Flood cri­sis response by radio amateurs
Oper­a­tors are request­ed to QSY away from 7.060–7.063MHz due to use by Thai­land hams dur­ing the flood emergency.
Thai author­i­ties con­tin­ue to bat­tle the country’s worst floods in decades with the death toll at some 280. The cap­i­tal of Bangkok is under threat dis­pute sandbagging.
In out­ly­ing areas the floods have destroyed crops, inun­dat­ed fac­to­ries and dam­aged the homes or liveli­hoods of mil­lions of peo­ple. About 110,000 peo­ple have sought refuge in shelters.
The flood­ing will con­tin­ue for a week. The high tide will pre­vent the flood­wa­ters escap­ing to the sea for a day or two while the recov­ery efforts may take a year.
The major­i­ty of flood radio traf­fic is being car­ried on the 2‑metre band by vol­un­teers, some which have had their homes inun­dat­ed, and it’s not pos­si­ble to esti­mate how many radio ama­teurs are involved.
The RAST head­quar­ters sta­tion HS0AC is under threat from the flood waters. RAST Inter­na­tion­al Liai­son Offi­cer Tony Waltham, HS0ZDX, has sent out an appeal to mem­bers and friends advis­ing them of the extent of the flood disaster.
Ear­li­er the Nation­al Broad­cast­ing and Telecom­mu­ni­ca­tions Com­mis­sion of Thai­land donat­ed an ama­teur radio repeater for use in flood relief communications.
— Jim Lin­ton VK3PC, Chair­man, IARU Region 3 Dis­as­ter Com­mu­ni­ca­tions Committee.