Busy Week, Little Sleep

Busy weather week in North Texas. I've been monitoring storms by TV and amateur radio and typing spotter reports into the Arlington OEM/EOC's online Event Log during recent storms, acting as controller for traffic on Arlington's 147.140 repeater while Dave handled RACES on 146.940, the Tarrant County frequency used for National Weather Service storm spotter activation and in-the-field reports. When Dave isn't around, I serve as the alternate controller for the Arlington EOC and may end up doing that a lot more often as he is busy with Hospital emergency radio throughout several N. Texas counties. While Net Controller I monitor both frequencies and still log as much as I can at the same time, if I'm on my own. Obviously, when my hands are busy transmitting, I'm not logging and then have to do catch-up from quickly scribbled notes. Multiple storms and little sleep in the last 3 days have resulted in some mental confusion, so as best I can remember this morning:

Wednesday afternoon, June 10th: RACES NET - I was at the EOC with Dave from about 6 to 9:30 pm re: the severe storm that dropped a tornado in Flower Mound just NW of DFW airport and heavy rains that dumped several inches over the mid-cities and on Dallas creating significant flash and Trinity River flooding. Jason is this week's duty officer for the OEM. The duty officers receive notice of any activations and come back to the EOC to let us in and do what they need to do for the City of Arlington during such events. Irish Handcock, head of the OEM, arrived a few minutes later because of the tornado warning. On a personal note, I had called my daughter before activation as really bad-looking storms were moving across Parker County to tell her to watch the weather. However, she was on her way from Euless to a soccer game in N Dallas. Discussion about the wisdom of that I won't go into here. At 6, when the tornado warning was issued, I called back as I was heading for the EOC. If the rotation area of that storm continued on its same course it would have passed over or near her location. We kept in touch so I could give her weather updates. Thankfully, she called me shortly after I got to the EOC to tell me the game had been cancelled. I told her to stay put and not drive back into on-coming storm. When she later returned home she discovered high winds had broken 2 large limbs from the big old pine tree in her front yard, partially blocking her street. We had a report of apx 3.5 inches of rain not far from her. The Parks Dept came to clear street and a friend helped remove debris from her yard. Second set of storms rolled through before midnight. RACES activated. Remained a heavy rain event through mid-cities and Net closed at 12:57 am.

THURSDAY, June 11th: ANOTHER set of storms came in about 3. An informal ARES Net was activated at 2:55a, but few spotter's were out and I simply could not get through to verify anyone would be at the EOC. I ended up logging from home. Nickle hail, heavy rain, lots of CG in elongated blog of a storm that primarily affected northern Tarrant and Dallas Counties and the mid-Cities area, then lost strength as it moved southeast out of county. Still, I was up past dawn monitoring as new cells kept developing in the same general area. It turned out that Jason had gone in to the EOC. I must have called various numbers 6 or 7 times and had no luck. I'd barely had any sleep when daughter called at 8 am to report lightening had just hit the transformer in her back yard, traumatizing dogs and killing the power. Over 250,000 lost power Wednesday evening. It was obviously going to be a while before anyone got to her. Euless Park Dept had already removed limb from street. I'd had maybe 2 hours very interrupted sleep (blame my aggressively affectionate siamese who kept head butting my chin) when Dave called around 10 to tell me that spotters had just been activated for SET OF STORMS #4. However, there was a big meeting at the EOC and we would be in the way, even in the Radio Room. I had already opened the Event Log from home when Ben from the EOC called to alert me and asked me if I could do it from here. Yep. It was a heavy rain event again moving primarily through the mid-Cities and into Dallas County. After another SHORT NAP and concerned I couldn't reach daughter and concern about contents of her fridge, I drove across Greenbelt though the Trinity River bottoms. I question the wisdom of putting up the flashing "high water" light in a position where it can not be seen until one turns off Green Oaks on to Green Belt. I was going to go turn around at the corner by the water treatment plant where Greenbelt turns north but cars were already coming from the north so I proceeded cautiously, absolutely ready to turn around if I came to any water. The only spot turned out to be the slight curve where Greenbelt branches about 1/4 mile from Trinity Blvd, the main road taking a slight left turn toward Trinity Blvd and the other continuing straight - now blocked off. I stopped to observe the water and could clearly see that by pulling far right into that paved triangle where the roads divide that there was an inch or less of water where my driver-side tires would roll, and that the rest of triangle was water-free. I'm very aware of "Turn Around, Don't Drown" and was ready to do so had I had not been able to tell it was so shallow and only for about 30 feet. A truck was stopped in that triangle and signaled to me asking if the road was clear to the south beyond that point. Advised he was in the only place where water was in the roadway. Fifteen minutes later, on the way home at dusk, however, I took 157 in an abundance of caution. One thing to drive through an inch of water I could see was that shallow than to risk it having risen in the meantime and not being able to tell.

That was Wednesday and Thursday. Encore finally made it to her house to check out the transformer Friday afternoon. I got a SHORT NAP, then woke at 6pm to find a super cell had developed in Jack County NW of Fort Worth which already had rotating structures in it. Spotters confirmed. Initially super cell was headed toward Tarrant County but took a right turn and went through Palo Pinto and Parker Counties instead, dropping funnels just south of Weatherford and near Rio Vista. I headed out to the EOC when the ARES Net came up to serve as the Arlington EOC Net Controller. Dave was at Hamcom. Dub had come in Thursday night to start learning the logging program. I called and asked him to come in again. Gene had already called the EOC saying he was available when I called to see if he was available, if necessary. However, because storms barely entered Tarrant County his kind offer wasn't needed. Still I was at the EOC from 7:30 til almost 9pm.

I got notice Thursday that the Star Telegram is now following me on Twitter. Whoa.