Lull Before the Landfall: Hurricane Watch Net on Hold as Preparations Continue

A National Hurricane Center graphic (click to update) showing the position and projected path of Hurricane Ivan as of September 14, 1800 UTC.

NEWINGTON, CT, Sep 14, 2004--After some three weeks of nearly continuous operation, the Hurricane Watch Net (HWN) on 14.325 is taking the day off Tuesday, September 14, as Hurricane Ivan (click link for latest forecast) moves into the Gulf of Mexico. Although the National Hurricane Center reports that Ivan has weakened somewhat, it remains a Category 4 storm with sustained winds near 140 MPH with higher gusts. As of 1800 UTC, Hurricane Ivan was some 405 miles south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River, moving toward the north-northwest at near 8 MPH. A hurricane watch remains in effect for the northern Gulf of Mexico coast from Morgan City, Louisiana, eastward to St Marks, Florida--including Greater New Orleans

"A hurricane warning will likely be required for a portion of the watch area later this afternoon," the National Hurricane Center said.

Hurricane Watch Net Manager Mike Pilgrim, K5MP, says the net is taking advantage of the storm's position over open water to take a well-needed time out. "While Ivan steams northward into the Gulf of Mexico, we will stand down the HWN until 0800 EDT [1200 UTC] on Wednesday morning, when we will activate for the purpose of collecting measured data from reporting stations along the north shore of the Gulf of Mexico, where Ivan is forecast to make its next landfall," Pilgrim said. By September 15, he hopes the net will have a better geographical area of focus. "Again, to the members of HWN let me say thank you for your untiring dedication over what has been almost three weeks of continuous operation for these killer storms."

VOX as an Enemy

While HWN operations have by and large gone smoothly, Pilgrim says VOX (voice-operated transmit) is "quickly becoming our number-one enemy when trying to deal with important traffic." He says hams tuned to 14.325 MHz sometimes inadvertently leave VOX enabled on their transceivers. As a result, "on any day, almost all day, from many sources you can hear dogs barking, phones ringing, people arguing, talking on the phone or banging on a woodwork project," he reports. He said inadvertent VOX transmissions also have become the bane of the Maritime Mobile Service Net and the Intercontinental Net.

He requests that stations stay out of the way if not directly involved in the focus of the emergency, to speak only if asked to by net control and to turn off VOX when just listening.

WX4NHC

The HWN coordinates its activities with WX4NHC at the National Hurricane Center to gather real-time ground-level weather data and damage reports from Amateur Radio volunteers in a storm's path and relay these to forecasters. WX4NHC regularly checks into the net and also disseminates weather updates.

Assistant Amateur Radio Coordinator Julio Ripoll, WD4R, says WX4NHC this hurricane season has been taking advantage of IRLP and EchoLink technology in addition to the HWN on HF. According to Ripoll, the new VOIPWX Net, has been a tremendous asset, providing access to stations without HF privileges that would not otherwise be available. The VOIPWX Net also provides streaming audio.

HWN, Ham Radio Aid Cuban Response

International Amateur Radio Union Region 2 Emergency Coordinator Arnie Coro, CO2KK, in Havana, praised the HWN for its "outstanding" coordination in collecting ground-level weather data from stations in Cuba. CO2KK was the HWN liaison station, and he was prepared to operate with low power from a battery in the event of power loss.

Hundreds of Cuban radio amateurs were active to provide communication as Ivan passed over the northwestern end of the island this week. Coro reports that nearly 800 radio amateurs along the Cuban archipelago were involved in handling emergency traffic related to Hurricane Ivan. As of September 14, Coro said he had spent some 55 hours in continuous operation handling emergency traffic to the affected area.

"Pretty exhausted, but happy," Coro reported, "but happy because Amateur Radio provided a lot of help to may people once again!" Stations in Cuba have been using 3740, 7040, 7060, 7070 and 7110 kHz to handle emergency traffic.

The eye of Hurricane Ivan, partially framed by solar array panels on the International Space Station, as seen September 11 from 230 miles above Earth. [NASA Photo by Mike Fincke, KE5AIT]

Ham Radio Hurricane Stories

Pilgrim related some ham radio hurricane stories. On Grand Cayman, he says a ham with four feet of water in his house moved his radio (and his 3-year-old son) to the attic where he "faithfully maintained contact with us for essential reports of what was going on there." The British frigate HMS Richmond was just off Grand Cayman but had no communication on shore to direct its humanitarian relief efforts. Pilgrim says an HWN member called London to get a satellite telephone number for the governor of Grand Cayman, which was relayed to the Richmond via the HWN, so the vessel could coordinate its relief efforts with the governor.

The HWN also was able to advise the Richmond that it was possible to land an aircraft at the Grand Cayman airport runway. The facility had been presumed unusable until the net learned from a private airplane pilot that it was still okay to use.

Grenada and Jamaica

Hurricane Ivan raked Grenada earlier this month. Ham radio-boaters Gary and Sharon Simmers, KB9OUH and KB9OUI, report that their sailboat was badly damaged and looters and vandals were rampant on the island. At one point, they reported, winds were hitting 125 MPH or greater and "the rain was solid--we couldn't see 10 feet." Ivan took out power as well as conventional and cellular telephone service. Members of the boating community in the Caribbean have been using WinLink2000 to pass health-and-welfare e-mail traffic via ham radio on HF. Ivan struck Grenada September 8 and Jamaica September 10 and 11.

Reports from maritime mobiles, primarily in Grenada, indicated severe damage there. WinLink-equipped stations were reported operating out of stricken areas in Grenada. The Waterway Radio and Cruising Club network on 7.268 MHz and the Maritime Mobile Service Net on 14.300 MHz have become centers of activity for hurricane relief and recovery information for that region.

ARES Prepares on US Gulf Coast

As Hurricane Ivan threatens the US Gulf Coast, Alabama Section Emergency Coordinator Jay Isbell, KA4KUN, announced that the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) there is being placed on "white" or standby alert. He advised local Emergency Coordinators to establish and maintain a VHF or UHF repeater net and assign an HF liaison station to monitor both the repeater and the state emergency frequencies of 3965 and 7243 kHz.

The Alabama Day Net and Alabama Traffic Net will continue to meet on their normal schedules on 3965 kHz, he said.

Isbell also said the Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network (SATERN) will operate on 3950 kHz in Alabama. During the recent spate of hurricanes, SATERN has been handling health-and-welfare and emergency traffic on its regular frequency of 14.265 MHz. SATERN also takes health-and-welfare inquiries via its Web site.

ARRL is still awaiting word of preparations in Mississippi, Louisiana and Northern Florida, which also could be affected by Ivan.

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