ARRL Article on NTx Tornadoes & Amateur Radio Response

http://www.arrl.org/news/north-texas-hams-respond-when-tornados-strike

Mentions me.

April 3rd Arlington, TX Tornado

Not only did my hard drive crash AGAIN a couple of weeks ago, I've been very busy helping out at the Office of Emergency Management as the result of the tornado in SW Arlington on 4/3. Two supercells developed exceedingly fast in Johnson County. Keith Wells of the Fort Worth/Tarrant County Joint EOC related later that one sweep the cloud tops were at 8,400 and the next they were over 15,000. Since that happened just south of Arlington/Fort Worth there was little advance warning time. I was watching the radar as a line of storms slowly moved in from the west. Suddenly 2 small "rain" areas popped up ahead of the line and exploded into separate supercells. I'd already called and given the EOC a heads up, in case they weren't already watching. I called back an amazingly few minutes later as funnels were already dropping just south of us. I asked if they wanted me at the EOC to handle the radios, "let me think." 3 minutes later I got the call back: YES!  ASIDE: Emergency Managers, EM Coordinators, and others were in San Antonio at an Emergency Manager Conference at the time. I don't know if it was my call to Gerry that something serious was about to pop that did it, or if others were already watching the weather reports that went from possibility of large hail to tornadoes on the ground in less than 15 minutes, but they immediately suspended the conference and set up a State Command Center on the floor of the Convention Center and handled their duties from that location. I was sitting at the intersection next to the OEM location when the sirens went off. My Dad intended to drive my car home to the garage he'd cleaned out (because of predicted large hail), but I told him FORGET THE CAR, YOU'RE COMING UP WITH ME!  (As I'm looking up to make sure something wasn't about to drop on top of us.) Very interesting experience. No time to be frightened, even when a spotter reported the circulation was right on top of our location. I was told a couple of days later that someone took a photo of a funnel only 1/4 mile from our location. If I had simply walked 50 feet into the lunchroom, I could have seen both the Arlington and Lancaster tornadoes live and in person. As I entered the EOC, Fire and Police and other City personnel were pouring into it. By the time the immediate danger was over, it was crammed full with organized chaos. Needing to stay out of the way and my RACES net control for the EOC over, I left around 5:45pm. Because I sit in a windowless office with a monitor way above my head tuned into WeatherTap and was otherwise focused on monitoring RACES traffic and reporting emergency events to staff, I was unaware there had been a tornado in Lancaster at the same time. I've only seen bits and pieces of the "news" since. The whole area was EXTREMELY fortunate. No deaths, very few serious injuries, the Arlington tornado missed 2 elementary schools and a huge high school by as little as 250 feet. I've heard from many fire, police, church and radio acquaintances that their homes were only a matter of feet from homes that suffered major damage. One CERT volunteer whose home was barely missed and lost several trees, repeatedly thanked the police for their prompt response - they were already checking for injuries, surveying damage and moving debris out of the streets within a minute or 2 after it had passed. Had the tornado continued on it's original path and not dissipated, it would have hit my neighborhood a minute or 2 later. Instead, it moved from a NNE path, to due north, then briefly NW, then due W as it died. There has been an over-abundance of volunteers (leaving hundreds of good-hearted citizens disappointed that there was nothing they were needed to do.) Nor were donations originally accepted. Later those were referred to Mission Arlington once a distribution plan was set up. Clothing was not accepted. The areas hit by the Arlington tornado were almost exclusively upper middle income and higher, thus most, if not all, are covered by insurance and though FEMA has been in to assess the damages, the likelihood of getting funds from FEMA is small. (They only cover non-insured expenses and the thresh hold is based upon a dollar amount on a per capita basis for the entire city / country, etc.)

The EOC was activated when funnels dropped in northern Johnson County. The large monitors were already tuned to WeatherTap and local news channels (which had helicopters broadcasting live as events unfolded, as well as monitoring the RACES net until I could get there. Fire and police that weren't already on the scene immediately converged on the damaged areas along with search & rescure. Damage assessment drive-bys were in process shortly thereafter.

The next morning: As for me, with a dead hard drive and concerned about receiving emails activating CERT volunteers, I called about 11 to find out if I had missed it. Instead, I was asked to come in to recruit and schedule CERT volunteers for both the Emergency Operations Center and the Tornado Recovery Center located at the Fire Training Center not far from the damage path. Subsequently, I have been at the EOC pretty much from 7am to 11pm (or later) every night through Sunday. Went home at 8pm on Monday. Now I'm preparing documentation for the OEM/EOC to determine how many different people and how many hours they've put in. So far volunteers have served a total of 219 hours at the EOC. At some point I'll figure out how many of those were mine - a bunch, anyway. As Volunteer Coordinator, I ended up sticking around in case something came up - which it frequently did, as in it was almost 4pm when I was asked to staff additional volunteers starting at 7 am the next morning - got it done!  I don't have the total hours for volunteers working at the TRC yet, but it was operational from 8am to 8pm Thursday through Sunday and closed at 6pm this Monday, with 2 to 4 volunteers per 4 hours shift.

I've been volunteering at the EOC since early 2006. This is the first time the EOC has been activated for a city emergency in that time. We called everyone on the phone lists, and I tried to schedule as many trained CERT volunteers as I possibly could as this is what we have been trained and ready for. It wasn't perfect, but for the first time it went remarkably well, and I can only thank those early volunteers who spent hours on the phone contacting other potential volunteers on behalf of the EOC while I had other organizational responsibilities and acted as liason - as well as making a lot of phone calls myself. Kudos to the whole CERT organization for stepping up when the time came. Kudos to the Arlington OEM/EOC staff, Fire, Police and other public and private agencies who quickly activated plans previously made and made on the spot changes and revisions as necessary. Great job everyone! Thank you!!!

www.arlingtontx.gov/tornado
http://pd.dfw.com/sp?aff=1100&keywords=+arlington+tornado&submit=Search

2011 Tornados

Caused the highest number of deaths (528) since 1925 despite all the progress that has been made in advanced warnings. Here's a one minute animation of the location of those tornadoes.

 * * * Merry Christmas * * *

To each and all who drop in now and then to see what's happening in my world, my family and I wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah, a wonderful holiday season and a safe and prosperous New Year.

CERT Pot Luck, AARC Christmas Party & Jingle Bell Run

CERT Christmas Pot-Luck - December 21st:  Held at the Fire Training Center. With Irish and Matt from the OEM, there were maybe 15 or 18 of us there. Nice camaraderie. Sincere thank yous and kudos from Irish Hancock, head of the OEM, who said it might not seem that important but CERT assistance with EOC activations, even if just to answer phones, set out food, was invaluable. A bit about the upcoming all day FEMA Damage Assessment course (once we're trained they are going to assign specific teams to specific areas of the city for immediate assessment for events such as flooding, weather, fires and others to report in to the OEM primarily via an IPad link to use to make more specific resource assignments, etc. Also in the works in POD training. Not sure how this is going to work with plans the Tarrant County Health Department already has in place. Pleasant if short gathering.

AACR party - December 8th: At the Black Eyed Pea in Lincoln Square in Arlington. About 25 attended. The person named Radio Operator of the Year wasn't present, so name wasn't announced. The ICOM raffle was won by one of the women in the club, and a few gifts were brought for an Exchange. Not far from the Ball Park and Cowboy Stadium.

Jingle Bell Run - December 3rd: After last year's disaster of slow runners/walkers having to finish the route in the dark (a handful made a wrong turn in the almost pitch black), this year's event started at 8:45 a.m. and 9:15 a.m.  It would be so helpful if whoever organized these things actually walked the route in advance. Some of the radio guys had to move cones that misdirected walkers and then had to find a key to open a gate that allowed walkers on to a certain section of the path. Radio operators needed to be there by 6:30. It was dark, a bit foggy with light rain. By the time participants began to arrive the rain had stopped, at least for a while. I'd not previously met the man serving as Net Control. As I stepped in the van Gerry introduced me to him. When I saw a braille writer in front of him I made the wholly unnecessary observation "Ah, you're blind." DUH !!! At least I didn't ask the obvious. Really nice guy with an incredible memory and sense of humor. He was the only person in the van with a watch and had the time, which was rather funny actually. I served as back-up but did practically nothing but warm the chair. At the end, the operator in the golf cart circled the route looking for any possible stragglers, picking up extra supplies, retrieving and folding banners, all of which was delivered back to the organizers. Then 16 or 20 or us went out for Mexican Food at La Familia. It has a good reputation and  atmosphere, but frankly I wasn't that impressed with the food. The soup was decidedly salty and the sour cream on enchiladas was decidedly sour. Rather than a scoop of beans, what I got was more like a smear. I'll eat pretty much whatever is put in front of me, but for the $$ I expected more. However, the freshly made salsa and tortilla chips were great.

Amateur Radio Operators Support Alzheimer's Walk, Fort Worth Trinity Park, Rangers Win ALCS

IF the World Series goes to game 5, I'm scheduled to monitor the EOC radios on the 24th.

Alzeimer's Walk Route Map through Trinity Park.

I met Gerry, RACES liason for the Fort Worth Joint EOC, outside of it at 6 this morning. He'd had to first fetch the smaller of the 2 RACES vans (located far elsewhere), but we managed to arrive less than a minute apart. From there it's a short ride to Trinity Park. The weather was perfect with temps from 58 to 77 by the time we left apx 11:40. This year Registration and Start/Finish were set up inside the walk route on the drive that bisects the double loops. The RACES van parked off-street directly across the road - where that little notch appears ENE of where the red marker is. MedStar's ambulance was parked nearby, at least two paramedics riding bikes loaded with their equipment. Police officers were on location as well, friendly and unobtrusive. Participant parking was in the large lot east of Farrington Field. Volunteers were told to park at some lot the other side of the Lancaster Bridge - both a considerable hike to Registration - the reason I met Gerry at the EOC. However, it looked to me that many, if not most, parked along park roadways instead.

Fourteen radio operators assisted. 4 individually assigned to certain Walk officials; 1 at each of 5 water stations to relay requests for water or emergency aid; 2 operated golf carts to ferry extra supplies and pickup walkers who needed a ride back to Registration or to the Parking lot;  Gerry and I were inside van where I served as primary Net Control. We used 146.76, one of the back-up repeaters. Gerry monitored the van's police/fire radios and jumped in when he (with his tens of years of considerable professional and volunteer experience doing this sort of thing rather than my 18 months of sporadic involvement) when he deemed it best that he quickly handled the matter. Not that I couldn't have if I'd had more experience and knew what I could tell the radio guys to do and/or given time enough to cogitate a moment. He reminded me I needed to keep the big picture in my head as Net Control and take control. I sat and learned. As participants finished, one of the assisted living center's resident buses was utilized as a Sag to transport those who weren't able to get back to the parking lot using a radio guy who'd completed his first assignment. At the end of the Walk the carts circled the route 2 or 3 times to make sure no one was left on the course and to retrieve left-over supplies, route signs and banners to assist the Alzheimer's organization clean up and clear out faster. Not in our job description, but ham radio operators are friendly, helpful folk and happy to assist. I took a few photos and IF I ever get those d/l to my computer, I'll post.

Texas Rangers & the ALCS Playoffs - OEM Gearing up for World Series

I am at best a barely nominal baseball fan. I didn't even realize the Rangers were going to the playoffs until they were IN the playoffs. But who can ignore the local excitement when the Rangers go into the ALCS for the second year in a row at The Ballpark? [An abrupt aside: I don't know anyone around here, except those required to do so for political or commercial reasons, who calls it "Ameriquest Field." It was originally officially and shall always be known as "The Ballpark" regardless of who next purchases the naming rights. Just who or what is Ameriquest anyway? Don't these entities realize no one cares and other than a poor attempt to aggrandize some corporate whatever, what advertizing purpose does it actually serve? Who has ever gone out and purchased an item or a bit of stock just because some ballpark or arena was named for some corporate one thing or another? Since I was forced to help pay for both The Ballpark and Cowboy Stadium through a many multi-year increase in special local sales taxes, why don't *I* or the majority of citizens get to name them? I call it a fraud upon the stockholders and/or citizens .... never mind.]

ALCS Game #1. Despite a couple of short rain delays, and after the magnificent display of choreographed grounds keepers who emerged from nowhere and covered the infield with a protective tarp in 60 or less seconds (wish I had seen them remove it as well) the game was completed and the Rangers WON. The rain eventually started falling at my house about 4 miles from The Ballpark and overnight I received 2.35". My Dad, who lives between here and there, got a much needed and greatly appreciated 2.9". Officially, however, DFW Airport only got 1.37". Game #2 on Sunday - postponed. Yes, it was a cloudy, humid mid-morning but that was clearing out so when I heard the game had been postponed due to possible rain later in the day,  I checked the current weather map and radar - the flume or plume of Gulf moisture that triggered the desperately needed heavy rains on Saturday night had already moved well east of the Metroplex. "Game postponed? HUH?"  Yep. No rain. Game #2 on Monday. Beautiful day ending with a record setting GRAND SLAM walk off (I had to ask about that term). I managed to tune in just in the nick of time to see Cruz at bat in the bottom of the 11th, some 4+ hours into the game. Looking at his face and seeing that long barely foul ball he walloped into the stands in left field, no way was he NOT going to hit a home run! Then I heard he'd already hit a home run in an earlier inning. Good job, Nelly!! GO RANGERS! So far the OEM/EOC has managed to operate without volunteer assistance this year.

However, with all the hopes of every baseball fan (even the nonfans) in this part of Texas fully expecting the Rangers to win the ALCS (sorry Detroit fans), the OEM is gearing up in advance of a possible second World Series. CERT members received an email yesterday indicating OEM needs and available shifts should that come to pass. As of now they are only asking for 2 CERT volunteers plus one radio operator for each of two 4-hour-shifts for each of the 3 days the Series would be in Arlington: October 22, 23 and 24th. I responded with my availability. If, nay WHEN, the World Series comes back to the Ballpark we'll be notified of a specific date and shift. The Arlington EOC isn't the only one which will be open and operational during that time. Other radio groups will also be up and ready to respond, including the area-wide hospital net and as well as other Metroplex OEM's - should the need arise. After both the World Series and Super Bowl in the past year, we volunteers have the routine down pat: check credentials for admittance to the EOC, make coffee, set out any food, maybe answer phones. Are 2 volunteers really enough? The ham radio person on duty, located in the radio room adjacent to the EOC, sits and gets really bored doing pretty much nothing. Getting really bored is a good thing. Perhaps the Joint EOC will fully activate and I can volunteer over there as well and see that in operation, which would be a different thus interesting experience for me.

Another line of storms has moved through starting about 0425 with continuing periods of  heavy rain. According to the online Personal Weather Station not far from my residence, we've already had another inch. GREAT! I'll check my own rain gauge later. Update: 1.2" of rain overnight.