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Subj: ARES E-Letter April 17, 2019
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The ARES E-Letter April 17, 2019
Editor: Rick Palm, K1CE
Just In: Shelby, Ohio Tornado Brings ARES/SKYWARN Response
----------------------------------------------------------
On Monday, Ohio Section Manager Scott Yonally, N8SY, reported the following:
"We had an EF-2 [indicates wind speeds of 113-157 mph] tornado come through
and tear up the small city of Shelby, about 100 miles north of Dayton, Ohio.
The tornado was on the ground for approximately six minutes, traveling 17
miles and had a width of one half-mile. We had only six injuries and no
deaths, due in part to the ARES/SKYWARN operations involved in getting
observations to the Cleveland Weather Office in enough time so that warnings
were issued about 10 minutes prior to the tornado actually touching down.
"Richland County ARES was then called to the scene to assist with
communications and security watch until around midnight when the electric
company had restored power lines and secured roads until daylight when
operations would resume. An After Action Report will be filed in the near
future."
Images, video and audio of the event can be found on the section's website
here.
- Just In: Shelby, Ohio Tornado Brings ARES/SKYWARN Response
- ARRL National Convention at Dayton Hamvention©: Essentials for ARES©
Community
- ARES Links, Briefs
- "Bomb Cyclone," and Flooding Responses: Colorado and Nebraska
- Personnel Changes to the ARRL Public Service Enhancement Working Group;
Issues to be Considered
- Letters: Expecting Great Things from the New ARES Plan
- Florida Section Emergency Coordinators Meet with State Communication
Leaders
- Letters: Tip for Passing the Basic FEMA ICS Courses
- ARRL Section News
- K1CE For a Final: Bill Santelmann, N1AU, SK
ARRL National Convention at Dayton Hamvention©: Essentials for ARES© Community
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The ARRL National Convention at Dayton Hamvention is next month, May 17-19,
2019, and will feature ARRL Expo and a number of exhibits, forums and
presentations of special interest to the amateur public service and
emergency communications communities. The event is the largest of its kind
in the world, and will be held at the Greene County Fairgrounds and Expo
Center, 120 Fairground Road, Xenia, Ohio. Official websites are:
ú www.hamvention.org
ú www.arrl.org/expo
Great Opportunity for Serious Training: AUXCOMM Course To be Held
Pre-Hamvention -- Register Now
The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Returns to Provide Auxiliary
Communications (AUXCOMM) Training in Conjunction with Hamvention 2019 -- The
Emergency Communications Division (ECD) of DHS's Cybersecurity and
Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) will be on hand at Hamvention 2019 to
conduct its nationally recognized NIMS/ICS compliant AuxComm course. Over
2,500 Amateur Radio operators from around the country have taken this
course. The course purpose is to train qualified amateurs to assist their
local, county and state governments with emergency backup communications.
The course introduces the auxiliary communicator to the other positions
within the Communications Unit (COMU) and how to provision emergency
communications in a public safety context. The course also goes deeper into
the National Incident Management System framework. The location of the
course is the Courtyard by Marriott in Beavercreek, Ohio, May 14-16.
Registration for this class may close early when all available seats are
taken.
Registration for this course is ongoing: Students wishing to attend the DHS
Auxiliary Communications (AuxComm) Course must meet all prerequisites and
provide electronic/scanned images of the required documents prior to May 1,
2019. More info here.
Dayton Forums of Interest to ARES Members
Friday, May 17:
Homeland Security -- John Peterson (from DHS/OEC) 12:00-1:50 Room 1
MARS, the Military Auxiliary Radio System -- Paul English, WD8DBY,
10:25-11:25 Room 2
National Weather Service -- Brandon Peloquin 1:10-2:30 Room 2
ARRL Public Service Communications: Panel Discussion -- 2:25-3:40 Room 2
SHARES HF EMCOMM, the Federal government's HF radio system -- Ross Merlin,
WA2WDT 9:15-10:15 Room 4
Saturday, May 18:
AREDN, the Amateur Radio Emergency Data Network -- Andre Hansen, K6AH,
1:50-3:20 Room 2
SATERN, the Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network -- Bill Feist,
WB8BZH, 11:45-1:00 Room 5
Sunday, May 19:
Power and Energy for the Ham -- Bob Bruninga, WB4APR 10:30-11:30 Room 1
Tornado Alert -- Mickey Lee 9:15-10:15 Room 3
This year's ARRL National Convention at Dayton Hamvention promises to be one
of the major gatherings of emergency/disaster response/public event
communicators in the country. I am looking forward to meeting and greeting
readers of the ARRL ARES E-Letter this year. See you there!
ARES Links, Briefs
------------------
The National Hurricane Conference, featuring Amateur Radio Sessions, is next
week: Amateur Radio will be represented at the 2019 National Hurricane
Conference, April 22 - 25 in New Orleans. "Improving Hurricane Preparedness"
is the traditional conference theme. A series of free Amateur Radio sessions
will take place on Tuesday, April 23, starting at 10:30 AM and continuing
until 5 PM. Presenters will offer an overview of their respective
organizations and discuss actions taken during the significant hurricanes of
2017 and 2018. More info here: Amateur Radio Sessions Set for 2019 National
Hurricane Conference
ARRL President Commends Amateur Radio's Volunteer Public Service Role during
National Volunteer Week (4/8/19)
Department of Defense to Transmit Interoperability Exercise Info via
WWV/WWVH (3/29/19)
National VOAD Conference 2019, May 6-9, Nashville, Tennessee -- The National
Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (NVOAD) Conference is unique in
that it brings together volunteers, practitioners, and experts across
disaster relief sectors. Professionals and volunteers in the emergency
management field come to share their experiences, consider new concepts, and
develop whole community solutions to build more resilient communities. The
ARRL is a longstanding member of NVOAD.
The FEMA Disaster Emergency Communications News Clipping and Topics of
Interest, Volume 8, Issue 6, for March 16-31, 2019 featured Amateur
Radio-related items. The first, "WinLink Gains International Notoriety as a
Critical Tool During and After Emergencies" (March 20, 2019), was submitted
by FEMA Region IV Regional Emergency Communications Coordinator (RECC)
Donnie Monette. The article was clipped from last month's ARES E-Letter
article "ITU Teams with Americas' Telecoms and IARU, discusses WinLink,"
which highlighted the international integration of WinLink into emergency
response operations. WinLink is a worldwide email service that is built,
operated, and administered entirely by Amateur Radio operators.
A second item, "Colorado ARES Volunteers Muster for 'Bomb Cyclone' Winter
Storm," March 26, 2019, reported on ARES volunteers in Colorado stepping up
as a mid-month "bomb cyclone" winter storm struck the state, with heavy rain
shifting to heavy snowfall. The storm affected several states and led to
significant flooding in Nebraska. [See related stories below].
"Bomb Cyclone," and Flooding Responses: Colorado and Nebraska
-------------------------------------------------------------
On Wednesday, March 13, a "bomb cyclone" hit Colorado and affected multiple
states, including causing blizzards in Colorado and historic, significant
flooding in Nebraska. ["Bomb Cyclone" is a colloquial term used to describe
explosive cyclogenesis, the rapid deepening of an extra-tropical cyclonic
low-pressure area. The change in pressure needed to classify something as
explosive cyclogenesis is latitude dependent]. In Colorado, 96 MPH winds
were reported in Colorado Springs and a record low pressure of 970.4 hPa was
reported in Lamar. Accurate snow measurements were impossible.
On Tuesday, ahead of the storm, Pikes Peak ARES alerted its personnel by
email and the regularly scheduled Tuesday net and coordinated with a special
cadre of ham radio operators in the newly constituted Pikes Peak Regional
Office of Emergency Management (OEM) called the Special Communications Unit,
or SCU. Most SCU members are also ARES members, but when called up by the
OEM, they wear their SCU hats. The SCU deployed to the Emergency
Coordination Center (ECC) Tuesday night and were ready to operate first
thing in the morning. At the time, the Red Cross did not anticipate needing
Pikes Peak ARES support, so the ARES district only anticipated performing
weather spotting services for NWS Pueblo and relaying status information to
the ECC.
Come Wednesday morning, the timing of the storm had moved up quite a bit and
the Red Cross had changed their mind and were now requesting ARES operators
in four shelters. This created a problem getting enough volunteers in time
and deploying them. Three ARES volunteers were identified and told to
deploy, but by then the weather was so severe, only one was able to get
through and that was a struggle. The only reason the one did not turn around
was he felt it was less safe to try to turn back.
At the request of NWS Pueblo, a formal weather net was established and ran
in the formal mode for more than 10 hours, despite the Net Control, Sid
White, K4ARM, and his back-up, Dick Stuart, KD8EQ, both losing power for
several hours (KD8EQ was without power for roughly 24 hours). Both the SCU
operators in the ECC and the NWS were able to directly interact with the
approximately 70 operators who provided reports during the storm and its
aftermath. The net would continue in an informal mode for another 16 hours
until the SCU operators were released from the ECC.
While the net started out as a weather net, it quickly became a common way
for operators to report stranded motorists, requests for assistance,
abandoned vehicles, Good Samaritan rescues (important so that the ECC could
clear police, fire, rescue, and National Guard units from responding),
shelter status, and requests about road conditions (the road conditions were
"STAY PUT"). Estimates are that around 1000 to 1500 motorists in El Paso
county were stuck by the storm, with some motorists not being rescued until
the next day.
This event drove home the importance of a few things: First, be prepared.
Second, get the message out early and get volunteers identified ahead of
time, even if the served agency indicates they won't be needed - it is
easier to tell someone to stand down than to get volunteers at the last
minute and then deploy them too late. Third, never self-deploy. Many of the
people who got stuck were people who went out on their own to rescue someone
else - we do not want our operators to become the incident. Next, your own
safety is paramount. If you don't think you can safely do what is asked of
you, don't.
Fifth, while Good Samaritan rescues are great, they cause a huge headache
for the Incident Command and Coordination Centers. People need to check in
with their IC or ECC/EOC or their served agency and they need to coordinate
what they are doing. In this case, resources were wasted and lives were
endangered because incident teams were dispatched to rescue people who had
already been rescued by loosely organized groups of 4-wheel drive equipped
Good Samaritans.
And finally, when police, fire, OEMs, NWS, news media, etc. are telling
people to stay home or seek shelter, follow their advice. There were way too
many people on the roads to begin with despite the approaching storm having
been talked about for days and warnings being issued. Whether people thought
that just because they have a 4wd or SUV they would be OK, or they thought
it wouldn't be that bad, or they just felt that they had to go buy something
that day, they put a lot of lives at risk.
The Pikes Peak ARES operators and their SCU brethren performed a great
service to their community, but hopefully we won't see another bombogenesis
event for a long while. -- John Bloodgood, KD0SFY, Emergency Coordinator and
Public Information Officer,
Region 2 District 2, Colorado ARES (Pikes Peak ARES)
Personal Perspective from the Nebraska Flood
--------------------------------------------
The March 2019 flood response in Fremont, Nebraska, commenced on Wednesday,
March 13, 2019, in Dodge County Emergency Manager Tom Smith's office in the
Dodge County Courthouse in Fremont, with the two of us discussing the
situation. I was there to provide him with weather information via the
National Weather Service (NWS), and to set up Amateur Radio communications
support. The Thursday, March 14 rainfall report showed additional rain had
fallen and Smith requested two additional operators. It was apparent that
this was going to be a major flood operation, so Emergency Manager Smith and
I moved to the Fremont Police Department where he set up the Emergency
Operations Center (EOC), with phones, emergency power, and Wi-Fi, located
adjacent to the 911 Communications Center.
Melvin Cunningham, K0VLA, established Omaha Metropolitan Medical Response
System communications and base station at Methodist Fremont Health, and
Steven Narans, WB0VNF, reported to the Lutheran Church shelter. They were
relieved later by Frank Veverka, K0AJA, and Joseph Means, N0XAT, who was
mobile and sent images and reports of the flooding. Other amateurs sent
photos and reports to the base station and system.
On Friday, Cunningham was asked to report to the EOC at 7 AM; I joined him
at 10 AM. Field operations continued with Narans coordinating the placement
of the volunteer hams. I provided three weather briefings a day at the EOC;
answered weather questions and handled most of the coordination with the
NWS. I coordinated with ARRL Nebraska Section Emergency Coordinator Edward
Holloway, K0RPT, obtaining additional radio amateurs.
As the flood operation continued, it became apparent that regular emergency
management communications were holding up; we were there as a back-up
service. The EOC closed at 5 PM on Friday, March 22, as the disaster
response transitioned into the recovery mode.
Over the course of my career with the NWS, I supported EOCs many times, but
this was the first time that I actually operated in one. It has been an
educational, enlightening, and rewarding experience. I did something that I
thought might be making a difference in my own town in need, with my own
friends. I am sure that is true for all volunteers in general and
specifically for all the Amateur Radio volunteers. -- Dave Theophilus,
W0NRW, Dodge County ARES
[Steve Narans, WB0VNF, who was assigned by Theophilus to the shelter at the
First Lutheran Church to help set up communications, filed this report
(summarized): "We began to take in evacuees. The situation in Fremont
continued to worsen with more residents affected - the shelter was stretched
beyond capacity. Three more shelters were opened but the number of evacuees
continued to rise. The amateur operators helped with the traffic flow of
evacuees, incoming donations, ran hundreds of messages, and assisted with
shelter needs for four days. Operators set up and operated a station at the
Volunteer Resource Center (VRC) at Clamar School, which helped us with
communications flow between the VRC and the shelters. We also helped set up
a food and supply distribution center for affected residents, and provided
communications.
"On Tuesday March 19, I was appointed to help process donations coming in
from around the country. On Friday, March 22, I was given the task of
finding a warehouse for donations and supplies. I worked with the Salvation
Army and AmeriCorps to develop a system of receiving, inventorying and
shipping to two locations. Storage items included household furniture,
appliances, and basic bedroom supplies, which included mattresses, bedding
and blankets. An additional warehouse received all the donations for the
victims of our flood - hygiene supplies, bottled water, food, clothes,
bathroom supplies, etc.
"The system work flow went perfectly, but they were many trips, near misses
and confusion every step of the way. We worked through it, worked together
as a team and made it work. I am now looking at ways that we can serve other
cities in Dodge County. Every day is evolving."]
NOAA Warns of Increased Flood Risk this Spring
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recently released
the U.S. Spring Flood and Climate Outlook. The majority of the country is
expected to experience above-average precipitation this spring, increasing
flood risk. Portions of the United States - especially in the upper
Mississippi and Missouri River basins including Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska
- have already experienced record flooding this year. This early flooding
was caused by rapid snow melt combined with heavy spring rain and late
season snowfall in areas with high levels of soil moisture. The latest
information for a specific area, including official watches and warnings are
available at http://water.weather.gov.
Personnel Changes to the ARRL Public Service Enhancement Working Group;
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Issues to be Considered
-----------------------
With the completion of a number of the major tasks that it had been
assigned, including the establishment of the ARES Plan, a standard set of
principles and guidelines for emergency preparedness volunteers, and the
launch of the new volunteer database management program ARES Connect, a
number of the original members of the Public Service Enhancement Working
Group (PSEWG) have decided to step down and let another group of volunteers
lead the PSEWG on to the next phase of tasks that need to be accomplished.
ARRL Roanoke Division Director George "Bud" Hippisley, W2RU, is now the new
chairman of the PSEWG, taking over that role from Great Lakes Division
Director Dale Williams, WA8EFK. Williams stepped away from the PSEWG
chairmanship upon being named chair of the ARRL's Programs and Services
Committee, to which the PSEWG reports. Also joining the PSEWG as a new
member is Northwestern Division Vice Director Mark Tharp, KB7HDX. Tharp
takes over for Pacific Division Director James Tiemstra, K6JAT, who has been
elected to the ARRL Executive Committee. Another original member of the
PSEWG who recently stepped down from the group is former Northwestern
Division Director Jim Pace, K7CEX, who decided not to run for re-election
this past year.
Continuing members of the PSEWG are ARRL Emergency Preparedness Assistant
Ken Bailey, K1FUG; ARRL Field Organization Team Supervisor Steve Ewald,
WV1X; and ARRL Communications Manager David Isgur, N1RSN.
Among the issues that the PSEWG will be tackling in the months ahead:
‹?ú Developing a system for collaboration between ARES and the National
Traffic System.
‹?ú Updates to the ARRL's EC-001 and EC-016 courses.
‹?ú Roll out of an ARES Taskbook
‹?ú Review and update of the ARRL's Ham Aid Kits Deployment Policy
Currently the PSEWG conducts most of its deliberations by email coupled with
a weekly or bi-weekly teleconference. Outgoing Chair Williams and Incoming
Chair Hippisley both expressed their appreciation for the extensive ongoing
support being provided to the PSEWG by HQ Staffers Ewald, Bailey, and Isgur.
Hippisley also thanked Williams for the work he has done in leading the
PSEWG since its inception more than three years ago. "I am grateful for the
foundation that Dale and his team have established for us to build upon in
the months ahead," Hippisley said.
Also, the PSEWG wishes to express its thanks to the many field volunteers
and emergency communications groups that provided input and review comments
on the way to creating the ARES Plan that was approved at January's Board
meeting. Hippisley added that he expects the PSEWG to again solicit and
incorporate field input as it continues working on its remaining tasks.
Letters: Expecting Great Things from the New ARES Plan
------------------------------------------------------
There are great things in the future for ARES with the program's new
Strategic Plan - the ARES Plan -- and the training recommendations in the
plan. I am anxious to see what the complete training program will look like,
complete with the Task Book that is mentioned. I believe that the Task Book
will be a good thing as it will be proof to emergency managers that the
operators have an idea of what they are doing and may open some more doors
to Amateur Radio. -- Jerry Palmer, N3KRX, ARRL Emergency Communications
Course Mentor
Florida Section Emergency Coordinators Meet with State Communication Leaders
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fort Myers, Florida, February 25, 2019 - Florida's three Section Emergency
Coordinators (from the Northern, West Central and Southern Florida ARRL
Sections) met in February with State Emergency Management communication
leaders to discuss improved integration of Amateur Radio during emergencies.
The importance of Amateur Radio was realized in the aftermath of Hurricane
Michael's destructive impact that directly affected communications from the
area. In some counties, it was the only means of communicating with
emergency management officials.
A problem in coordinating these volunteer communicators was a lack of an
effective Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between ARES and the State of
Florida. During the meeting, this element was discussed, and a draft was
presented for further consideration. The MOU, if agreed upon, will make ARES
and Amateur Radio a valid resource that can be easily requested for an
incident. Ben Henley, KI4IGX, West Central Florida Section Emergency
Coordinator, said that "For the first time ARES will be integrated into the
State Communication Team." This concept is one that is not currently
established within the system and has resulted in the inability to pre-stage
Amateur Radio assets prior to an incident like a hurricane.
It was discussed how important the first 24 hours are during an incident
when normal communication systems fail, requiring an effective backup
service like Amateur Radio. To facilitate deployment of communication
resources more effectively, the three Sections previously agreed to work
together as one entity during an incident. According to Henley, "There is
better cooperation among all three Florida Sections and the State of Florida."
Changes to the current way in which ARES operators are credentialed, trained
and deployed are necessary also. For this to happen it will require effort
from everyone in the Florida Amateur Radio community. Karl Martin, KG4HBN,
the Northern Florida Section Emergency Coordinator, said "This is a team
effort -- without the team working together we get nothing accomplished."
The SEC's and State leaders look forward to working together in the future
to ensure an effective response when Amateur Radio backup communications is
requested. - John Wells, W4CMH, ARRL PIO and Southern Florida Section
Emergency Coordinator
Letters: Tip for Passing the Basic FEMA ICS Courses
---------------------------------------------------
I found an item that is very helpful if readers need help passing the
introductory ICS courses -- go here and download this document:
https://www.fema.gov/pdf/emergency/nims/NIMS_AppendixB.pdf
It has a complete table of all the positions and their leaders and
assistants with explanatory material on all portions of the Incident Command
System -- it is just like the Armed Forces making every single boot camp
recruit learn the chain of command in their branch. Keep this readily at
hand while you are working your way through the ICS courses and looking at
their exams; it may help significantly. -- Gordon Gibby, KX4Z, ARRL
Emergency Communications Course Mentor, Gainesville, Florida
ARRL Section News
-----------------
NVIS Day in Ohio
The ARRL Ohio Section is running its NVIS Day Saturday, April 27, 2019, from
10 AM-4 PM local time. Near Vertical Incidence Skywave, better known as
NVIS, is a technique that allows operators to use HF transceivers for highly
reliable short-range communication.
The goal of the exercise is to have stations ready to establish and maintain
high-reliability communication with other stations around Ohio when
repeaters, phone, and internet service are impaired. When infrastructure
isn't there, HF radio using NVIS propagation offers the ability to stay in
contact on frequencies of 2-30 MHz for distances of about 30-400 miles. The
exchange is six-digit grid square, power, and true--measured--signal report.
Ohio amateurs can inform others when they'll be operating, and how to find
them by registering here. -- C. Matthew Curtin, KD8TTE, Ohio Assistant SEC;
and Stan Broadway, N8BHL, Ohio SEC
K1CE For a Final: Bill Santelmann, N1AU, SK
-------------------------------------------
If it wasn't for my Elmer (mentor), Bill Santelmann, N1AU, who passed away
recently, I may not have composed this newsletter for you. More importantly,
if it wasn't for Bill, I may not have enjoyed Amateur Radio so passionately
for these past 43 years. Bill looked like a character out of an old Gil
cartoon: he had a round, jovial face always with a big grin. Most of all, he
loved helping new hams like me discover the wonders of Amateur Radio,
especially contesting and public service. As a new ham in 1976, Bill
extended to me a warm invitation to join the Lexington (Massachusetts)
Amateur Radio Club (LARC), which I accepted. I served the club as newsletter
editor, and when in 1979 I interviewed for the position of Membership
Services Assistant at ARRL HQ, I presented several issues of the newsletter
as evidence of writing ability. Bill played a profound role in not only my
avocation, but my professional career as well. Thanks, Bill. - Rick Palm, K1CE
______________
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