How Well Did the Amateur Radio Net Do During the Recent October Snow Storm (2011)?

[aeromarine]

I'd be interested to know how the net held up during the recent blizzard and power outages. Do repeaters typically have any battery or generator back-up? Were many hams on line passing along information or helping with emergencies? I wasn't listening so I don't know. If you were please share your assessment.

My town has an emergency radio system that broadcasts 24/7/365 on 1640 AM. Sadly, no one thought to update it with any new information so it continued to broadcast a pre recorded message that was weeks old throughout the entire event. A great resource and very expensive investment totally wasted! What were they thinking and who was responsible for maintaining the system? I plan to find out.

The town did do some emergency notifications using a robo-call system to landlines and cell phones. But since many telephones (the bases, not the handsets) are dependent on electrical power to operate and not having any back-up battery power to draw on, few of those calls actually got through. The emergency preparedness of the town scored very poorly in that area and new procedures are definitely needed.

All and all the storm made for a great drill. I just hope there is a thorough After Action Report being written and a plan to capitalize on the lessons learned. There certainly wasn't any shortage of those!

 

[FPrice]

What town do you live in?

 

[Coyote33]

...not having any back-up battery power to draw on, few of those calls actually got through. The emergency preparedness of the town scored very poorly in that area and new procedures are definitely needed....

Or old procedures. The old air horns still work pretty well, as do church bells.

 

[aeromarine]

Bedford. Are you USAFA? I'm USMMA '71.

 

[FPrice]

One of the biggest problems we had during this storm was the damage to the electrical grid and the subsequent power outages which crippled government offices, homes, and communications systems alike. Those who had back-up power were able to maintain the immediate structures but still were often unable to overcome other outages like phone lines, internet, and other systems. The amount of trees and power lines down in many areas caused towns to spend a lot of time clearing and maintaining the roads to allow other agencies to come in to perform their clean-up and repair tasks.

I feel fairly confident that there will be many after-action reports, both small and large coming forth. The effectiveness of these reports will probably hinge upon whether they seek to assign and/or escape blame of if they truly try to find workable answers to the problems we faced.

 

[FPrice]

Or old procedures. The old air horns still work pretty well, as do church bells.

They can work, but what do they tell you? That you already don't know? Loud noises can alert you that something is happening but it really doesn't tell you what, or where it is coming from and going to, and where a shelter may be.

 

[Coyote33]

It used to be that the number of blasts had different meanings. One was a house fire, one was a car accident, etc. These could be made to mean tornado, terror attack, or whatever else through the proper training and practice.

 

[cockpitbob]

It used to be that the number of blasts had different meanings.

This brings back childhood memories. The fire house blew its horn every week day at 8:00am. On a snowy morning if it went off at 7:00am that meant NO SCHOOL!

 

[C-pher]

This brings back childhood memories. The fire house blew its horn every week day at 8:00am. On a snowy morning if it went off at 7:00am that meant NO SCHOOL!

The Firehouses in town still blows the horn every day at 6 pm.

 

[WetChicken]

Most repeaters do not have battery backup, but the ones that do are strategically placed. HF is good for wide area and statewide nets, if conditions allow.
That's a shame that Bedford OEM never used one of the more effective tools in their pocket.

 

[Chris]

Land line was dead for 5 days. Local cell tower was out for 3 days. Local repeater with auto patch ran without a problem. Sent them an extra $40 as thanks.