Hurricane Ian (2022)

[K3MRI]

Our thoughts go out to all Floridians, and to all of our Floridian amateur radio operators who are bracing, as I write, for Hurricane Ian. This image from my radarscope is so scary.

[K3MRI]

Look at this shot. The Hurricane is swallowing up the entire State.

[K3MRI]

For all those who lived through, were affected by, or simply know of Ian’s rampage, what a storm. At the time of my writing, still no word on how many fatalities but likely over 100, a war-like destruction of property, and billions, perhaps in my personal uninformed calculus, near 100 billion dollars in damages. I have read or heard nothing on the amateur radio front. Did we respond? Were operators living in the area? Did they lose everything? We are but a small drop in the bucket of discontent and despair, but knowing how our fellow operators fared would be comforting and maybe be an opportunity for us to contribute?

As a community, amateur radio operators need to think both in terms of response but also in terms of hardening our own installations. I live in the Capital region and we have been hit by hurricanes since I have been living here and are hit with gale force winds often. Are our towers sufficiently well guyed and fastened? Do we mount oversized antennas on undersized rotors held together with the cheapest bolts we could find on Amazon? Do we have sufficient backup power? Is our shack in a part of the house or building that is sufficiently protected? Something as simple as a window can destroy an installation. We have all seen how a hurricane can rip out windows, and they are usually the first to go.

Don’t mean to be a downer, but mega storms are a clear and present danger and seem poised to increase in frequency and intensity if our scientists are to be believed.

[KD3Y]

Ian wasn't more than a strong winds for us, luckily.   And I'm glad.  I'm still paying off the FEMA loan we had to get when Florence flooded our house.
The county made some new regulations a few yeras ago.  Here in Carteret county if you build a new house and it's located within the hurricane flood zone it has to be elevated up on the pilings.

Here's what my crowd did for Ian.

 

 

HurricaneIan202209230.pdf