This Oklahoma power substation fell victim to the mid-January ice storm. [Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management] |
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Ice-laden tree limbs in New England. [Edward Mason, AE1Y, Photo] |
Icing in affected parts of New England averaged about one-half inch. [Richard Fowler, KB1OFC, Photo] |
NEWINGTON, CT, Jan 15, 2007 -- Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) and other ham radio volunteers in Oklahoma continue to assist after an ice storm blanketed the state January 12 before moving into the Eastern US. Section leadership is asking radio amateurs to continue monitoring local VHF and UHF repeaters and the ARES Oklahoma HF Net (7260 kHz days; 3900 kHz evenings) for up-to-date information. ARRL Oklahoma Section Emergency Coordinator Kevin Atnip, KD5WUP, says ARES teams are on duty in several counties, but volunteers are still needed.
"At this time we have people helping out in McAlester and in Eufaula," he said January 17. One volunteer in McAlester is relieving some of the local radio amateurs who have been on duty from day one. The Eufaula Emergency Operations Center (EOC), in McIntosh County, is seeking relief operators.
In Pontotoc and Coal counties, Atnip said, Amateur Radio volunteers are going door to door to check on older residents. In Mayes County, emergency managers had to temporarily relocate the EOC due to a power outage, and they are seeking additional Amateur Radio support. In addition, volunteers are needed to provide a communication link for water distribution centers in northern and southern Mayes County.
Atnip said Oklahoma is preparing for another round of winter weather this weekend, and he urged volunteers to exercise caution when deploying. "If anyone is called out, please be careful and watch out for each other," he said. "Do not put yourself or the team into a dangerous position."
The Oklahoma State EOC remains activated as severe winter weather conditions continue to affect areas of the state. Upward of 78,000 Oklahoma households still have no electricity due to downed power lines -- some weighed down by inches of ice or felled by broken tree limbs -- and hundreds are taking refuge in Red Cross shelters. Telephone service is out in some areas as well.
Oklahoma transportation and highway officials continue to discourage all unnecessary travel, and roadways remain slick in spots. They continue to receive reports of black ice along with sagging and downed power lines. Some roads have been closed due to high water and downed power lines.
Sections of Missouri and Kansas were hit by similar conditions, while other areas remained relatively unscathed. Sub-freezing temperatures were reported throughout the upper Midwest and much of the nation's heartland in the wake of the storm system. The severe weather is being blamed for 55 deaths in seven states, including 20 in Oklahoma alone. More than 300,000 customers in several states were without power today as a result of the freeze.
Winter Weather Sweeps into New England
The weather system that wreaked havoc in Oklahoma and parts of the Midwest swept through sections of Upstate New York and into New England, bringing ice and not-entirely-unwelcome snow. SKYWARN teams activated as the ice and snow hit southern New Hampshire and northern Massachusetts, damaging trees and power lines and causing widespread power outages. The activation lasted about 11 hours with icing averaging about one-half inch across the area, says Rob Macedo, KD1CY, the ARES SKYWARN Coordinator for the National Weather Service Office in Taunton, Massachusetts.
"Temperatures gradually dropped throughout the day across this area, and that temperature drop, combined with very warm temperatures aloft, resulted in a prolonged period of freezing rain for the region," Macedo said. "Amateur Radio SKYWARN spotters were critical in upgrading `advisories' to `warnings' in this area as a changeover to plain rain was no longer likely." Amateur Radio volunteers also provided critical damage reports and information on how residents of the region were being affected, Macedo noted.
In New Hampshire, downed trees and utility lines were reported across Cheshire, Hillsborough and Rockingham counties. In Massachusetts, northern Franklin, northern Worcester, northern Middlesex and western Essex counties were hardest hit.
SKYWARN was active on as many as six repeaters throughout the day, Macedo reports, and Amateur Radio volunteers staffing the NWS Taunton office collected reports to help meteorologists disseminating weather information to the general public. Hams also employed the New England Network EchoLink and IRLP integrated conference and other Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) resources, plus local repeaters to obtain or relay information from the affected area, Macedo said.
Hillsborough County New Hampshire ARES and SKYWARN Emergency Coordinator Jim Blaine, WD4JZO, ran hourly nets January 15 before losing power and switching to batteries. Other New Hampshire radio amateurs also lost power for several hours but went to generators to stay on the air. Ham radio volunteers used the N1IMO linked repeater system during the SKYWARN activation to link much of Hillsborough and southeastern Cheshire counties in New Hampshire with communities in northern Massachusetts.
Word that some hams were using generators for emergency power prompted a warning from New Hampshire ARES Section Emergency Coordinator Tom Richardson, AB1CL. "Generators produce deadly carbon monoxide," he said. "It seems that every storm brings about a few generator deaths, so move them away from buildings."
In northern Massachusetts, many trees and wires were down and power outages were widespread. Auto accidents abounded during the evening rush hour. Icing even reached communities closer to the coast, along Massachusetts' North Shore.
North Shore Assistant SKYWARN Coordinator Jim Palmer, KB1KQW, reported up to three-eighths of an inch of ice in Peabody and Danvers with even greater icing over northeast Middlesex and western Essex counties.
The icy weather and sub-freezing temperatures stood in stark contrast to
the unseasonably warm weather New England had been experiencing this
winter. "I guess the Indian summer portion of our winter has now
ended," quipped Macedo.
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