Oklahoma and Kansas Tornadoes: Ham Radio is There--Before, During, and After
Severe tornadoes are no stranger to Oklahoma. This twister, photographed May 24, 1973 in the early stages of its formation, was sighted in Union City, Oklahoma. It was the first tornado captured by the National Severe Storm Lab's Doppler radar and NSSL chase personnel. [Photo courtesy of NOAA/Dept of Commerce.] |
NEWINGTON, CT, May 5, 1999--Hams in Oklahoma and Kansas were ready and waiting in the hours before severe tornadoes devastated entire communities south of Oklahoma City and in the Wichita, Kansas, area. The storm system developed in southwestern Oklahoma and moved to the northeast, spawning numerous tornadoes. The storms have left at least 46 people dead, hundreds injured, and thousand homeless.
Peter Laws, N5UWY, at the National Severe Storms Lab in Norman, Oklahoma, reports that the National Weather Service office there was in contact--mostly via 2 meters--with various weather-spotting nets to the south and west of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. "SKYWARN is a regular, everyday occurrence here, and hams are a vital part of the warning process," Laws said, adding that local hams "did a fine job with spotting."
During the storms, Laws himself and other scientists (including KD5GQD and KC5NPX) were in instrumented cars collecting scientific data near some of the numerous tornadoes on Monday. But the group did not collect data on the tornado that damaged Oklahoma City. "One of the cars, occupied by KD5GQE and KB5LMU, acted as our group's liaison to the spotter net," Laws said.
In the aftermath of the storms, Oklahoma Gov Frank Keating mobilized the National Guard to patrol the streets. Police reportedly sealed off a 25-square-mile area in southern Oklahoma City. The storms wiped out an estimated 2000 homes. Meteorologists said the worst tornadoes appeared to be F5 storms packing winds of 260 mph.
The Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network (SATERN) has established an Amateur Radio link with Oklahoma City. SATERN is accepting requests via the Internet for information about the health and welfare of loved ones in the Oklahoma City area. Visit http://www.angelfire.com/il/satern411/emailfrm.html for more information.
Amateurs in the affected communities used operating VHF and UHF repeaters plus HF to coordinate health-and-welfare traffic inquiries, mobile canteens, shelters, and other emergency response activities. At the request of Oklahoma Section Manager Charlie Calhoun, K5TTT, the FCC on May 4 declared a communications emergency in the Oklahoma area. The FCC declared 3900 kHz and 7285 kHz off limits until 5 PM Central Time on May 7. "Both frequencies are protected plus or minus 3 kHz unless amateurs are taking part in the handling of emergency traffic," the FCC announcement said.
ARRL West Gulf Division Vice Director Coy Day, N5OK, in Union City, Oklahoma, said the tornado came close to his home. "I watched the twister come across the field in front of the house and pass off to the east," he said. Day reports he lost an antenna and some tree limbs but suffered quite a bit of hail damage. "Much of Central Oklahoma was not that lucky," he added.
Jim Leist, KB5W, who chairs the Central Area Staff of the National Traffic System, said the storms hit telephone services hard, and officials were asking that cellular telephone usage be restricted to emergency services personnel. "Amateur radio resources in the area are heavily involved with support to those agencies," Leist said. "On-site support is the first priority for hams in the affected areas." He said that SSB, CW and digital nets were active on their scheduled basis and representatives from each present on the designated emergency frequencies in order to deal with traffic as necessary. "So far, the only real backlog is in the area of health-and-welfare requests coming from outside."
Leist said it's likely that health-and-welfare traffic will remain backed up for several days, due to a lack of outlets to handle the messages on the receiving end. "Anyone accepting H&W messages should inform the senders of this unavoidable delay and the reasons for it," he said. "Hams in the area will respond when they are freed up and have time." He advised traffic handlers to hold health-and-welfare traffic until stations in Kansas and Oklahoma are up and running again to handle it.
"Hopefully, with some phone service being restored and the emergency relief agencies getting a better handle on things, more hams will be available to answer the H&W requests," he said.
The Salvation Army reports it's serving food and beverages to emergency personnel and survivors of tornadoes that struck the Oklahoma City area. In Oklahoma City, The Salvation Army has dispatched disaster relief mobile canteens from throughout Oklahoma as well as Fayetteville, Arkansas. Salvation Army personnel also were said to be operating a meals center at the Emergency Operations Center in Oklahoma City.
Three Salvation Army facilities are sheltering displaced residents. Blankets, bottled water and other necessities also are being distributed. Donation sites have been established throughout the city.
In the Wichita, Kansas, area, ARES District 5 EC Bob Harder, W0BH, reports his ARES group was called up by the Red Cross shortly after the storm. "ARES members and other area hams worked all night and all next day providing communication for the Red Cross headquarters and later between three shelters set up in the south Wichita area using the Wichita Amateur Radio Club 146.85 W0SOE repeater," he said. "While not on the radio, Jim, W0EB, and others, helped pull 19 phone lines and set up the Red Cross Disaster Assistance Center open to the general public today." Harder said that operations continue. "From my point of view, things ran smoothly with particular thanks to my Red Cross Coordinator, John, KG0MZ, and Assistant Red Cross Coordinator, Greg, N0WHC," he added.
The Salvation Army has established a shelter in an elementary school in the Wichita area, and four mobile canteens are serving food and beverages for residents and emergency workers. The Salvation Army reports that four mobile homes were swept into a lake by a tornado and emergency workers are dragging the lake in search of possible victims.
Kansas Section Manager Orlan Cook, W0OYH, in Shawnee, reported today that Kansas nets were operating on their normal schedules. The Central States Traffic Net meets daily at 12:30 PM CDT on 7253 kHz. Cook is monitoring for any emergency-related traffic. He reports the FCC-declared frequencies have been very busy with Oklahoma tornado-relief traffic.
The ARRL has offered its assistance to the Oklahoma and Kansas sections.