Hello to all…
***EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS ARES CONTNUES STANDBY FOR POSSIBLE ARESMAT DEPLOYMENTS TO NYC/LI/NEW JERSEY AREA DUE TO MAJOR IMPACTS IN THAT AREA FROM HURRICANE SANDY.***
Hurricane Sandy caused impacts similar to Hurricane Irene across Southern New England from a storm surge and wind damage standpoint but less issues with regard to rainfall which was largely as expected. Approximately 400,000 lost power in the commonwealth of Massachusetts and approximately 600,000+ lost power in Connecticut. All of this with Sandy tracking into Southern New Jersey. ARES support for various agencies across the area came to an end on Tuesday. An update on storm impacts can be seen via the Post-Hurricane Sandy Coordination Message #1 and will be updated again later today. That message can be found on the NWS Taunton Amateur Radio SKYWARN home page at http://www.wx1box.org
Across New Jersey, New York City and Long Island, the issues were even more significant. New Jersey has 2.6 Million people without power (approximately double what Irene did) and there were major impacts across New York City and Long Island from wind damage and storm surge flooding. For this reason, the Eastern Massachusetts ARES standby remains in place for the next 48 hours for the potential of an ARESMAT to this region. Coordination is taking place with the ARES Section Emergency Coordinators of Northern New Jersey, Southern New Jersey and the New York City/Long Island sections in case support is requred.
We are looking for any folks interested in doing an ARESMAT deployment to this region. When sending your availability, please send the following: Name, Call-sign, License Class, Capability (HF / VHF / UHF), Availability, and any other special notes we should be aware of. We ask that as you contact your DEC, please send a copy of the message to hurricane@nsradio.org where multiple members of the EMA ARES Leadership will be able to access your availability.
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 is fully understood.
Thanks for your continued support of Eastern Massachusetts ARES!
Respectfully Submitted,
Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator for NWS Taunton Massachusetts
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator