[FedCom] Fw: [incident-briefing-network] RESPONDERS/COMMUNICATIONS: USA - RELEASE (ARRL)

Fri, 22 Nov 2002 14:51:25 -0600

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Sent: Friday, November 22, 2002 1:41 PM
Subject: [incident-briefing-network] RESPONDERS/COMMUNICATIONS: USA - =
RELEASE (ARRL)

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AMATEURS AID IN WAKE OF CONNECTICUT ICE STORM

NEWINGTON, CT, (ARRL 20NOV02) --Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) =
members
got to work quickly the morning of Sunday, November 17, as an ice storm
knocked out power to almost 130,000 Connecticut homes and businesses, =
mostly
in the northwestern part of the state. The statewide alert--and the
resulting ARES activation--lasted 48 hours. Connecticut Gov John Rowland
toured the region and visited the ham station set up at the Torrington
Emergency Operations Center.

CONNECTICUT Section Emergency Coordinator Allen Pitts, W1AGP, said about =
30
hams from all over The Nutmeg State headed into the affected area, =
mostly in
northwestern Connecticut. Pitts characterized ARES members' efforts as
"wonderful."

 PITTS said Connecticut ARES had been drilling informally in conjunction
with
ARES teams in Eastern New York and New Hampshire, and the effort paid =
off.
"The drills covered a very similar situation," he said. "The level of
coordination and cooperation was incredible."

 HE also cited the work of Torrington EC Dave Hyatt, K1DAV. Recovering =
from
serious injuries sustained in a fall earlier this year, Hyatt still =
managed
to efficiently fulfill his duties during the storm, Pitts said.

 BRENNAN Price, N4QX, of West Hartford--an ARRL staffer--took a turn =
from 12
midnight until 2 AM November 18 as net control of the Connecticut Phone =
Net
on 3965 kHz . "The good thing about this particular situation was with =
such
a small part of the state hit, there were a lot of others in the state =
able
to help out," he said. "It all came together quickly and was nicely =
pulled
off." Price said there was not a lot of overnight activity from Sunday =
to
Monday, but an amateur was stationed at a shelter in Torrington, and a =
lot
of others were "listening and ready."

 WEST Hartford-Area EC Harry Abery, AB1ER, said most of the work hams =
did
was
in Torrington area shelters. That Litchfield County community was among =
the
hardest hit. Abery said among others responding to the area were Richard
Lawrence, KB1DMX; Rose Anne Lawrence, KB1DMW; Stephen Kelly, W1KLY; Jeff
Russell, K1XU; Geoff Wadhams, N1IDU; Irving Christensen, KB1EYY; Tom =
Ponte,
WB1CZX; Howard Hecht, W1HO, and Mark Dzamba, KB1FMY. Rose Anne Lawrence =
and
Dzamba also are ARRL staff members.

 CONNECTICUT ARES linked 10 VHF and UHF repeaters in Torrington, Vernon,
Naugatuck, Meriden, New Milford and Washington. Separate resource and
tactical nets were run on other 2 meter repeaters.

 DUTCHESS County, New York, EC Adam Nowik Jr, KC2DAA, said amateurs in
Eastern New York activated their own net, and more than a half dozen =
arrived
in the Torrington area within three hours of the activation. "Our net =
was
kept active in the event the Connecticut section had need for additional
communications or had a complete communications breakdown," Nowik said.
Frank Stone, KB2YUR, served as a liaison between Abery and the hams in
Eastern New York for the duration of the incident.

 AFTER 27 hours, the Connecticut Phone Net's Emergency session on HF was
able
to stand down the afternoon of November 18, as temperatures rose into =
the
40s and the weather system that caused the ice storm moved into the =
North
Atlantic.

 BUT just 20 minutes after the net secured at 12:25 PM, it had to be =
brought
back up, Pitts said.

 "WE thought things were copasetic," he said. "The sun had come out and
things were warming up. But then we lost the electric trunk line from =
New
York City and more people lost power." The number of those without power
fluctuated all afternoon, Pitts added.

 RELIEF efforts by area radio amateurs continued into the evening of
November
18, as more than 30,000 electric customers faced another night of frigid
temperatures.

 THE statewide ARES alert was terminated November 18 as expected =
inclement
weather did not materialize. "We did not shut down statewide until we =
were
sure everyone was off the roads, home safe and checked in," Pitts said.

 PITTS said he's noticed greater professionalism and proficiency over =
the
last six months, and he attributed it directly to the ARRL Amateur Radio
Emergency Communications courses offered on-line. "We're seeing a real
difference and the quality of operations is definitely up," He said.

 THANKS to a $33,000 grant from Hartford-based United Technologies
Corporation, up to 250 Connecticut amateurs will be able to take the =
ARRL
Level I Amateur Radio Emergency Communications course (EC-001) free of
charge.

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