Yaaaaay! I get to play hurricane next month!

[KD3Y]

These are always fun!  I'll either be stationed at the Middle School (designated area Hurricane Shelter), the Town Hall, or the Fire Department.   Last hurricane, the Fire Department was the hub of activity.  The major highway (Highway 70) was flooded both to the east and west so we were cut off.  USCG flew patients to the hospital since the ambulances couldn't pass the flooded roads until they were grounded due to the storm.  After that, they set up a temporary medical station in the fire department until the ground was lifted and helicopters could fly.  Many local residents were sleeping in the fire department due to flooded homes, and some were living in the Fire Department parking lot in their cars.

The county treats us good though.  My Club is incorporated into the County Emergency Plan as "communications support" for the county.  The club is included in the county budget and receives several thousand dollars per year to be ready with functioning equipment when they call.

 

A simulated EOC Activation and Hurricane Drill will be held at the Carteret County EOC. The drill will be conducted on April 18, 2023 from 3:30-7:00PM with a backup date of April 25th with the same times. This later time gives volunteer and remote agencies the opportunity to participate. There is no expectation that everyone must stay until 7:00PM.

Carteret County Amateur Radio Society will be participating in the excercise by:

1) Activating the club ARES/CERT Emergency Coms trailer and using it as a remote transmitting station.
2) Using Winlink HF, VHF, UHF, DMR and Simplex comms between the EOC and remote locations to demonstrate capability.
3) Involve the clubs regular Tuesday nite net as part of the drill and submit post-drill to the County.
4) Incorporate additional locations from municipalities such as Emerald Isle Fire Department, that have amateur equipment on-site as backup communications.
5) Incorporate training using the appropriate forms - ICS 202, 205, 213, 214, 309 and Sharing 'Field Situation Report' with the County as part of our capability demonstration.

Space is limited in the EOC. Please contact Keith Stroud if you wish to participate.

 

Edited March 15, 2023 by KD3Y

[K3MRI]

Several things come to mind when reading this post. First of all, so awesome that the County takes you seriously and incorporates you as genuine assets. That's rare. I'm also very impressed by the excellence of your club and your local amateur radio contingent. You all seem very much on the ball and ready which, clearly when you live on the precipice matters. I'm very admiring of citizens who continue to live in harm's way knowing that there is a high probability of another big one coming through. I say this of people in Morehead City but also in San Francisco for earthquakes or Buffalo for blizzards. Humans are quite stubborn, aren't we. You'd think we'd all be living in a calmer part of the world but nope, we live where we choose and threats be damned. I love it.

[KN4YCK]

Great write up. I’m pretty proud of the work our club is doing with ecoms. Being sorta new to this I now see the amount of work it takes to make it happen. Thanks for all you do for the community and the club. 
 

[KD3Y]

I'm headed up to the town park next week probably and do some POTA on the 40-meter dipole.  I gotta stop in at PD and let the Chief know whats going on so when they get the "man in the park with a rifle" call, they won't send out the SWAT team.  That could turn sticky.   LOL

I think launching the line over a limb with the speargun is better than the PVC air cannon.  It'll get 40 feet up.  I am going to get me a tennis ball and bolt it to the shaft end and fill the tennis ball with that expaning foam stuff so it'll be safer.   Right now it just has a nut on the end where the spearpoint screws onto the shaft.

https://rumble.com/v2dh5yy-shooting-40-meter-dipole.html

[KD3Y]

2 hours ago, KN4YCK said:

Great write up. I’m pretty proud of the work our club is doing with ecoms. Being sorta new to this I now see the amount of work it takes to make it happen. Thanks for all you do for the community and the club. 
 

It's the membership that makes it all possible, Brother, not I.  Without our dedicated club members and our outstanding eComs committee, we'd all just be some more hams complaining over our radios about the weather.
 

[KD3Y]

Carteret County Amateur Radio Society ~ County Hurricane Drill 2023

Hello guys.  I don't know how to embed a video on the forum so I'll paste the link to the Rumble video.

We had a lot of fun and learned a lot of things yesterday.  I was transmitting from the Newport Fire Department with my mast-mounted J-pole and Go Box.  Our drill consisted of three emergency nets.  The weather was awesome.  We couldn't have asked for a better day to have a hurricane  😁.

The Carteret County EOC activated at 1600 hrs for the drill, and all the local agencies participated. 

The FIRST net was for those of us who were posted at various areas of the county and we were sending ARES Field Situation Reports back to our clubs net control via our repeater.  Net Control was logging for the County Emergency Operations Center.

The SECOND net was for anyone and everyone who wanted to train and participate via repeater during the drill.  Those posted in the county, those at their home QTH, those mobile, and generally anyone anywhere were invited to participate.

The THIRD net was where we probably learned the most, where we identified some areas that we need to improve in, and was the most important test of the day.  This net simulated a repeater-down scenario and all stations transmitted simplex.  I did learn that in my location I was on the western border of our simplex range so I turned into a relay for those stations west.

The Fire Chief, the Deputy Fire Chief, and the Mayor stopped by my location and hung out with me for about half an hour.  Judging by their comments I believe they were impressed by our capabilities.   I think we made a good impression on them.  After the drill I learned the officials at the County EOC were pleased with our contribution to the EOC during the county-wide drill.  Though we had a few hiccups, I believe overall the exercise was a success.  Of course we had a few minor issues, one valuable piece of information we learned was that while our mobile command center HF works fine, we need better antennas for the 2-meter/440 bands if we are going to operate simplex.  While stations to the east were able to communicate with the ecoms command trailer easily, many of those stations to the west, I had to relay for.

But, the value of any training exercise is that we are able to identify deficiencies, fix those that are within our ability, and anticipate and plan around those deficiencies that are out of our control during a real disaster.

Our Net Control, Jake, has a million-dollar radio voice.  I wish I had his radio voice.  I sound like a stuttering hick on the radio.  He has one of those voices that is just a pleasure to listen to.  Our eComs trailer command post crew did an outstanding job relaying traffic, assisting Net control, and handling WinLink communications.

Comments and suggestions welcome.

VIDEO:  https://rumble.com/v2j7nvw-careter-county-eoc-hurricane-drill-4182023.html
 

 

Anthony,  KD3Y

 

Edited April 21, 2023 by K3MRI
Embedded the video ;-)

[KD3Y]