Illinois Amateurs Support Tornado Relief, Recovery Efforts

NEWINGTON, CT, Apr 23, 2004--UPDATED: Illinois ARRL Section Emergency Coordinator Pat Ryan, KC6VVT, reports Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) team members and local radio amateurs in LaSalle County--nearly 100 miles southwest of Chicago--are supporting American Red Cross relief and recovery efforts in the wake of tornados April 20 that left at least eight people dead. Illinois Gov Rod Blagojevich surveyed the damage and designated LaSalle, Putnam, Kankakee and Will counties as disaster areas. Especially hard hit was the LaSalle County town of Utica, where the storms devastated the downtown area.

"There was an outstanding turnout by local and nearby hams," Ryan told ARRL. "Many local hams are assisting in recovery efforts and damage assessment." In addition, SKYWARN teams and severe weather spotters "helped greatly throughout the area to spread the word of the approaching tornado tracking across many counties.

Jim Stefkovich, KD5HLE, the meteorologist in charge at the National Weather Service (NWS) Chicago Forecast Office, expressed gratitude for Amateur Radio's assistance in providing storm information. "This was a true team effort, and I truly appreciate everything that was done from everyone in the Amateur Radio Community," he said. "I could not be more proud of everyone's efforts."

A garage was torn from this house in Putnam County, Illinois. [NWS Photo]

LaSalle County ARES Emergency Coordinator Frank Carraro, KF9NZ, said he'd settled down to read a book when he began hearing weather-spotter reports of approaching tornados. He said it soon became obvious that Utica had been badly hit. "All the electric power was out, the roads were clogged with debris and panicked residents of the area--some trying to get in, and some trying to get out," he said. "Soon, every public safety agency for miles around was in or around Utica."

Ryan, who lives in LaSalle County, reports that after the N9OUW Tri-County repeater was knocked off the air, owner Rich Grimshaw, N9OUW, and Kurt Clausen, KB9RKU, installed a deep-cycle battery from the Starved Rock Radio Club to get the machine back up. "This essential ham repeater then provided ideal coverage to link the downtown Utica area below the Illinois River bluff for further operation by the many amateurs responding," he noted. "It was the critical link for this area."

The reactivated repeater has been supporting disaster recovery efforts coordinated by the Illinois Valley Red Cross chapter in Peru. Ryan says he has a back-up battery on charge at his home for use as needed. Simplex nets were activated in the Utica area on 2 meters to support shelter operations and disaster assessment and to minimize battery drain at the repeater. Grundy County amateurs also turned out to assist in LaSalle County.

LaSalle County Assistant EC Joe Tokarz, KB9EZZ, said some 30 amateurs responded in his county alone, providing some 8000 "ham hours" worth of assistance. He said April 23 that with telephone service now being restored, Amateur Radio's role has begun to wind down. He encouraged hams to take advantage of ARRL's Amateur Radio Emergency Communications on-line classes, weather-spotter classes as well as other available emergency preparedness training to be ready. In this situation, he noted, there wasn't much advance warning.

"It was a rapidly developing storm. We went to a warning almost immediately," he said. "Because of that there wasn't a lot time to give warning to the citizens."

Ryan reports "outstanding assistance" from Community Emergency Response Teams throughout Northern Illinois. Twisters also hit the town of Granville in Putnam County, where Ryan's brother lives. "Unfortunately, my brother and sister-in-law lost the roof and the use of their house," he said, although no one was injured. Ryan says he's had to take time off from assisting in the local disaster net to help his family with salvage and cleanup efforts and get his relatives resettled.

Ryan said non-amateur community volunteers in the stricken communities have been turning out to help clear streets and board up or cover damaged homes and businesses.

Salvation Army Team Emergency Network National Director Pat McPherson, WW9E, reports Salvation Army canteens have been roving stricken neighborhoods providing food, beverages and respite. Salvation Army volunteers also have assisted with damage assessment and cleanup.

"We used SKYWARN and our SATERN folks to keep us abreast of reports as the weather conditions turned sour, and they turned out to be invaluable assets in determining the course of the tornados," said McPherson, who's headquartered in Chicago. "Amateurs also provided valuable information regarding the circumstances in Utica and pointed me to a state frequency that I could monitor regarding responders' efforts." McPherson said that channel offered accurate information he was able to relay to his own responders so they'd have a better idea of what they'd be facing in the stricken communities.

This Illinois house lost its roof as a result of the April 20 tornado outburst. [NWS Photo]

McPherson said he would personally serve as incident commander for Salvation Army relief operations in Utica this weekend and planned to use Amateur Radio to support operations if possible. He expected the Salvation Army's Utica operation to last at least two weeks.

Near Chicago, Will County ARES Emergency Coordinator Rob Sobkoviak, K9NYO, said tornados destroyed one house damaged dozens of other homes and businesses in Joliet. He said the Salvation Army--with support from SATERN--was called in to assist with damage assessment and cleanup and to provide meals to affected residents and emergency personnel.

Sobkoviak cited the efforts of Bolingbrook AEC Toni Hamilton, WX9WRN, who coordinates her county's ARES Severe Weather Net, as well as those of numerous weather spotters. "All of those spotters who sat watching the skies, often in harm's way, are definitely the heroes," Sobkoviak said.

"In particular, I would like to recognize the reports of Plainfield EMA Lt Dennis Hamilton, KC9DVI, whose spotter report of a tornado heading toward the City of Joliet directly resulted in the saving of lives in that community of 106,000," he said. Other Will County amateurs staffed ARES stations at a Bolingbrook fire station and at emergency operations centers in Plainfield and in Joliet, where the county's EOC is located.

"Hams at the Will County EOC can instantly get reports from the Will County ARES Net and NWS into the hands of county emergency management personnel to disseminate over the county-wide 'WILLWARN' system," Sobkoviak said. Other amateurs staffed the amateur station at the National Weather Service Chicago Forecast Office.

"These guys are true heroes," Sobkoviak said of his ARES team members.

ARRL Illinois Section Manager Shari Harlan, N9SH, said radio amateurs in her section "are on top of things" in the affected communities. "We are on standby so that when and if they need additional help because of fatigue and so forth, we can move in," she added.

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