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AE5ME > ARES 22.01.16 17:32l 36 Lines 6218 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: //WL2K ARES Newsletter January 20th Part 2 of 4
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Sent: 160122/1516Z 30134@AE5ME.#NEOK.OK.USA.NOAM BPQ1.4.64
knowledge and equipment to connect any agency to another when in times of need," Steve Wooten, KC0QMU, St. Louis Metro ARES Emergency Coordinator said. "We can set up and be connected within an hour of responding to the call for assistance."
St. Charles County Division of Emergency Management also called on ARES in that county to execute road closure reconnaissance for emergency services. Volunteers also performed "windshield" damage assessments where they drove by hundreds of homes, surveying them for minor to catastrophic damage.
In a demonstration of solidarity in this disaster, St. Francois and Ste. Genevieve County ARES organizations worked together, assisting the Ste. Genevieve County Emergency Management Agency with 24 hour walks to assess the condition of the critical levees that protect lives and property in Ste. Genevieve County.
More than 20 people died in the historic flooding. Hundreds were displaced from their homes as rivers, streams and lakes overflowed banks and levees. Wastewater treatment facilities were overwhelmed and some drinking water treatment facilities were shut down. President Obama issued a Federal Disaster Declaration and the Federal Highway Administration pledged $1 million for emergency highway repairs. -- Janelle Haible, N0MTI, St. Louis (Missouri) Metro ARES, Public Information Officer
ARES® Supports Major Flood Response in Pacific Northwest
Once again, the Centralia area in southwest Washington State was on Mother Nature's target list for December rains and local flooding. The week of December 2-8 brought continuous rain to the Pacific Northwest with very heavy rains on Monday, December 7th. Three major rivers -- the Chehalis, the Skookumchuck and the Newaukum -- quickly reached flood stage. The City of Centralia opened its Emergency Operations Center (EOC) on Tuesday, December 9, to get ahead of the potentially devastating flood waters. By 5 PM Tuesday, the Centralia ARES team was activated on a 24 hour basis. During hours of darkness, team members monitored the EOC Amateur Radio systems and helped set up the remainder of the EOC for a full scale response on Wednesday.
During the early morning hours of Wednesday, December 9th, two local creeks -- China Creek and Salzer Creek -- overflowed their banks and inundated the Centralia downtown area with water, before the major rivers had reached flood stage. As a result of the Incident Action Plan issued at 8 AM Wednesday, ARES team
Flooding in southwestern Washington State prompted ARES response. (KD7OWN photo)
members began the second phase of their response duties, performing "windshield surveys" to determine the extent and depth of water in each residential area in the city. Additionally, teams monitored selected high water points to provide eyes on the scene information on how fast flood waters were rising. Throughout the day, hams reported conditions block by block, response area by response area to the EOC and Incident Commanders.
Late in the day on Wednesday, the area caught a break when the rains slowed and then stopped. By late Wednesday evening, even though the rivers were still climbing to flood stage, emergency managers could breathe a sigh of relief as it was clear the local flooding was not going to be the disaster we've experienced before when Interstate 5 was closed for days due to water over its roadway. Area wide, several dangerous landslides occurred and the Hwy 12 over White Pass to Eastern Washington was closed as the road was washed away in four locations. This pass will potentially remain closed for weeks or even months as snow on the pass hinders roadway repairs.
In all, the ARES team deployed 75% of its members totaling just over 70 volunteer hours for the community. Each flood is different from the last. Centralia ARES has worked through four major floods since 2007 and with localized flooding almost every November or December. The ARES team continues to refine its response techniques, drill on flood responses and work with its served agencies to shape the way it provides disaster information to the EOC. Flexibility has allowed the ARES team to be useful in several different directions as we continue to serve our small community. -- Bob Willey, KD7OWN, Emergency Coordinator, Centralia Amateur Radio Emergency Service
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GlobalSET 2015 is a Wrap, with Lessons Learned
More than three dozen countries took part in the 2015 Global Simulated Emergency Test (GlobalSET) last month, organized by IARU Region 1 and designed in part to measure the disaster readiness of Amateur Radio. IARU Region 1 Emergency Communications Coordinator Greg Mossop, G0DUB, pointed out that the 2015 event differed from other GlobalSETs held since 2006, which emphasized message handling and setting up stations in the field.
"The IARU emergency communications coordinators decided that the best way to achieve this would be to have an availability or 'call-out' exercise," Mossop said. "It asked all countries with emergency communications groups to contact their members and ask them how quickly they could get on the air if required." The start of the exercise was not announced in advance but propagated via a variety of channels, including e-mail and social media. IARU regional coordinators chose December 18 as being clear of most social and cultural events. A time limit of up to 48 hours was set for potential responding organizations to complete the local callout exercise and submit results via a web form.
The survey results covered an estimated 8466 members worldwide, of which 2048 reported they could be available in less than 1 hour.
"This exercise occurred on a normal business day in many countries," Mossop said. "An availability rate of 20-30 percent of stations is very good and does seem reasonable as a planning assumption for future exercises."
Mossop said the exercise identified a need to revise or improve alerting procedures. "Where possible a mixture of methods should be used for alerting members with automatic feedback of message delivery or the response," he said, adding that reliance on any single system, such as e-mail, was not the best approach. Read more. -- Thanks to Jim Linton, VK3PC; ARRL Letter
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