Rescue Radio: Ham Radio Vs Hurricane Katrina

Ham radio operators all along the Gulf Coast were ready as killer hurricane Katrina headed their way and made landfall. We have more in this report:

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Hurricane Katrina plowed into the New Orleans, Louisiana, area on Monday, August 29th. Packing 145-mph winds and blinding rain, Katrina ripped away pieces of the roof of the Superdome, knocked out telephones and power and flooded some homes to roof level. And as Katrina made her approach, the storm had members of the 20 meter Hurricane Watch Net on high alert:

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"This is K5VV in contact with the National Weather Service in Jackson if you need me"

"K5VV in contact with the Jackson National Weather Service, we may. Stand by. Over."

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Katrina knocked out power and telephone service to numerous customers. What little cellphone service existed was quickly became overloaded before it too went away. But using traditional High Frequency circuits along with a VoIP connected net, ham radio operators kept emergency messages coming through for the National Hurricane Center and others.

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".as of 1600 Zulu, winds are East-South-East to 52 mph with gusts to 75. Barometer is 29.02 and Rainfall within the last 24 hours is 7.9" but nothing now because its horizontal.."

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Katrina weakened slightly to a Category 4 storm and turned slightly eastward before hitting land about 6:10 a.m. Central Time. It made landfall just east of Grand Isle near the Louisiana bayou town of Buras. The devastation came quickly as levee's breached and the New Orleans area was flooded. With no other communications resource it fell to ham radio to become a communications lifeline. Questions like this were common:

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"This is WB0YXC. I have a query about the area known as Slidel north of downtown. Is that underwater? Does anybody know?"

"Kaylo Avenue and south suffered major flooding. Nobody could get into the Delwood area until late today. This is K5SIV."

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At one point during the peak of Katrina's fury, the National Weather Service in Miami lost contact with its reporting station in Slidel, Louisiana. It was ham radio using the Hurricane Watch Voice Over I P Net that brought the news that everyone was safe:

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"Just to give you a quick one, they are all OK. They do have building damage but they do have RADAR. Their peak wind was 120 knoots which was 138 miles per hour. Major damage in the area, but they are all OK."

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The flooding in New Orleans grew worse by the minute, prompting the evacuation of hotels and hospitals. According to one news report, hams using portable and battery powered gear helped to coordinate this effort as well as manning shelters across the region.

Meanwhile, the Army Corps of Engineers was called in to drop sandbags from helicopters to try to close up one of the breached levees. And with all normal lines of communications out, it fell to ham radio and the SATERN net on 14.265 MHz to relay an important message. One that said generators and fuel was enroute to bring the regions cellular telephone system back to life:

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"WB8YZQ and the net, I have some information. Yesterday morning 500 emergency generators along with 100,000 gallons of fuel headed to the affected area. A second shipment of 100,000 gallons of fuel is being sent in by ship today. Those emergency generators will be used to power up all the cellphones because that's about the only communications that they are going to have there. WB8YZQ does that ansewer your question. WA0LSB."

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But the New Orleans area was not the only city ravaged by Hurricane Katrina. We have all seen the television pictures out of Biloxi, Mississippi. And along with the devastation it too lost its communications infrastructure. So members of one unidentified ham radio group decided to go in and help:

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"I have a little piece of information for you. All communications on the coast is out. None what so ever, period. There is a Memphis group in route to Biloxi. The call sign will be KB7BSA."

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Hams also became the communications lifeline for Hattisburg, Mississippi, which was cut off by the killer storm:

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"Here is your information. The structures at Hattiesburg are for the most part, OK. There is no water, sewer, power or telephones. They do not expect power for a minimum of two weeks. Water and sewer will be out for at least two days, break.."

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The SATERN Net is also handling much of the information flow for its parent organization the Salvation Army. And soon after Katrina made landfall word went out over ham radio circuits that the Salvation Army was ready to move in. It was only awaiting a go ahead from authorities:

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"K0WA, do you know when the SATERN stations are going to be up? "

"I believe that a number of them have already been staged but until the National Guard and the state authorities allow traffic in, they are staying out. They also have 400 canteens that are standing by to get in there as soon as they clear the area for normal traffic. Over."

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Most of what you heard in this report was recorded off on the air nets on the frequencies of 3.862, 3.873, 7.285, 14.325 and 14.265 MHz. When Katrina broke apart over the Ohio Valley, the Hurricane Watch Net on 14.325 secured operations. But all of the other frequencies mentioned will be active for some time. Our advice is to listen but do not use these frequencies for normal Amateur Radio operations until these nets have declared a final end to their operations. That could be several weeks away. We will keep on top of it and have more for you in future reports.

Also if you need to file a Health and Welfare inquirey on a missing loved one or know someone who does, the best way is on he web at the SATERN website. Its in cyberspace at www.satern.org Just click on the code key icon that says "Health and Welfare Information Request" and fill out the on-line form.

At the South East Bureau in Birminham Alabama, I'm David Black, KB4KCH, for the Amateur Radio Newsline.

Burt.

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What about the human toll? The number of dead from Hurricane Katrina had reached at least 110 in Mississippi. Louisiana put aside the counting of the dead to concentrate on rescuing the living, many of whom were still trapped on rooftops and in attics as this newscast was being prepared. (ARNewslineT)

Source: Amateur Radio Newsline Report 1464