hurricane Watch Net,
Waterway Net, SKYWARN, and SATERN.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Mark Abramowicz, NT3V, in Philadelphia.
--
In the Broadway musical "The Producers" the two key characters at one point
lament in a song that asks the question: "Where did we go right?" Well the
ham radio operators involved in emergency service communications know the
answer to that one. Constant training, on-air practice sessions and
attention to detail paid off when the chips were truly down. (From
government report. Story by NT3V for ARNewslineT)
From AR Newline:
While news media reports on the White House report on the federal
government's response to Katrina have focused on the various failures of
the government response to the disaster, lost in the coverage was the
recognition of some of the good things that happened.
The report, released Feb. 24, mentions the contribution of amateur radio
operators in Appendix B, appropriately titled: "What Went Right."
In it, amateur radio operators draw among organizations who, quoting here
from the report: "working tirelessly to assist emergency responders that,
due to the storm, did not have the equipment and means to effectively carry
out their duties."
The report specifically cites radio operators working under the Amateur
Radio Emergency Service adn the American Radio Relay League, noting that
the operators not only monitored a whole host of distress calls but re-
routed request for emergency aid throughout the United States until
messages got to the right place.
Illustrating how one case worked, the report recalled how one call for help
made from a cell phone on August 29th from the rooftop of a home in New
Orleans resulted in the rescue of 15 people trapped by rising flood waters.
Because the caller couldn't get through to the city's overloaded 9-1-1
system, he dialed a relative in Baton Rouge. Another relative relayed
information to another family member in Oklahoma. That family member called
the American Red Cross chapter which got in touch with hams in Tulsa who
used the Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network on 14.265 Mhz to relay
the call for help.
Net operators in Oregon and Utah relayed messages back to Louisiana where
the ARES net was able to relay the location of the trapped residents who
were rescued and taken to a Red Cross shelter in Louisiana.
The report also praises the many amateur radio operators who manned
stations at the National Hurricane Center, the Hurricane Watch Net,
Waterway Net, SKYWARN, and SATERN.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Mark Abramowicz, NT3V, in Philadelphia.
--
In the Broadway musical "The Producers" the two key characters at one point
lament in a song that asks the question: "Where did we go right?" Well the
ham radio operators involved in emergency service communications know the
answer to that one. Constant training, on-air practice sessions and
attention to detail paid off when the chips were truly down. (From
government report. Story by NT3V for ARNewslineT)
