Hello to all..
***MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNOR DEVAL PATRICK DECLARES A STATE OF EMERGENCY FOR THE IMPACTS OF THE MAJOR NOREASTER THAT HAS IMPACTED THE COMMONWEALTH***
***EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS ARES CONTINUES STAND-BY FOR ALL AREAS DUE TO THE POSSIBILITY OF MOBILIZATION STARTING AT 8 PM ET SUNDAY AND HAS BEEN EXTENDED THROUGH SATURDAY AFTERNOON MARCH 20TH 12 PM ET DUE TO MAJOR STORM THAT IS ONGOING AND CAUSING SIGNIFICANT FLOODING IN PORTIONS OF THE EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS SECTION AS WELL AS BROUGHT POCKETS OF WIND DAMAGE TO THE EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS SECTION***
***OTHER AREAS SHOULD CLOSELY MONITOR THIS SITUATION FOR ANY SIGNIFCANT CHANGES***
***SKYWARN ACTIVATION WITH OPS AT NWS TAUNTON WILL TEMPORARILY SECURE AT APPROXIMATELY 10 PM MONDAY EVENING AND REACTIVATE ON TUESDAY FOR THE IMPACT OF THIS MAJOR STORM BEFORE SECURING BY TUESDAY EVENING***
A significant coastal storm continues to affect the region with significant river, stream and urban flooding. Secondarily, the storm has brought down pockets of trees and power lines across portions of the Eastern Massachusetts section. Due to the significant flooding and pockets of wind damage that has been reported, we have placed Eastern Massachusetts ARES in stand-by mode from 8 PM ET Sunday Evening and extended the standby mobilization status through 12 PM ET Saturday Afternoon in the event that support is requested by our served agencies. There have been numerous reports of significant flooding which has included evacuation of apartment complexes. Winds to near hurricane force on Cape Cod and the Islands and wind gusts to 50 MPH or more have occurred in the Eastern Massachusetts section. Another round of winds with gusts to 50-60 MPH will occur overnight before the storm finally departs from the region Tuesday. A complete listing of storm damage reports and current NWS-Taunton statements can be found at:
Local Storm Report: http://kamala.cod.edu/ma/latest.nwus51.KBOX.html
Public Information Statement: http://kamala.cod.edu/ma/latest.nous41.KBOX.html
Coastal Flood Advisory: http://kamala.cod.edu/ma/latest.whus41.KBOX.html
Flood Warning: http://kamala.cod.edu/ma/latest.wgus41.KBOX.html
Flood Statement: http://kamala.cod.edu/ma/latest.wgus81.KBOX.html
The Massachusetts STATE EOC and Regional offices are now in a full activation mode to monitor the progress of this storm. Other than local support at the city/town level, there have been no formal requests for widespread assistance from our served agencies (i.e.: Red Cross and Salvation Army among others) in Eastern MA and our Eastern Massachusetts ARES leadership continues to closely monitor this changing situation. It is noted that 2 regional American Red Cross shelters have been opened which are the Arlington School in Lawrence and the Brockton High school in Brockton. To date, phone services continue to be in place but that could change, as rivers are still not at the point of cresting. In addition, auxiliary support resources by served agencies such as the Red Cross may be utilized for damage assessment similar to what was done in the May Floods of 2006. A request of this type occurred several days after the floods and the storm had passed. Therefore, the ARES Stand-By mobilization has been extended in case such an agency request occurs.
We’d like to have ARES personnel continue to assist with SKYWARN reporting of any river, stream, urban flooding, wind damage and power outages, along with reports of coastal flooding. Keep your situational awareness level high for any updates from ARES leadership by checking your email for updates and our ARES web site at http://ares.ema.arrl.org, monitoring local SKYWARN/ARES/RACES frequencies and reporting into the nets and monitor local media on this potentially significant storm.
Please advise your local EC/DEC/ADEC of your availability to support a potential deployment anytime over the next week through Sunday March 22nd. Please copy your ASEC and SEC when you send a note to your EC/ADEC. This is being done to cover a situation where the EC/ADEC or DEC is unavailable because they were adversely affected by the storm, out of area or some other exigency has occurred.
What is ARES Stand-By mode?
ARES stand-by mode is to alert Amateurs within ARES that a mobilization is possible on a wide-scale and that some localized mobilizations are or could be taking place in isolated areas. It means to take a look at your Go-Kit and have batteries and equipment ready to go and charged up and take care of any requirements at home in case a mobilization is required and you can participate. Do NOT self-deploy. Wait for guidance from leadership for any deployment. It is an honor to be ready even if you don’t deploy for the event. Hopefully, this is just another exercise of our preparedness and capabilities. If not, the ARES leadership looks forward to working with you if any wide scale mobilization is required after the impact of this major storm to the region.
Thanks for your continued support of Eastern Massachusetts ARES!
Respectfully Submitted,
Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator
Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875 (After 6 PM)
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503 (After 6 PM)
Work Phone #: 508-346-2929 (8 AM-5 PM)
Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com
http://ares.ema.arrl.org
http://www.wx1box.org