SB QST @ ARL $ARLB082
ARLB082 Hurricane Watch Net closes; Georges languishes on Gulf Coast
ZCZC AG82
QST de W1AW
ARRL Bulletin 82 ARLB082
From ARRL Headquarters
Newington CT September 29, 1998
To all radio amateurs
SB QST ARL ARLB082
ARLB082 Hurricane Watch Net closes; Georges languishes on Gulf Coast
With Hurricane Georges downgraded to a tropical storm, the Hurricane
Watch Net on 14.325 MHz has finally been able to end its marathon
operation. ''Our business is done,'' said Net Manager Jerry Herman,
N3BDW, as he got word of the storm's new status September 28. ''It
went well.''
The Hurricane Watch Net had remained active for about 10 days
straight as Georges moved from the Caribbean to the Gulf of Mexico,
passing weather-related information via W4EHW at the National
Hurricane Center in Miami.
The lengthy operation took a toll on net control operators, who
became scarcer as the storm refused to quit. Herman said the net
operated nearly around the clock, although 20-meter propagation was
lost during nighttime hours. ''It was a long haul for our operators,''
he said. ''Every time I thought we were about ready to run out of
operators, some more folks would jump back in there and do it
again.''
The Hurricane Watch Net formed in 1964 after Hurricane Bestsy.
Herman called Georges ''a really unique storm that just kept going.''
At this point, Tropical Storm Georges continues generate heavy rain
along the Gulf Coast. Flooding is reported in several states,
especially in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
Alabama Section Emergency Coordinator Joey Carter, AE4WP, reports
Mobile and Baldwin counties have been the hardest hit, and
additional flooding was expected in southern Alabama, where heavy
rain was reported. Carter said more than two dozen tornado warnings
went up in Alabama on September 28. The Alabama Emergency Net on
3965 kHz has continued active.
''We have had a lot of folks helping out on the Emergency Net, and
that has been a blessing,'' Carter said. ''We're getting good
information back that we are able to send to the National Weather
Service.''
Hams in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi were cooperating with
regional HF nets for emergency and health-and-welfare traffic as
well as linked VHF/UHF repeaters.
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/EX
