SPARCS Ham Radio Emergency Communication

HUREX 2007 PREPARATION EXERCISE HELD APRIL 10

ARES members were invited by the City of Brownsville EOC to attend the all day preparation seminar for this summer’s HUREX 2007. The seminar required EOC managers and Government Officials from all over Cameron County to evacuate the 2-1-1 sign ups, or in the other words, people with special needs that ranged from not having any transportation to evacuate all the way to people with ongoing medical situations. During the day-long process the local authorities were presented with different scenarios and changing conditions as they dealt with Cameron County’s evacuation hub in San Benito and getting evacuees out of the storm surge danger area by either bus or plane. Several “challenges” were noted by our attending ARES Hams Larry Steller W8ELV and Jerry Rogers KB5TMC especially when it comes to overloading cell sites and central office switches as Hurricane Watches develop and the public begins to react.  The Hams attending the exercise planning all agreed that we’re going to need more hams committed to disaster operations and the sooner we get them signed up and some minimum training and orientation going, the better. Additional reports will originate from the actual HUREX 2007 in the first part of June.