Hi Everyone,
Yesterday, May 7, the Alabama Dept of Homeland Security, in conjunction with the Alabama Amateur Radio Emergency Service held a statewide Hurricane Drill.
ALERT & K4NWS was active from 8:45 to 2:30 in the drill, with Myself & Teresa Wells KQ4JC taking simulated storm reports from the Shelby County Net, Birmingham Net, State EMA and others. The Spotterchat was continuously monitored as was D-Star.
A serious concern which we had leading into the drill was that we might encounter “real world” severe weather & have to suspend our portion of the drill.
This scenario began to become a reality within an hour of operations as flooding reports began coming in from Montgomery and Elmore County.
For a portion of the drill we did double duty taking simulated reports and “real life” reports, but, as the situation deteriorated we went into actual “callout mode”.
The Montgomery area received measured rainfall in excess of 9 inches within a few hours time, as storms initiated over Metropolitan Montgomery and moved southward, with new storms continuously backbuiled over the same location for hours on end.Some reports included: Continue reading
Hi everybody,
There are several events & opportunities coming up which ALERT will participate in and that we will need volunteers for.
1. Birmingham Hamfest — Saturday, May 2. ALERT and the NWS will have tables at the Hamfest Saturday from 9 AM till Noon. We need volunteers to man the tables & talk up ALERT. (And to let people see the mugs they hear on the radio). Walkup help is welcome.
2. The Alabama Department of Homeland Security will be conducting their annual state wide hurricane drill on Thursday, May 7 from 7AM and to 4PM. The drill scenario focuses on a category 4 hurricane that comes ashore in Baldwin County and moves due North through the state, remaining at hurricane strength until it reaches the Tennessee line.
K4NWS will be activated for this event & we will need operators at the station as well as operators at home – one to monitor the Spotterchat & one with HF capability to act as a liason / relay between K4NWS and the state ARES net on 3.965 MHz.If you can participate in these events contact me at wd4nyl@bellsouth.net. Continue reading
Sorry for the late post busy Friday and Saturday with all the stormy weather.
The National Weather Service is hosting an open house today from 10am – 5pm CST.
ALERT will be at the Birmingham office answering questions about us and our Amateur Radio Station that is setup in their office. Come by and say hello!!Sorry for the late post busy Friday and Saturday with all the stormy weather.
The National Weather Service is hosting an open house today from 10am – 5pm CST.
ALERT will be at the Birmingham office answering questions about us and our Amateur Radio Station that is setup in their office. Come by and say hello!! Continue reading
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