Decem­ber and Jan­u­ary were very busy as USA radio ama­teurs swung into action in response to wide­spread flood­ing, a giant snow­fall, and a taint­ed water sup­ply drama.

Bill Grims­bo N0PNP, Dis­trict C Emer­gency Coor­di­na­tor, said when floods hit South­west Wash­ing­ton and his­toric flood­ing occurred in the Greater St Louis area, more than 170 hours of ser­vice was giv­en work­ing with respond­ing agencies.

Some 26 ARES vol­un­teers plus mem­bers of radio club worked with the Red Cross at shelters.
They helped coor­di­nate com­mu­ni­ca­tions among the shel­ters and Red Cross headquarters.

Then a storm on the Jan­u­ary 23–24 week­end dropped heavy snow, paralysing many east coast states faced with ice caus­ing pow­er out­ages and flood­ing along coastal areas.

In the New York City area, ARES Hud­son Divi­sion Direc­tor Mike Lisen­co N2YBB, said the city was shut down, includ­ing a ban on all cars.

ARES mem­bers were on stand­by to assist with any shel­ter com­mu­ni­ca­tion, after being asked by served agen­cies, includ­ing the Red Cross, and the coun­ty emer­gency man­ag­er. Oth­ers were direct­ly involved with storm-relat­ed operations.

SKYWARN took part on VHF and UHF repeaters, and 40 metres, track­ing the snow­fall with vital weath­er information.

ARES was again called to help in Ohio Com­mu­ni­ty where lead-taint­ed water was found.

An ARES Emer­gency Coor­di­na­tor Wes Boyd W8IZC, received the ini­tial call that saw vol­un­teers join oth­ers in mov­ing and dis­trib­ut­ing 166 pal­lets of bot­tled water in six days.

The Emer­gency Man­age­ment Agency and Red Cross were over­joyed that radio operators
were involved, show­ing their avail­abil­i­ty in any capac­i­ty at times of need.

-Jim Lin­ton VK3PC, Chair­man IARU Region 3 Dis­as­ter Com­mu­ni­ca­tions Committee.