[General] Quick update on the tornadoes.

[Steve Conklin]

When things settle down I'd be happy to come talk about how to make sure
you're trained and a member of all the right organizations so that you can be
the most help during a disaster.

Steve AI4QR


On Tue, May 3, 2011 at 8:47 AM, Erik Arendall <earendall at gmail.com> wrote:
> I would like to personally thank you for all that you and your fellow hams
> have done to help during this disaster.
> I would also like to take a moment to motivate all the licensed ham radio
> operators out there to get active in a local club and in the event of
> another time such as this, we will be prepared.
>
> I got caught in the first storm that hit the Hanceville area on wed morning
> and having the scanner in the car and tuned to the local RACES/ARES net on
> N4TUN helped prepare me for it.
> I feel that I could have done more to help out the Cullman area when the
> second line of storms hit if i would have first had a radio to use and
> second had the experience to handle EMCOMM. This is an issue I am going to
> resolve and not let happen again.
>
> Get involved and when Justin gets the shop a shack setup, maybe that can
> become a local RACES/ARES net.
>
> Erik Arendall
> KJ4YJC
>
> On Mon, May 2, 2011 at 10:36 PM, Justin Richards <ratmandu at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> I was working radio communications and coordinating about 200 volunteers
>> on sunday helping to clean up an area hit by an EF4 tornado. KJ4SVL and I
>> (KJ4WTR) were the main communication at this site, getting water, food and
>> supplies (tarps, nails, tools, ladders, chainsaws, heavy equipment, etc) out
>> to the people volunteering. Nobody here knew any of the homeowners, but that
>> didnt stop anyone from helping out. The American Red Cross was out helping
>> the homeowners get things they needed, such as clothes, and a place to
>> sleep. Outback steakhouse was out cooking food for the volunteers and the
>> homeowners.
>>
>> Just as an FYI, the red cross needs blood, and any donations of
>> non-perishable food, medical supplies, money, or clothing. If you want to
>> know where to take these, contact me.
>>
>> Ive also put about 600 miles on my bike driving around spotting gas
>> stations, pharmacies, grocery stores and banks and reporting those in over
>> the radio so the information could be distributed to local media and the
>> general public.
>>
>> I also want to thank all the local hams for their awesome work in both
>> storm spotting and the cleanup effort. Their work saved many lives on
>> wednesday by passing information about storms to the national weather
>> service, and has been making many more lives better by helping the families
>> clean up, as well as staffing medical clinics and getting needed supplies,
>> including insulin and tetanus vaccine where it needs to be.
>>
>> Thank you HARC, NARA, North Alabama ARES/RACES, and VOAD for all the hard
>> work and support, as well as WX4JRR, WX4HUN, W4HMC, and all the others for
>> the great work on the radio.
>>
>>  Heres a link to the area: http://goo.gl/maps/m6v0
>>
>>  Heres a link to images from the cleanup
>> site: http://ratmandu.imgur.com/tornado_damage
>>
>> Doris drive is where I was stationed.
>>
>> I will be putting together a ham radio class at the shop if anyone is
>> interested in getting into the hobby. It is a great thing to get into, both
>> for good conversation, and for helping the community in times of disaster.
>> If you are interested in the class, or just amateur radio in general, let me
>> know. I will also put together a presentation for this friday's 2600
>> meeting. As some of you may know, there are already several members at the
>> shop who are ham radio operators. And I will be putting together a small ham
>> shack at the shop that any licensed operator can use, as well as filing with
>> the FCC to get a club callsign.
>>
>> Thats all for now, feel free to pass this as needed and get the word out
>> about donations to anyone that can help.
>>
>>
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