ARES / DCARC NETS
DeKalb County ARES Emergency Coordinator
Tom Whitehurst, KC5UN
kc5un@arrl.org 256 845 5335
Monday 7:30 pm AENZ Net
Wednesday 8:00pm South East Linked Repeater Net
Thursday 6:30pm Emergency Communication group Net
Updated Preambles
Informal wx net preamble 27mar09
Thursday net preamble rev090327
All radio operators are welcome to participate in our nets. These nets allow practice for the net control operator as well as all operators that check in. We never know when this practice will be used for real in bad weather or life saving emergency situations. Radio operators can be called upon at any time of day or night to provide communications for local, county, state, national or international. The AENZ net results are relayed to the ARRL and the Emergency Communication group Net results are relayed to the North Alabama SKYWARN. The South East Linked Repeater Net, connects repeaters in Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama and the Carolinas. All amateurs are welcome on all our nets!
The
DeKalb County Amateur Radio Club supports DeKalb County EMA, North Alabama
SKYWARN and routinely conducts training to better help serve all persons in time
need.
Our
weekly Nets prepares each participant for on air conduct and coordination when
needed for real time emergency communications.
Spotter
training classes prepares the amateur radio operator for critical severe weather
related knowledge. We are fortunate
to have the National Weather office come to our county to conduct training.
The
Emergency Communication Group is an EMA
coordinated part of local amateur radio operators and the DCARC.
Here
are some of the local tragic events where we used our extensive training to
serve the public and multiple government agencies.
The Rainsville Tornado on April 22
1997 superceded our monthly club meeting that night.
Many amateur radio operators provided extraordinary help when we needed
it most. Several amateurs traveled
from the Marshal County ARC to provide communications for health and welfare
traffic.
Huntsville Tornado, Nov. 15,
1989
Huntsville, Alabama, was struck
by a deadly tornado around 4:30 pm on Wednesday, November 15, 1989. From an
initial touchdown point on the Redstone Arsenal, the storm cut a destructive,
18.5-mile swath on its northeast trek across the southern sections of
Huntsville. Plowing through businesses and heavily populated residential areas
of the city, the tornado left a tragic legacy; 21 dead, 463 injured and damage
estimated at 100 million dollars. Twelve of the 21 fatalities occurred in
automobiles as many persons were homeward bound during the afternoon rush hour.
The storm was rated an F4
on the Fujita Tornado Intensity Scale.
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/bmx/nov151989/index.html
Palm
Sunday, Tornado Outbreak, March 27, 1994
Dekalb County -
Tornado (F3)
A tornado struck near the Grove
Oak area in the western sections of DeKalb County moving northeast through the
towns of Rainsville, Sylvania, and Henager. In the path of the tornado,
Emergency Management personnel reported 16 homes and 13 mobile homes completely
destroyed, 45 homes and 2 mobile homes with major damage, and 21 homes and 9
mobile home with minor damage. Two businesses and 12 poultry houses were
destroyed. In addition, 0.75 inch hail reported at Sylvania at 1148 am CST, at
Henager at 1157 am CST.
At 1150 am CST golf ball size
hail was reported in southern Cherokee County, 10 miles southeast of Centre,
with the thunderstorm that produced the tornado.
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/bmx/march_27_1994/march_27_1994.html
The
tornado track was 5 miles in length beginning approximately 3 miles southwest of
Rainsville and traveled five miles through the center of Rainsville ending about
2 miles northeast of the center of Rainsville (
map of tornado track, size = 52kb). The tornado was 220 yards in width at
its widest. On the Fujita scale for tornado classification which ranks tornadoes
from F0 for the weakest to F5 for the most violent storms, this tornado was
rated as an F2. This places the wind speed in the range from 113 to 157 miles
per hour.
The tornado
began at 3:53 pm 3 miles southwest of Rainsville, just south of the intersection
of County Roads 92 and 72. The tornado moved northeastward directly through the
downtown area of Rainsville where the fire and police station was severely
damaged along with a
number
of commercial buildings. The tornado continued northeast crossing Dilbeck and
Marshall Roads before ending about 2 miles northeast of Rainsville on the east
side of Marshall Road. The tornado severely damaged a large poultry raising
facility and debris from the chicken houses was blown over half a mile further
to the northeast. The tornado had dissipated by 4:01 pm. Rainsville officials
put the tornado in downtown Rainsville at 3:57 pm.
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/bmx/apr2297/rainsville.html
http://www.cnn.com/US/9704/22/briefs.pm/tornado/tornado.17.mov
