Blackout in the N.E.

   Now that the power is back in the North East, it would be a benefit for all emergency coordinators to look at the situation with an eye for solutions were this kind of power breakdown to occur in our section. The number one thing we can all do is to get prepared before hand. The Red Cross has a good page on "Rolling Blackouts" and how to prepare.

From:  www.arrl.org

Hams a Bright Spot During Power Blackout

NEWINGTON, CT, Aug 15, 2003--

       When a blip on the electricity distribution grid August 14 took out

power to at least a half dozen states in the eastern US, many Amateur Radio

operators were ready and able to provide whatever assistance they could. Hardest

hit were metropolitan areas like New York City, Detroit and Cleveland. In New

York, residents and commuters found themselves stranded in

electricity-dependent elevators and subway or rail cars while visitors ended up stuck at airports,

which were forced to shut down. With the cellular telephone system overloaded

or out altogether, the incident turned into a test of Amateur Radio's

capabilities to operate without commercial power.

       "It was a good drill," said New York City-Long Island Section

Emergency Coordinator Tom Carrubba, KA2D. But, he adds, it was a cautionary tale too.

"The lesson is that everybody gets a little complacent," he said. "Have

emergency power backup and make sure it's working!" Some repeaters in the

blacked-out Greater New York City area--including the primary 147.000 "TAC 2"

machine--were down, but several others remained on the air with emergency power.

       By and large, Carrubba said, the system worked according to plan, and

ARES members did what they were trained to do.  "It's going to show the worth

of Amateur Radio," he said of the blackout response. "There were people on the

air immediately."

       Diane Ortiz, K2DO, the Public Information Coordinator for NYC-Long

Island was one of them. When power went down in her Suffolk County community, she

started up an informal net on the Long Island Mobile Amateur Radio Club's

146.85 repeater. Over the next 20 hours or so, the net passed approximately 500

pieces of what Ortiz described as largely "health-and-welfare traffic." A lot

of it was on behalf of individuals stuck in the city and needing to contact

family members.

       "People are getting on and helping," she said. In addition to handling

messages, amateurs also relayed useful information, such as which stores or

filling stations were open and operating. Many radio and TV stations went dark

as a result of the power failure, and hams were able to help fill the

information void, Ortiz said.

       In the Big Apple itself, ARES New York City-Long Island District

Emergency Coordinator Charles Hargrove, N2NOV, remained at the city's Red Cross

Headquarters in Manhattan, where power was restored around 5 AM.  "There are some

power fluctuations going on, and that is the main concern right now--that

power may go off again," Hargrove told ARRL.

       ARES support of Red Cross operations, which began yesterday (Thursday,

14 August), continues. ARES teams are providing communication for the Red

Cross Emergency Response Vehicles (ERVs) set up at main transportation centers in

Manhattan--Grand Central Station, Penn Station and at the Port Authority

Terminal. ARES members also accompanied ERVs called into action to follow New York

Fire Department personnel on more than two dozen fire calls.  "After a long

night of operations, some ARES members went home to get some rest around 6 AM,"

Hargrove said.

       RACES organizations activated in most Greater New York City area

counties after a state of emergency was declared. Some ARES teams--including a few

across the Hudson River in New Jersey--activated or remained on standby to

help if called upon. In New Jersey, a net set up on a back-up repeater

established communication with the Red Cross lead chapter's N2ARC in Princeton--staffed

by members of Mercer County ARES/RACES--and other New Jersey ARC chapters.

       The state of emergency included five counties in northern New Jersey,

said SEC Steve Ostrove, K2SO. He spent about four hours at the EOC in

Elizabeth after the blackout began. "The Elizabeth Police were impressed with the

information I was able to provide," he said. The net stood down at about 10 PM

after telephone communication among the Red Cross chapters had been reestablished

and power began to be restored.

       In upstate New York, Fred Stevens, K2FRD, says the situation reminded

him of the 1964 power blackout in the eastern US. "This is an emergency

communicator's wildest fantasy: a major power outage in which we can demonstrate our

preparedness," he said.  In his county, Chenango, ARES has been activated and

the local EOC is staffed by Amateur Radio operators and the Chenango Amateur

Radio Emergency Service net is up and running with stations on battery power

and standing by. "We are ready for whatever might happen," Stevens said.

       Comments posted on the HamsEF reflector by Ken Davis, KB2KFV, who's

president of the Rensselaer, New York, County ARES/RACES Club reflected that

attitude.  "It seems that the amateurs were better prepared than the government

sector," he said. "Amateurs in this area were up and on the air before there

was any response from local government." Davis said Rensselaer County EC and

Chief RACES Officer Jim Noble, K2ZP, activated ARES and mustered a net on the

Troy Radio Club RACES repeater, requesting stations to standby and monitor the

frequency for updates.

Michigan and Ohio

       Michigan Section Manager Dale Williams, WA8EFK, reports scattered ARES

activations in his state. Williams, who lives in Dundee south of Detroit, was

without power this morning and relying on his emergency generator. "It could

be another 48 hours before power is restored," he said. Some ARES teams in

Michigan were providing assistance to emergency operations centers and to the Red

Cross, because the relief agency's telephone system relies on commercial

power. Nets have been brought up on both HF and VHF frequencies.

       In Ohio, Section Emergency Coordinator Larry Rain, WD8IHP, reports

that all ARES organizations in northern Ohio were activated after the power grid

went down. Still going strong are ARES teams in Cleveland and Akron--both

still without power. "ARES is handling communication support for Ohio Emergency

Management in the affected cities and communities," Rain said. Power has been

restored in Toledo, however.

       Rain reports a power surge that occurred when the electricity came

back on disrupted the Richland County Hospital's telephone system. "Amateur Radio

was there to provide back-up communication until 4:30 this morning," he said.

Ohio VHF and UHF nets and the Ohio SSB net on HF have been handling

blackout-related traffic.

       Nancy Hall, KC4IYD--who lives 20 miles west of Cleveland--said she's

glad of two things: That she had taken the ARRL Emergency Communications Level

I class, and that she and her husband have an emergency generator. "We used it

to run the fridge for about two hours and then used it to run the 2-meter rig

and HF rig to listen to the ARES nets," she said.  Hall said she just

received a follow-up survey on the emergency communications class that asked if she

had used any of the information she learned.  "I can now say, 'yes,'" said

Hall, who noted that she's now signed up for the Level II class."  I will again

highly recommend them to anyone who wants to learn more about emergency

communication.  "She and her husband also made use of their BayGen windup radio to

listen to local broadcasts. "We also own a hand-crank flashlight," Hall added. 

She said the family put aside drinking water early in the blackout--which

turned out to be a good thing, because their community's emergency generator was

only good for about two hours to run the water supply's pumps.  "I have to say

that being a ham and knowing about emergency preparedness did make life easier

for me and my family," Hall said.

New England

       New England states were far less affected by the blackout since most

operate on an altogether different power grid than the one that failed. New

England area ARES/RACES operators were in standby mode after the blackout rippled

through the system to the South and West. Only Connecticut and sections of

Western Massachusetts reported significant outages, and ARES nets activated in

both states.

       ARRL Eastern Massachusetts PIC Jim Duarte, N1IV, reports the

ARES/RACES response in the Bay State was "quick and organized, showing that our recent

drills and training sessions have proved beneficial.  "Western Massachusetts

SM Bill Voedisch, W1UD, reports the Leominster EOC was activated on a standby

basis. Although he is equipped with a diesel-powered generator to supply his

house and ham shack, his part of Massachusetts suffered no power losses.

       Parts of Berkshire County in extreme western Massachusetts suffered

from the blackout, although power was restored fairly promptly there. Bill

Sexton, N1IN/AAR1FP, an Army MARS member, said his emergency power capability

permitted him to run his station and maintain e-mail contact.

       "We had the Northeast SHARES (National Communications System HF Shared

Resources Program) up and running cross-country on a Condition Two readiness

alert." Sexton said. He reports that when he called in on the SHARES channel,

a MARS station in Nebraska responded to say he was ready to handle any relays.

       "The experience proved once gain the great strength of ham radio in an

emergency," Sexton said. "It is self-starting, and it is everywhere."

--Steve Ewald, WV1X, contributed information for this story

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Sunday May 22, 2005