HF operators needed. Please read the information below. - Dar..!!
The following message is provided as a public service on the 10-10
Newsgroup. Jack K5CC
--**--**--**--**
Monday October 3, 2005
Mobile HF SSB operators are needed in Jasper Texas
The city of Jasper Texas is located about 75 miles North of Beaumont,
and has about 7,500 citizens. All 35,000 residents of Jasper county
are among more than 175,000 Texas customers of Entergy remaining
without electric power in Jasper and other counties more than one week
after Hurricane Rita. Just three of Entergy Corporation's 14 power
generation units are on-line. 231 transmission lines and 235
substations are out-of-service due to Hurricane Rita's 120+ MPH winds.
Some estimates are that it will be three to five weeks before power is
restored in the town of Jasper. Generators continue to be the only
power source there.
Without electric power, the Amateur Radio repeaters in the area are
only usable when provided with an on-site generator, and constantly
refueled, a near impossible task where fuel is in short supply, as well
as expensive. Not only are communications systems affected, daily life
is made difficult due to the complete lack of refrigeration, affecting
both private residences and commercial facilities.
Just to meet the basic nutrition needs of those in the devastated area,
The Salvation Army (and other organizations) continue to daily prepare
and distribute over 25,000 meals each day to many small towns in Jasper
and adjacent counties. Amateur Radio, primarily 40M SSB, is the only
viable means to effectively coordinate the mobile canteens as they
travel out from the kitchen in Jasper. Ideally, all five mobile
canteen would be accompanied by an Amateur Radio operator. This would
allow prompt reporting of the meals served at each site and town
visited, and identify areas where more people show up than there is
food to provide. With only three mobile HF operators consistently
available, the canteens without an operator must return to Jasper to
deliver their report, greatly decreasing the number of people getting
more than one meal each day.
Barely one week into disaster recovery, some canteens are on
increasingly fixed distribution routes and locations. Others continue
to scout for areas that are so far without regular food distribution.
As the food distribution situation stabilizes, the need for Amateur
Radio operators with each canteen will probably decrease. Daily
reports of the number of meals distributed is necessary to plan the
following days' routes and meals. Until stabilization occurs, the
daily need for five mobile HF operators continues.
Across the state of Texas, 62 counties continue to operate 248 total
shelters, holding over 30,000 occupants. Hurricane Rita damage
assessments are still incomplete, due to the focus on primary life
support operations and communications difficulties. Over 1,300 single
family residences have been destroyed, 8,000 sustained major damage,
and nearly 39,000 have minor damage. Nearly 1,300 mobile homes have
been destroyed, over 2,000 have major damage, and nearly 2,400 have
minor damage.
Amateur Radio operators capable of mobile operation on 40 and 75 meters
are needed to assist with communications supporting mass feeding in the
Jasper Texas area. Most of the work is outside in high humidity and
temperatures. People with medical problems that could become severe in
these conditions should not volunteer for this assignment. The
conditions for the volunteer workers are only slightly better than
those who live there. Some operators report air conditioning, hot
meals, and hot showers. Bring your own cot and pillow. Most
importantly, don't complain about sharing a gymnasium with hundreds of
new friends.
General class operators with mobile HF SSB capability are asked to
express their interest and availability via e-mail to their Section
Emergency Coordinator, or KK5CA@arrl.net. Even helping for a few days
will allow The Salvation Army to provide food for more people each day
in these areas.
Jerry Reimer, KK5CA
ARES Section Emergency Coordinator
ARRL South Texas section
Darwin (Dar) Piatt
W9HZC...
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Wed Oct 05 2005 - 10:45:41 CDT