SB QST @ ARRL $ARLB029
ARLB029 Tornadoes bring out hams
QST de W1AW
ARRL Bulletin 29  ARLB029
From ARRL Headquarters
Newington CT  March 30, 1994
To all radio amateurs

Tornadoes bring out hams

Members of the ARRL Amateur Radio Emergency Service have been
extremely active and visible during and following tornadoes that
struck several southeastern states on Sunday, March 27.

In Alabama, more than 70 amateurs in 10 counties participated in the
state's 2-meter weather spotting net, as well as in damage
assessment following the storms, according to Herb Griffin, N4ZOV,
president of the Calhoun County Amateur Radio Association, an ARRL
Special Services Club.  The National Weather Service in Birmingham
received the reports via W4CUE, repeater station of the Birmingham
Amateur Radio Club.

Carol Boothe, KE4HJU, was cited by Griffin and others for yeoman
service as net control on the 2-meter net, conducted through
repeater station WB4GNA, with its wide coverage from the highest
point in Alabama, atop Mt. Cheaha.

In Georgia, where the state's ARES net was activated Sunday
afternoon following reports of tornadoes in Alabama, amateurs manned
ARES nets in 12 counties in the storm's expected path.  Local
2-meter net reports were funneled to the Georgia ARES Net on 3975
kHz, with liaisons to both Alabama and South Carolina.  From there
spotting reports were relayed to state Red Cross Headquarters in
Atlanta.

Georgia ARRL Section Emergency Coordinator Dot Fennell, KA4HHE, told
an interviewer for WJCL-TV in Savannah about Amateur Radio's role in
storm communications.  "Doppler radar is wonderful," she said, "but
the human eye is the best weather instrument."

The ARRL welcomes reports and photos from amateurs involved in these
operations.
/EX