Amateurs Continue Tornado Relief-Recovery Support
An aerial view of damage in Kansas City, Missouri, from Northeast 68th Street looking east. [Larry Gonnello, Kansas City Fire Department Photo] |
NEWINGTON, CT, May 6, 2003--Amateurs in Missouri, Kansas and Tennessee continue relief and recovery support in the wake of a severe outbreak of deadly tornadoes May 4 that also hit other parts of the South. The death toll stands at more than three dozen, and many more were injured. Even as the massive cleanup effort begins, forecasters are calling for additional severe weather. Many thousands of people in the stricken areas remain without power or telephone service.
In Kansas, where seven people lost their lives as a result of tornadoes that hit the Kansas City area, ARRL Section Manager Ron Cowan, KB0DTI, reports Wyandotte and Leavenworth Counties sustained severe damage, with houses destroyed and utilities out in the path of the twister. The tornado that touched down in Leavenworth County, Kansas, remained on the ground for 90 minutes, plowing through Leavenworth and Wyandotte counties in Kansas and Platte and Clay counties in Missouri before lifting northeast of Kansas City.
"Wyandotte/Kansas City RACES was active with spotting and later damage assessment," he said. Emergency Coordinator Bob Summers, K0BXF, spent most of the day Sunday at the county emergency operations center coordinating the group's efforts. RACES went on standby on May 5.
In Kansas City, Kansas, a woman looks through the debris of what used to be her home. [Bill Barnes, WB0NSQ, Photo ] |
Cowan said Crawford County in southeastern Kansas also suffered major damage in the area north of Pittsburg and in Girard that was in the storm's path. "Crawford County EC Tyler Constantini, KB0PQP, reports that the community of Franklin was devastated since it was directly in the path." He said storm-spotting hams in the area relayed information to the Springfield, Missouri, National Weather Service office via the Internet, since the area's wide-coverage repeater was down for relocation.
Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network (SATERN) assisted with Salvation Army canteens that rolled in immediately after the storm, Cowan said. "Amateurs were deployed with canteens in the Kansas City Metropolitan area Sunday and returned again Monday morning to continue the communications." The SATERN group was using a repeater in Johnson County for primary logistics. SATERN also operates an HF net on 14.265 MHz.
Cowan says a Salvation Army canteen that traveled to the Pittsburg area has
communication support from George McCarville, WB0CNK, who provided a link back
to Kansas City on 40 meters.
Downed 100-foot steel 161,000-V power transmission poles in Kansas. More than 160,000 customers in the stricken area were said to be without power. |
"Hams are expected to be needed in all of the disaster areas May 6," Cowan said. "Red Cross and The Salvation Army are looking for hams as well." The Red Cross contact for volunteers is Jerry Gorrell, W0CLR, 816-331-2763. The Salvation Army volunteers contact is June Jeffers, KB0WEQ, who's available via the Johnson County 145.29 repeater, Cowan said.
In Missouri, at least 17 people lost their lives and others remain missing. Tens of thousands have been left without power. Gov Bob Holden has declared a statewide state of emergency, and he's asked for a federal disaster area declaration.
"Tornado damage was reported in many places across the greater Kansas City area, but early reports indicated the heaviest damage was on the western side of the Missouri-Kansas border," Missouri ARRL Section Emergency Coordinator Don Moore, KM0R, said this week. Moore has been posting updates on the Missouri Section ARES Web site. He said multiple nets--including Amateur Radio Emergency Service, Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service and SKYWARN--were active in the Kansas City area for more than eight hours May 4, relaying storm information to public service officials and later assisting with damage assessment. Hams have been using VHF and HF. The National Weather Service credited ham radio operators with dozens of storm-related reports over the weekend.
Amateur Radio support continued May 5 with hams helping out with damage assessment and assisting Salvation Army canteens. SATERN's Larry Weaver, N6TW, reported that seven canteens in Jackson and Clay counties were getting help from more than a dozen hams.
Hams in Pierce City--which was in the direct path of one tornado and especially hard hit--were using an amateur repeater in nearby Aurora to supplement public safety communication. Reports indicate that the tornado leveled most structures in Pierce City, a community of about 1400 residents. Both Pierce City and Stockton remain without telephone service or electrical power, Moore said.
A A National Weather Service map shows the paths of major tornadoes through Southwest Missouri and extreme eastern Kansas on May 4. |
Hams in Southwest Missouri have begun handling health-and-welfare inquiries via the Missouri Traffic Net (3963 kHz).
In West Tennessee, May 4 marked the second time in four years that the the Jackson-Madison County area was devastated by tornadoes, said Madison County EC Kenny Johns, AB4EG.
"Lives were lost and people injured," said Johns, who noted that much of the central Jackson historic district was destroyed. Reports indicate that at least 14 people died in Tennessee. Around 27,000 customers remain without power, Johns reported, adding that the tornado made a direct hit on the emergency communications center. The storm did not spare the sheriff's department, the post office or the federal building in Jackson either. In addition, the storm caused more than two dozen major gas leaks, affected the drinking water system and took out several large communications and broadcast antenna towers.
Tennessee Gov Phil Bredesen was scheduled to tour tornado damage in Madison County. The National Weather Service posted a tornado watch earlier today for parts of western Tennessee, northern Mississippi and northern Alabama. Flooding also was a danger in some stricken regions of Tennessee.
Details on Amateur Radio tornado relief and recovery operations in other
stricken states will be reported as details become available.