[ WC4AR ] Storm coverage

Sat Feb 9 06:51:37 CST 2008

Clipped from The ARRL Letter, Vol 27, No 5 (Friday, February 8,2008):

==> AMATEURS LEND A HAND AS DEADLY STORMS SWEEP ACROSS SOUTHERN UNITED STATES

At least 54 people were killed and hundreds injured Tuesday and Wednesday by 
dozens of tornadoes that plowed across Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, 
Kentucky and Alabama in the nation's deadliest barrage of twisters in almost 23 
years. In spite of the disasters, state and local emergency management officials 
once again discovered that they could call on Amateur Radio operators to help 
out and get communications up and going again after the infrastructure failed.

According to ARRL Southeastern Division Director Greg Sarratt, W4OZK, "Four 
people were killed in Alabama as the storms damaged homes, caused flooding and 
downed trees and power lines. North Alabama SKYWARN, ARES and scores of Amateur 
Radio operators were up all night long, providing vital communications to the 
National Weather Service and Emergency Management Agencies all across the 
region. Once again, Amateur Radio operators played a critical role before, 
during and after the storms. I am proud of the level of professionalism and 
critical information that these operators provided our served agencies."

Hundreds of houses were damaged or destroyed across the region. Authorities had 
no immediate cost estimate of the damage. The storms flattened entire streets, 
smashed warehouses and sent tractor-trailers flying. Houses were reduced to 
splintered piles of lumber. Some looked like life-size dollhouses, their walls 
sheared away. Crews going door-to-door to search for bodies had to contend with 
downed power lines, snapped trees and flipped-over cars. Near hard-hit 
Lafayette, Tennessee, cattle wandered through the debris. At least 12 people 
died in and around the town; more than 30 were killed in Tennessee alone.

"It looks like the Lord took a Brillo pad and scrubbed the ground," Tennessee 
Governor Phil Bredesen said as he surveyed the damage from a helicopter. "I 
don't think that I have seen, since I've been governor, a tornado where the 
combination of the intensity of it and the length of the track was as large as 
this one," he said. "That track had to be 25 miles long. [The twister] didn't 
skip like a lot of them do...It's just 25 miles of a tornado sitting on the 
ground."

Most communities had ample warning that the storms were coming. Forecasters had 
warned for days that severe weather was possible. The National Weather Service 
issued more than 1000 tornado warnings from 3 PM Tuesday-6 AM Wednesday in the 
11-state area where the weather was heading. The conditions for bad weather had 
lined up so perfectly that the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma put 
out an alert six days in advance.

Tennessee Section Emergency Coordinator Lowell Bennington, WD4DJW, said that 
approximately 25 hams in Madison County had participated in SKYWARN activities 
before the storm arrived; one ham actually spotted the twister. "Two hams 
reported to the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency-West, assisting in passing 
radio communication. A couple of hams assisted Madison County EMA in setting up 
their Mobile Command Post. On Wednesday, 10 teams were dispatched to do Damage 
Assessment. These teams were composed of three individuals, one of whom was an 
Amateur Radio operator," he said.

Bennington said that hams in Middle Tennessee "utilized our vast networks of 
linked 2 meter repeater systems as well as our UHF-linked system in support of 
the National Weather Service, Tennessee Emergency Management, law enforcement 
agencies and participating local EMA offices. Operators from Wilson County were 
dispatched to the Nashville NWS office and they operated from there until around 
3:30 AM Thursday, giving and taking weather reports."

Alabama ARES District 6 Emergency Coordinator Doug Hilton, WD0UG, said his area 
was hit hard by a fast-moving line of severe weather; District 6 covers the 
northern counties of Alabama. Hilton contacted the NWS office in Huntsville 
early Wednesday regarding possible SKYWARN activation. "After discussing the 
situation with NWS personnel, it was decided that since this was going to be a 
long event, that would probably last all night, it was best not to tie up the 
local repeaters early on. I opened an informal SKYWARN net to get weather 
information out to the amateur community during the afternoon, and several 
Madison County hams participated in the net. We closed the net after about an 
hour and re-opened it that evening at 7," he said. Madison County ARES was 
activated that evening and other hams in the area joined in. Hilton said 
Northern Alabama has a linked-repeater system that covers all 10 counties during 
emergency conditions.

The storm churned into Western Alabama from Mississippi about 9 PM. The main 
part of the storm started its destruction at 3 AM. Hilton said, "The storm was a 
killer, and the extra lead time that people got from the great staff at NWS 
probably led to a reduction in casualties. A massive long-track EF-3 tornado hit 
Lawrence County and caused 3 fatalities and more than 20 people were injured." 
Hilton said the NWS estimated the twister to be 1/2 mile wide with a path length 
of 18.7 miles, causing "extreme destruction of property." An EF-4 tornado with 
peak winds of 180 MPH went through Jackson County, causing one fatality.

Hilton said hams were able to provide many timely situation reports, "and 
'ground truth' is always the best indicator of reality. Many of the hams who 
stayed up all night were also prepared to leave their homes at a moment's notice 
to go anywhere in the District, if needed. The incredible teamwork of this 
ARES/SKYWARN team and the level of professionalism was something to behold."

Chris Shaw, W4BGN, Kentucky District Emergency Coordinator, said several 
confirmed tornadoes touched down throughout his state. "Kentucky hams activated 
weather nets, while others were out and about spotting for severe weather. Allen 
and Monroe Counties in South Central Kentucky were especially hard hit. Some 
repeaters lost power and hams quickly adapted, going to emergency simplex 
frequencies on 2 meters. The communications went very smooth and seemed to be 
beneficial to many. Hams worked throughout the night to help provide 
communications, especially to those areas without power."

President Bush gave assurances that his administration stood ready to help. 
Teams from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) were sent to the 
region and activated an emergency center in Georgia, Homeland Security Secretary 
Michael Chertoff said Wednesday. "We're going to keep watching this."

"Loss of life, loss of property -- prayers can help and so can the government," 
Bush said. "I do want the people in those states to know the American people are 
standing with them." On Wednesday, Bush called the governors of the affected 
states to offer help and to tell them that "the American people hold those who 
suffered up in prayer."

While the weather was unusually severe, winter tornadoes are not uncommon. The 
peak tornado season is late winter through midsummer, but the storms can happen 
at any time of the year with the right conditions. "All the clues were there. It 
was just unfortunate that it came out the way it did," prediction center 
director Joseph Schaefer said. Greg Carbin, warning coordination meteorologist 
at the Oklahoma center, said there were 67 eyewitness accounts of tornadoes, but 
some of those were probably twisters that were counted more than once; the 
actual number is probably more like 30 or 40, he said.

As more ARES groups relay information to ARRL, we will update these reports on 
the ARRL Web site. -- Some information provided by The Weather Channel

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