Amateur Radio Praised For Communication Efforts After Hurricane Katrina

A FAILURE OF INITIATIVE

Final Report of the Select Bipartisan Committee to Investigate the Preparation for and Response to Hurricane Katrina

Report by the Select Bipartisan Committee to
Investigate the Preparation for and Response to Hurricane Katrina

EXCERPTS RELATING TO AMATEUR RADIO

"The NCS maintains the Shared Resources High Frequency Radio Program (SHARES), which provides a single, interagency, voluntary message handling system using over 250 High Frequency (HF) radio frequencies when other communications are unavailable.

A network of government, military, and Military Affiliate Radio Service (MARS) radio stations (an organized network of Amateur Radio stations affiliated with the different branches of the armed services to provide volunteer communications), and more than 90 federal, state, and private industry organizations participate in the SHARES program.

Within days following Katrina’s landfall, the NCS coordinated participation by 431 SHARES stations across the nation and assisted first responders conducting search and rescue missions by relaying information to appropriate government agencies; relayed logistical and operational information between FEMA’s EOCs in Georgia, Mississippi, and Louisiana; relayed health and welfare messages between volunteer agencies in Georgia and the national headquarters of the American Red Cross in Washington, DC; established radio contact with deployed U.S. Navy ships detailed to New Orleans; and provided frequency coordination between federal agencies, Louisiana and Mississippi’s EOCs, and the Civil Air Patrol.

Additionally, the NCS coordinated the frequencies used by the nearly 1,000 Amateur Radio Emergency Services (ARES) volunteers across the nation who served in the Katrina stricken area providing communications for government agencies, the Red Cross and the Salvation Army. Emergency communications were conducted not only by voice, but also by high-speed data transmissions using state-of-the art digital communications software known as WinLink. In Mississippi, FEMA dispatched Amateur Radio operators to hospitals, evacuation centers, and county EOCs to send emergency messaging 24 hours per day.

According to Bay St. Louis Mayor Edward A. “Eddie” Favre, amateur radio operators were especially helpful in maintaining situational awareness and relaying Red Cross messages to and from the HancockCounty EOC. At airports in Texas and Louisiana, radio amateurs tracked evacuees and notified families of their whereabouts. The Red Cross deployed amateur radio volunteers at its 250 shelter and feeding stations, principally in Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida.

The Salvation Army operates its own Amateur Radio communications system using Amateur radio volunteers, known as SATERN. During the Hurricane Katrina response and recovery effort, SATERN joined forces with the SHARES program and received over 48,000 requests for emergency communications assistance utilizing federal frequencies made available via the SHARES program."

FULL VERSION OF THE REPORT MAY BE DOWNLOADED AT:
http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/15feb20061230/www.gpoaccess.gov/katrinareport/mainreport.pdf



Thanks to Brian K3VR for passing this along!