All
MEMA Mass 211 News Release
Hello to all..
Please see the MEMA Press Release below on Mass 2-1-1 as an information line during emergency for flood issues.
73,Rob-KD1CY.
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Peter Judge, MEMA PIO
March 15, 2010 (508) 820-2002
CALL 2-1-1 WITH FLOODING ISSUES
Mass2-1-1 Serves as the Commonwealth’s Information Line during Emergencies
FRAMINGHAM, MA – The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) recommends that those who have been impacted by the storm and subsequent flooding should call 2-1-1 with any questions or issues. Mass2-1-1 serves as the Commonwealth’s primary telephone information call center during times of emergency.
The easy-to-remember 2-1-1 telephone number is a 24/7 resource for human service, public safety and disaster response agencies. It was designed, in part, to reduce the number of non-emergency calls made to 9-1-1.
Mass2-1-1 offers citizens the opportunity for ‘one-stop-shopping’, with access to vital updated disaster information, numerous post-disaster programs, interpreter services, and call tracking of caller locations. Mass2-1-1 was created by The Council of Massachusetts United Ways on behalf of 22 local United Ways serving every community of the Commonwealth.
For additional information about Mass2-1-1, go to http://www.mass211.org/.
The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) is the state agency responsible for coordinating federal, state, local, voluntary and private resources during emergencies and disasters in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. MEMA provides leadership to: develop plans for effective response to all hazards, disasters or threats; train emergency personnel to protect the public; provide information to the citizenry; and assist individuals, families, businesses and communities to mitigate against, prepare for, and respond to and recover from emergencies, both natural and man made. For additional information about MEMA & Flooding Preparedness, go to www.mass.gov/mema. Continue to follow MEMA updates on Facebook and Twitter.
***EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS ARES PLACED ON STAND-BY FOR ALL AREAS DUE TO THE POSSIBILITY OF MOBILIZATION ***
Hello to all..
***EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS ARES PLACED ON STAND-BY FOR ALL AREAS DUE TO THE POSSIBILITY OF MOBILIZATION STARTING AT 8 PM ET SUNDAY LASTING THROUGH AT LEAST 9 AM TUESDAY MORNING 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 CONTINUES UNTIL 12 AM ET MONDAY AND WILL TEMPORARILY SECURE AND THEN RECOMMENCE AT 6 AM ET MONDAY***
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 are placing Eastern Massachusetts ARES in stand-by mode from 8 PM ET Sunday Evening through at least 9 AM Tuesday Morning 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. While winds have temporarily subsided, another round of strong to damaging winds are expected on Monday
UPDATE: Eastern Massachusetts ARES Stand-By Mobilization Effective 8 PM EDT Sunday March 14th, 2010 for Major Nor'easter
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
State Government Liaison (SGL): K3HI Cell Phone Legislation Bill Update
Hello to all..
Please see info on the Cell Phone Legislation Bill as provided by State Government Liasion (SGL) Shawn O’Donnell-K3HI. The bill which currently includes the exemption ammendments for Amateur Radio and other Two-way radio communications is in the ‘house-senate’ conference committee and Shawn describes what we can do next to make sure our ammendments remain in the bill once it comes out of conference committee and potentially goes to a full vote, DE Rob-KD1CY.
Everyone–
The representatives from the House on the conference committee, as confirmed in the House Journal for Monday, are
Joseph Wagner of Chicopee
Michael Costello of Newburyport
Donald Humason of Westfield
The Senate representatives, if Senator’s aide has it right, are
Steven Baddour of Methuen
Stephen Brewer of Barre
Robert Hedlund of Weymouth
Wagner and Baddour are the co-chairs of the Joint Committee on Transportation. Hedlund was co-sponsor of one of the amendments that granted amateur radio an exemption in the Senate version of the bill. So we have a friend on the committee.
As for your right to petition the government…
I don’t get the sense that direct communications with these conference committee members, even from their constituents, will have much effect. These guys get their marching orders from the House/Senate leadership. It would perhaps be more effective for us to contact our own representative and senator, and ask them to urge their chamber to support the two amendments in S2290 that recognize the important contributions of amateur radio. If the leadership hears from enough representatives & senators, we’ll be in good shape.
–Shawn
Waltham ARA Raises Funds for Courage Center Handiham
Members of the Waltham Amateur Radio Association recently embarked upon a project to benefit the Courage Center Handiham program, and to honor the memory of long-time member and Silent Key, Laurie Cote, KC1BN.
A Cote family member contacted Handiham in November, 2009 to inform them that KC1BN had left a sizeable amount of ham equipment from his estate to the non-profit organization based in Golden Valley, Minnesota. Handiham’s Manager, Pat Tice, WA0TDA reached out to Eastern MA Handiham volunteer instructor Phil Temples, K9HI.
Handiham very much appreciated the generous gift from Laurie,” explained Temples. “But the Handiham staff were not easily able to take possession and liquidate the equipment.” That’s when Temples thought to approach Laurie’s home club, the Waltham Amateur Radio Association and seek their help.
“I suggested to WA0TDA that it might make sense to enlist the aid of WARA to sell the equipment from Laurie’s estate, retain a portion of the proceeds, and donate the remainder to the Handiham program. Pat agreed.” Temples added, “I thought it would both honor an organization that Laurie admired, and afford WARA the opportunity to honor Laurie’s memory.”
All parties were agreeable, so K9HI presented the idea at a Waltham ARA meeting in January, 2010. WARA’s Vice President, John Flood, KB1FQG enthusiastically agreed; he volunteered to spearhead the project.
“I’m glad that WARA is able to help the Handiham group with this project,” said Flood. “I do remember hearing that [Laurie] liked the work they do. He wanted to do something like this to help Handiham.”
Flood spent many hours cataloging and testing equipment from Cote’s estate, as well as advertising the items on the club’s mailing list. The response has been very positive: to date, over $3,500 has been collected from sales, with an additional $1,000 expected in the coming weeks.
“Thank you so much for your hard work on our behalf,” wrote Pat Tice, WA0TDA to Flood on behalf of WARA.
“I want to add my thanks for all the hard work [KB1FQG] and other Waltham ARA members have contributed to this project on behalf of Laurie’s family and the two organizations,” added K9HI.
The Courage Center Handiham System is a national program that provides tools for people with disabilities to learn Amateur Radio and technology skills, and to earn their Amateur Radio licenses.
The Waltham Amateur Radio Association is an ARRL-affiliated club, established in 1938. Its repeater site is located on Prospect Hill in Waltham, MA.
STM REPORT EMA SECTION FEBRUARY 2010
STM REPORT EMA SECTION FEBRUARY 2010
NET SES QTC QNI QTR NM
EM2MN 28 430 190 405 N1TPU
EMRIPN 23 86 42 176 WA1FNM
HHTN 20 84 86 358 K1YCQ
WARPSN 04 09 62 NA NI1X
QTC=Traffic QNI=Checkins QTR=Minutes
CALL TOTAL PSHR
N1IQI 2130 115
KW1U 939 120
W1GMF 483 120
N1UMJ 466 140
N1LKJ 411 120
K1YCQ 358 110
KD1LE 84 105
W1PLK 25 70
KK1X 24 84
WA1FNM 02 NA
BPL EARNED 500 OR MORE: N1IQI KW1U
Congratulations on a job WELL DONE.
Jim N1LKJ
Cell Phone Bill Legislation Update from K3HI State Government Liaison
Hello to all..
The following is an update from State Government Liaison Shawn O’Donnell-K3HI on the Cell Phone Bill Legislation:
Last Thursday, I was told by a Senate Ways & Means staffer that there was no schedule for hearing the bill; by Friday, they had edited & published an amended version of the bill.
The Senate’s version of H4475 is called S2290. It removes the requirement for hands-free cell phones for the over-18 crowd. It still bans all cell phone use for junior drivers, and it still prohibits text messaging for everyone, but the hand-held phone/radio rule is gone from this version of the bill.
Full text is available at http://www.mass.gov/legis/bills/senate/186/st02pdf/st02290.pdf
The Senate is expected to debate & vote on this tomorrow, 2 March. If they approve this altered version of the bill, then the House & Senate will have to go to a conference committee to hammer out a mutually agreeable version that they can both approve. Once a bill makes it out of conference, it moves rapidly.
It’s impossible to say what S2290 will look like if it makes it through the Senate. There could be numerous amendments introduced from the floor during debate. At this point, however, it looks like the part of the bill that was most threatening to us has been removed. Whether it will stay removed after debate, or after conference committee–who knows. So it might still be nice for a ham radio exemption to make it in there. If it doesn’t, we’ll just have to hope that the Senate version prevails.
Phone calls to Senators’ offices today, Monday the 1st, or early tomorrow, the 2nd, could be helpful. Please pass the word. For today & tomorrow, we need calls to Senators, not Representatives. We can call the Representatives once we learn what happens in the Senate.
73,Rob-KD1CY.
Reminder: Monthly Eastern Massachusetts ARES Net for March 2010
Hello to all…
A reminder that the monthly ARES Net for March is rapidly approaching. The monthly ARES Net for March is Monday March 1st, 2010, at 8:30 PM on the MMRA Repeater system. This is after the RACES Nets earlier in the evening. For frequencies that will be linked into the ARES Net on the MMRA Network, please see the following link from the MMRA web site and the repeaters that will be linked in will be through Hub 1:
http://www.mmra.org/repeaters/map.html
In addition, if the Echo-IRLP node on the MMRA hub is available, we will likely link that to the New England Reflector system on IRLP 9123/Echolink Conference *NEW-ENG* Node: 9123.
Make the first Monday of the month, “Emergency Communications Night” and check into your local RACES Net and then check into the ARES Net on the MMRA Repeater System. We look forward to your participation and remember, we are always looking for Net Controls to run the ARES Net.
We will have several interesting announcements for the net that evening and we look forward to everyone’s participation. Updates will be posted via email and on the Eastern Massachusetts ARES Web Site at http://ares.ema.arrl.org
Thanks for your continued support of 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
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Secure at 18:00
Hello to all…
***EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS ARES SECURED FROM ALL OPERATIONS AS OF 18:00 SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 28***
***PLEASE SEND AFTER ACTION COMMENTS TO YOUR EC OR DEC***
***SKYWARN ACTIVATION POSSIBLE NEXT 24-48 HOURS FOR UPCOMING STORM SYSTEM – SEE BELOW FOR DETAILS***
The following is the final sit-rep to update the ARES activities that have been taking place in the Eastern Massachusetts section barring any significant changes to the incident. After supporting the American Red Cross Northeast Massachusetts chapter on Saturday, no requests for support were received on Sunday. Power outages across Massachusetts have been reduced to below 2,000 total affected customers from National Grid, again most centered on the North Shore area. Therefore, we will allow Eastern Massachusetts ARES to stand down effective 18:00 this evening. In the unlikely event additional support requests are received, local activations may take place but the threat for a wide-scale ARES operation has now passed.
A significant number of power outages remain in NH (approximately 87,000) even with approximately 2/3 of customers restored, however we have not received any support requests from our New Hampshire ARES neighbors. Eastern MA ARES staff will continue to closely monitor the situation in the event an ARES-MAT request does come through, however this is also considered unlikely and we wish our friends to the north a rapid recovery from the storm as well.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every ARES operator who volunteered their availability in the event additional support was requested or required. Remember, it takes a team of operators to make Eastern MA ARES the success that it has become – no one individual can take the reins alone. All of your support is tremendously appreciated.
If you have any damage pictures from this event, please send them along to your EC or DEC or directly to myself (kb1kqw@nsradio.org) for use by Emergency Management and National Weather Service officials, along with an upcoming SKYWARN recap video that will incorporate this storm. All pictures are helpful and we thank you in advance for sending them along.
Please send any after-action comments that you may have to your DEC or local EC who will relay this information to Eric-KA1NCF and myself, and all comments will be reviewed by EMA ARES staff at an upcoming meeting. All feedback is appreciated, either negative or positive, and will be used to refine our future operations.
Looking towards the future, a storm system will affect portions of the region with some winter weather, strong winds, and a potential for coastal flooding along the Eastern Massachusetts coast. SKYWARN activation of some form is possible over the next 24-48 hours, so please stay tuned to your email for any potential activation messages. The following statements have been issued:
Winter Weather Advisory (Essex County): http://kamala.cod.edu/ma/latest.wwus41.KBOX.html
Coastal Flood Watch (Eastern MA Coast): http://kamala.cod.edu/ma/latest.whus41.KBOX.html
Wind Advisory (Cape and Islands): http://kamala.cod.edu/ma/latest.wwus71.KBOX.html
Flood Warnings (Continued): http://kamala.cod.edu/ma/latest.wgus81.KBOX.html
Again, a heartfelt thanks to everyone for either deploying or standing ready to deploy. It has been a pleasure to work with all of you and thanks for your continued support of Eastern Massachusetts ARES!
Respectfully Submitted,
Jim Palmer – KB1KQW
Eastern Massachusetts Asst. Section Emergency Coordinator
North-side Operations
Carl Aveni – N1FY
Eastern Massachusetts Asst. Section Emergency Coordinator
South-side Operations
ARESMAT SITREP #2
Hello to all…
***EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS ARES RETURNED TO STAND-BY STATUS UNTIL 6PM SUNDAY FOR NORTHSHORE / MIDDLESEX / METRO BOSTON DISTRICTS BUT ALL AREAS SHOULD CONTINUE TO MONITOR***
***NO NEW REQUESTS FOR SERVICE HAVE BEEN RECEIVED, HOWEVER THE POTENTIAL REMAINS FOR ADDITIONAL SUPPORT REQUESTS OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS***
***ARES LEADERSHIP CONTINUES TO CLOSELY MONITOR THE SITUATION***
The following is a sit-rep to update the ARES activities that have been taking place in the Eastern Massachusetts section. A limited ARES deployment took place today at 12:00 at the Newbury Red Cross shelter to support damage assessment and shelter operations. Four operators traveled to the shelter in the event additional communications were necessary to assist with the operation, however by early afternoon ops had ended early and ARES members remained at the shelter through the afternoon to provide additional support if required and secured at 18:00 with no major incidents taking place. The following operators were deployed:
Charlie Rocheleau – W1CPR
Andy Kulhavy – KB1PGF
Bruce Pigott – KC1US
Jim Palmer – KB1KQW (On-site coordination with American Red Cross officials)
While the activity this afternoon was minimal, this proved a fantastic training exercise as well as an opportunity to continue to network with our served agency partners in Northeast Massachusetts. All activity was conducted on the Danvers NSRA 145.47 ARES/SKYWARN repeater with the Gloucester CAARA 145.13 repeater at the ready in the event coverage on Danvers was less than expected. Thanks to both clubs, as well as all our operators who were ready to provide support in the event additional requests were received.
As of 17:30 on Saturday, the number of reported power outages was approximately 17,500 with a majority of these outages centered over the North Shore through National Gird. There are still several communities that have a large number of outages with local residents seeking shelter for the evening. A few shelters remain open across the region (Newbury remains open this evening with a few occupants) with a minimal amount of occupancy reported through early afternoon at other area shelters; however this may change with time depending on weather conditions overnight and through tomorrow if it appears power restoration will take longer than expected. With this expected to last through Sunday, we must remain vigilant in the event an additional request to support sheltering or recovery operations takes place. In the event it looks unlikely further deployments will take place, ARES will be allowed to secure by early Sunday evening.
Please continue to coordinate your availability for Sunday with your DEC or local EC who will relay this information to Eric-KA1NCF and myself. Remember to take this time to check your go-kits to ensure everything is prepared for operations. Your DEC and EC are all available to answer any questions you may have regarding this operation.
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,
Jim Palmer – KB1KQW
Eastern Massachusetts Asst. Section Emergency Coordinator
North-side Operations
Carl Aveni – N1FY
Eastern Massachusetts Asst. Section Emergency Coordinator
South-side Operations
ARESMAT SITREP #1
***EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS ARES HAS BEEN FULLY ACTIVATED FOR ESSEX – MIDDLESEX – SUFFOLK COUNTIES TO SUPPORT POTENTIAL SHELTER OR DAMAGE ASSESSMENT OPERATIONS FOR THE AMERICAN RED CROSS OF NORTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS UNTIL 6PM SUNDAY***
***REMAINING COUNTIES IN THE EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS SECTION ON ARES STAND-BY STATUS NOW UNTIL 6PM SUNDAY***
***NO FORMAL DEPLOYMENTS HAVE TAKEN PLACE AT THIS TIME WHILE ARES LEADERHSIP CONTINUES TO CLOSELY MONITOR THE SITUATION***
The following is a sit-rep to update the ARES activities that are currently ongoing in the Eastern Massachusetts section. ARES teams in the North Shore, Middlesex, and Metro Boston areas have been put on activation due to request for potential support of the American Red Cross of Northeast Massachusetts. We have been requested to potentially provide operators to assist with shelter communications or to assist with point-to-point communications during damage assessment operations. The exact needs are still being refined through ongoing communication with Red Cross officials.
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,
Jim Palmer – KB1KQW
Eastern Massachusetts Asst. Section Emergency Coordinator
North-side Operations
Carl Aveni – N1FY
Eastern Massachusetts Asst. Section Emergency Coordinator
South-side Operations
ARES Team Mobilization – Important Update
North Shore ARES Notification #1 Red Cross, Newburyport Request for Support
OVERVIEW – Updated
North Shore ARES moved to full activation status by KB1KQW and KA1NCF effective Friday afternoon at 13:00 due to request for help by Red Cross Newburyport. Numerous power outages remain and shelters operation are being planned as well as some Disaster Assessment teams being deployed. Shelters are for displaced residents and this is expected to continue through at least Sunday night.
Please continue to send your availability to ares@nsradio.org.
SUMMARY
* North Shore ARES is currently in FULL ACTIVATION mode for ARES-MAT support to affected areas.
* Pictures of damage or coastal flooding are requested by FEMA from this event, please send to pics@nsradio.org.
* The next update to this message will be Friday late afternoon as information becomes available, time and information permitting.
JRP/ENH
Eric Horwitz KA1NCF
North Shore ARES District Emergency Coordinator
ARES Team Mobilization – Important Update
ARES-MAT Assistance
North Shore ARES District Emergency Coordinator
ARES Team placed in Standby until 2200 Friday 2/26/2010
***EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS ARES PLACED ON STAND-BY FOR ESSEX / MIDDLESEX / SUFFOLK COUNTIES FOR POSSIBLE MOBILIZATION STARTING AT 12 AM ET FRIDAY LASTING THROUGH AT LEAST 10PM FRIDAY EVENING DUE TO MAJOR STORM WITH SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE AFFECTING PORTIONS OF THE EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS SECTION***
[…]de W1MPN, SM
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Stand-by Activation for February 25-26 Wind Storm
Hello to all…
***EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS ARES PLACED ON STAND-BY FOR ESSEX / MIDDLESEX / SUFFOLK COUNTIES FOR POSSIBLE MOBILIZATION STARTING AT 12 AM ET FRIDAY LASTING THROUGH AT LEAST 10PM FRIDAY EVENING DUE TO MAJOR STORM WITH SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE AFFECTING PORTIONS OF THE EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS SECTION***
***OTHER AREAS SHOULD CLOSELY MONITOR THIS SITUATION FOR ANY SIGNIFCANT CHANGES***
***SKYWARN ACTIVATION WITH OPS AT NWS TAUNTON CONTINUES UNTIL 2AM MONITORING FOR WIND DAMAGE AND COASTAL FLOODING REPORTS***
A significant coastal storm continues to affect portions of Eastern Massachusetts with most of the significant damage confined to Northeast Massachusetts. Due to the significant damage that has been reported, we are placing portions of Eastern Massachusetts ARES including ESSEX, MIDDLESEX, and SUFFOLK counties in stand-by mode from 12 AM ET Friday through at least 10pm Friday Evening in the event that support is requested by our served agencies. BRISTOL, PLYMOUTH, NORFOLK, BARNSTABLE, and the ISLANDS should closely monitor this situation in the event of a rapid change to the situation. There have been numerous reports of downed trees and power lines, power outages, and significant damage across Northeast Massachusetts into New Hampshire. A complete listing of storm damage reports from NWS-Taunton 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 Warning: http://kamala.cod.edu/ma/latest.whus41.KBOX.html
Flood Warning: http://kamala.cod.edu/ma/latest.wgus41.KBOX.html
Winter Storm Warning: http://kamala.cod.edu/ma/latest.wwus41.KBOX.html
Due to the damage caused in our neighboring New Hampshire section, including reports of several towns losing police and fire dispatch communications as well as 9-1-1 services, NHARES has activated in a Level-3 status with support to the New Hampshire State EOC. For damage reports and warning information for Rockingham County NH and points north, please visit www.erh.noaa.gov/gyx.
Back home, Massachusetts RACES has not been formally activated to support the Massachusetts State EOC. At this time, there have been no formal requests for assistance from our served agencies in Eastern MA and our Eastern Massachusetts ARES leadership continues to closely monitor this changing situation.
We’d like to have ARES personnel continue to assist with SKYWARN reporting of any 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.
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,
Jim Palmer – KB1KQW
Eastern Massachusetts Asst. Section Emergency Coordinator
North-side Operations
Carl Aveni – N1FY
Eastern Massachusetts Asst. Section Emergency Coordinator
South-side Operations
New ARRL website launch date pushed back
We are once again postponing the Web launch until March 24th. We are now confident that we have the majority of the content loaded into the site. In fact some of you have been viewing the new site and commenting on it during the past few weeks. We appreciate all of your help with this effort as the site continues to improve daily.
The current delay is necessary to assure that we have all of the data connections correct. These include data feeds such as hamfests, classes, special events, the new e-store, etc. We also have not tested the member sign up and member transaction portion of the site. These are obviously critical functions and both Fathom and our team will be working on this during the next few weeks.
After two years of work, this delay feels like an eternity to me and the rest of the launch team. Believe me, we all feel terrible about missing yet another deadline. However, this is a large and complex Web site. It is used not only by our members, but also by people around the world who have an interest in Amateur Radio. We want to make sure that we have everything working right when we launch the site.
Along with the Board, staff and SMs, we will be communicating this news to our membership as well. We will put up a news story tomorrow on our current Web site about this delay.
73,
Harold
Harold Kramer, WJ1B
Chief Operating Officer
ARRL – The national association for Amateur Radio.
225 Main Street
Newington, CT 06111
Telephone: 860 594 0220
email: hkramer@arrl.org
web: www.arrl.org/
MA HB 4475 Update…
…can be found in the latest Section News Summaries de W1MPN, SM