Texas, Louisiana Hams Wade in to Help in Allison's Wake
NEWINGTON, CT, Jun 11, 2001--Amateur Radio operators in Texas and Louisiana are helping to provide emergency communication for flood-stricken areas in the two states. Flood waters generated over the weekend by Tropical Storm Allison reportedly are beginning to recede. The flooding has claimed more than a dozen lives.
The FCC has declared a general communications emergency in Texas and Louisiana that requires amateurs to "refrain from using 7285 (daytime), and 3873 (night time) plus or minus 3 kHz unless they are taking part in the handling of emergency traffic." The order, issued by Arlan K. Van Doorn of the FCC Enforcement Bureau, remains effective until rescinded. Hams also were active on VHF and UHF providing emergency communication and helping to coordinate relief activities.
In Texas, Bruce Paige, KK5DO, said telephone service was lost in most of downtown area of Houston, including the medical center. "Seven of the nine hospitals in the medical center not only were without telephone service, but water and electricity as their basements with emergency generators were flooded," he said.
Paige reports that hams were stationed at local Houston Fire Department stations on Saturday when department lost its dispatching system. Hams were helping to direct emergency calls for service to the station best-equipped to handle the call.
Hams also were linking local Red Cross shelters housing those displaced by the flooding to Red Cross headquarters. Some 10,000 people were in shelters in Harris County, Texas. Paige said amateurs also provided vital links between the Austin Emergency Operations Center and Houston EOC as well as Fort Bend EOC after both Fort Bend and Houston lost telephone service. "This was the only communication in and out of the city for a long period of time," he said.
The Houston Medical Center lost power as well as telephone service on Saturday and Sunday. Paige said hams provided communication link between the Medical Center and local hospitals Hams remained stationed at the Houston Astrodome, where the Emergency Medical Assistance Team has set up triage for the city, as well as at an emergency communication command post on the roof of the Shell parking lot behind the Astrodome.
Amateur Radio also was handling health-and-welfare messages from the affected area to the outside. "Hams have been on the air 24-hours-a-day since Friday," Paige said.
ARRL South Texas Section Manager Ray Taylor, N5NAV, said radio amateurs were helping Southwestern Bell employees to communicate with each other as they reinstalled a telephone trunk line in Houston that was shut down because of the flooding.
Mississippi ARRL SM Malcolm Keown, W5XX, said that the ARES/RACES Net has been up on 7285 and on 3873 kHz since late Sunday morning. "The flow of H/W traffic has been steady," he said.
In Louisiana, East Baton Rouge Parish EC Karl R. Sandstrom, K5MAN , reports that ARES and RACES were activated June 7 to assist the Red Cross in the Baton Rouge area following upwards of two feet of rain during the weekend.
"The Red Cross opened two shelters in Baton Rouge and one in Denham Springs," he said. "The two Baton Rouge shelters and the East Baton Rouge Parish Office of Emergency Preparedness have been manned by local hams on a 24-hour basis since activation." The national American Red Cross on Saturday established a command center to coordinate activities in East Baton Rouge Parish. Hams were able to stand down from duty when the Red Cross was able to re-establish its normal communication infrastructure.
"With more rain expected throughout the week, the shelters will remain open," Sandstrom said. "Communications Coordinator Joe Ross and the Red Cross extended their very sincere appreciation for the time and effort put forth by local ham operators helping to fill communications gaps," he said.
Rain reportedly has stopped in Louisiana and Texas and was moving into
Mississippi, southern Alabama and the Florida panhandle.