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May 10, 2007

Kansas SATERN Report

SECOND REPORT........ Reference the Tornado touchdown on Friday May 4th at 9:55pm in Greensburg, KS located South Central Kansas in Kiowa County. I wanted to give you another update on the SATERN activity in support of the EDS at Haviland and Greensburg, KS. I am still awaiting details on all the ARES members who have come to our rescue. Once I have that information I will send you a report that will include all the information on our ARES support this past week.
We have maintained 6 operators daily since Monday through SATERN and ARES members, which has now expanded to include hams from across the State and one from Oklahoma.  Week days have been extremely hard to cover due to many hams having jobs and unable to leave. But after our plea of needed operators late Wednesday afternoon, we have been blessed with those willing to leave their jobs to come, making it possible to keep all positions covered. Last report indicates the highways into Greensburg is still blocked to anyone who has no affiliation or need to be there. Copies of amateur radio license and drivers license is required to pass through the blockades, even if you have an assignment. At this time we have the needed 6 operators minimum for operation through Sunday, May 13th. We will assess the needs for the week of May 14th [Mon-Fri] this Friday afternoon. We are making every attempt to give operators a minimum of 24 hours notice for their arrival. We have accommodated operators arrival and departure times to fit their own schedules. Robert Haneke WG0Q the ARES DEC for Kiowa Co has taken over the scheduling of operators in order to maintain a more accurate tracking of available operators and their assignments. As I receive notice of willing operators, they are referred to Robert for final deployment. Robert has had a lot of experience in disasters through his many years as DEC. He also lives in the most "active" tornado area in Kansas -- which gives him lots of opportunity for all this experience! The Kansas Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters [KSVOAD] members gathered on Tuesday morning and held a planning conference in Haviland.  From that conference they initiated the statewide "211" systems which allows anyone who would like to volunteer and not affliated with an organization can call "211" and begin the process for assignment. As of Wednesday, Robert Haneke advises all volunteers will be processed through that system. I have represented Kansas SATERN in this organization since 2005 through the encouragement of Dee Smith. This is an extremely important organization that all ham organizations should get involved with in each state. This gives you the opportunity to understand what each of the many organizations offer during a disaster.  With a face-to-face twice a year and telephone conference twice a year, you also have the opportunity to know the leaders of each of these statewide organizations. The KSVOAD is a part of the national organization of VOAD. To learn more about them and find which organizations are involved here in Kansas, go to the KSVOAD website: www.ksvoad.org
The Kansas SATERN Division Net Coordinator, Larry Gunther N0MTC has continued with our three daily 75m nets. With the assistance of a "lot" of relays through the poor propagation, we have handled the necessary traffic and information between our members. SATERN member John Strobel K0PAL from Barton Co has been a great help by assisting as Net Control during our daytime nets along with Assistant Division SATERN Coordinator, Rich Britain N0ENO.  Larry N0MTC and George McCarville WB0CNK have been spending a lot of time as Net Control each evening handling a lot of information on our nets. Larry endured through an extremely challenging net as Net Control on Tuesday for 90 minutes due to poor propagation and multiple relays to pass the a lot of needed information. I personally was really tired by the end of that net! : ) Our mobile HF station setup there in Haviland, by George Rainsbarger WB0VLB from Lyon county on Monday has continued to make contact on every net each day. He has had no relief operator due to having only one operator available for each assignment. A fourth canteen was brought in and created the need for one more additional operator than planned for each day. George planned to setup his operation along at TSA Service Center located at the Community Center in Haviland, but the College Gymnasium proved to be a more workable site... so George has been setup there to maintain communications at the primary support center for all the organizations. I understand they have kept him extremely busy!! We had a crunch for Thursday and Friday as many of the SATERN and ARES resources had been exhausted. With email notices sent to our ARRL Leaders in Kansas and through the excellent resource of SATERN member Larry Staples W0AIB in Johnson County with his email list of over 700+ hams, we broadcasted a plea for support and within 2 hours had covered the assignments for Thursday and Friday. We even had one extra operator which will allow some much needed relief for George WB0VLB as our HF operator. George originally had planned to return home after Friday, but due to our needs, he has committed to stay through Sunday, which will make him on duty for 7 days straight! Our Operation Guidelines call for operators to be on duty only 8 hours due to fatigue, but the communications has been critical and operators have not been available ... so George graciously offered to continue his efforts! T he one canteen which lacked communications, has been covered by a SATERN member every day. Dee Smith indicates that since our operator has been with that canteen, they have "saved the day". Communications with each canteen has been an extremely high priority due to the ever changing locations and multiple personnel on site. Henry Monton W0IE from Sedgwick county had taken two days off of work to cover this canteen on Monday and Tuesday but had to return to work on Wednesday. Our SATERN member Galon Rose KC0AUD from Ford county c ame i n on Wednesday to cover that canteen for two days. SATERN member Joe Krout W0PWJ from Wyandotte Co has taken time off work to arrive on Friday to relieve Galon. Joe will be bringing any needed personal supplies for our members who have been there all week. So far, Joe is our only scheduled operator that will continue through Monday, May 14th. SATERN member Lynn Grimes KG0WQ from Sedgwick county has cover ed the 2nd canteen since Tuesday and will be relieved on Saturday by our SATERN member Darren Martin N0MZW from Johnson County who will cover this canteen through Sunday . Our 3rd canteen which did not have an operator until late Monday has been covered by volunteer ARES member s until today .    SATERN member Stan Frear KC0NXJ from Johnson Co is scheduled to arrive there today and stay until tomorrow.  We have ARES members scheduled again to cover for this weekend. I failed to get the details on whether any of these operators assigned to the canteens were able to support APRS operation in the field. Our Division Net Coordinator, Larry Gunther N0MTC has just recently created a plan [where he has setup at his home QTH] a SATERN APRS station and he can take checkins from anyone all week long, creating an APRS NET. This has been a great tool to let members test their APRS capability and a great asset for SATERN to have APRS coverage available 24/7. APRS and GPS are so important when a canteen is constantly moving and no street signs can be used to guide supply vehicles. Volunteer drivers for the canteens are also usually from out of town and unfamiliar with the local area which makes the situation just as confusing for them. I believe APRS helps all personnel involved in the operation and I think we are very fortunate to have a member like Larry who has created this great tool for our use. The 4th canteen which was not originally scheduled has been covered by ARES members until today when several SATERN members from Montgomery Co arrived late last night to cover the open assignments.  SATERN members Ken Collins KU0B, Ed Howard KB5FUP and Charles Vest KC0EH came to cover positions for Thursday and Friday. The Montgomery Co members hosted a special training session for the Intro to EDS course last March, in order to gain more knowledge about TSA and complete the required TSA training. They were among the first SATERN members in our division to complete this training and among the first operators to answer our plea on Wednesday -- these are great hams to have when you need support! Dee Smith and Brian Carroll with TSArmy spent much of their time together and physically close to a stationary canteen, which saved one more required operator in providing a Shadow for them. Brian Carroll sent a request to DHQ for supplies through our net on Wednesday evening. His message was delivered along with the offer to deliver any personal needs to TSA personnel. Joe Krout W0PWJ who is leaving for assignment today has offered to transport in his vehicle any emergency supplies.
Rich Britain N0ENO, my Division Assistant SATERN Coordinator and Robert Haneke WG0Q, the ARES DEC for Kiowa Co have continued providing support above and beyond that which could be asked or expected . Rich and Robert have been working together in coordinating the volunteers. They were able to cover all our needed positions through Sunday evening. We are still unsure of what we will need beginning on Monday, so Rich and Robert are creating a HOLD ROSTER which will be a list of names of volunteers that are available after Monday. We will attempt to make a good "guess-timate" of what may be needed through next week and use these operators on our HOLD ROSTER to fill those positions. The big news is Dee Smith, our EDS Director was one of only 14 people who was invited and received security clearance to attend a special briefing for President Bush, during his visit to Greensburg yesterday, Wednesday May 9th. She also got a photo of the President with his arm around her!! Needless to say this was a once in a lifetime experience.  Photos were gladly given by the President, obliging "every" request and even initiating the opportunity for photos. On a personal note -- Dee says these Secret Service guys are awesome . One of the Kansas State officials commented that her daughter wanted his autograph, but he probably couldn't do that -- President Bush picked up a piece of paper immediately and asked what her name was -- wrote it on a paper and gave it to her. Dee says he spent a lot of time with TSA volunteers and personally talking with many of them.  He also showed his deep appreciation for all the work the volunteers were doing there. President Bush left all those in Greensburg with an exceptional feeling of personal caring for each and every one. I am scheduled to give a presentation at the SATERN Forum in Dayton next weekend so I will be driving to Dayton on Wednesday May 16th and not returning until the next Sunday, then working all day on Monday. Since I procrastinated about preparing my presentation until this past weekend I am now in a crunch to have things ready to go. Due to this, I will be turning over the coordination of all the SATERN activity to Rich Britain as of this Saturday afternoon. He will be working with Robert Haneke to maintain the schedules for the next week and through Tuesday May 22nd if needed.  I will send another report after Saturday May 12th on the status of our SATERN support and the special ARES report on their assistance. I will ask Rich to give you a report on our activity at regular intervals.
I am not sure where we stand nationwide, but I would certainly think we could qualify for having the most multiple disaster activity in one state at the same time this past week.  Dee mentioned that there were over 18 canteens on duty in Kansas this past week. Here's hoping next week will be a little less "disastrous".
June Jeffers KBØWEQ
KS & Western MO Division S.A.T.E.R.N. Coordinator
KS ARRL DEC - Liaison to The Salvation Army

May 12, 2007

To Patrick McPherson WW9E - National SATERN Director
cc: Dee Smith - EDS Divisional Director
Richard Scott - EDS Divisional Assistant Director
Rich Britain N0ENO - Division Assistant SATERN Coordinator
Ron Cowan KB0DTI - ARRL Kansas Section Manager
Bob Summers K0BXF - ARRL Kansas Section Emerg Coordinator
Robert Haneke WG0Q - ARRL ARES District Emerg Coordinator [Kiowa
County]

THIRD REPORT........Reference the Tornado touchdown on Friday May 4th at 9:55pm
in Greensburg, KS located South Central Kansas in Kiowa County. I wanted to
give you another update on the SATERN activity in support of the EDS at Haviland
and Greensburg, KS before I head off to Dayton. This report will be a little
"light" due to my time restraint -- maybe that's a good thing! hi hi

Due to my prep for Dayton, Rich Britain N0ENO my Assistant Coordinator has taken
over the Greensburg operation. As of yesterday, Saturday May 12th we worked
together to transfer information.   After a week of assistance from Robert
Hanake the DEC who has been coordinating our operators he will no longer be
available to assist us. We are so thankful we had him helping us -- I am sure
we couldn't have done it without him. Rich will be doing the primary
coordinating with SATERN member Joe Krout W0PWJ from Wyandotte Co being our
point person in Greensburg for new arrivals. Joe left on Thursday and planned
to stay until Monday, but with our critical need for operators, he has committed
to staying the entire next week [that is if he can get a hold of his
employer!!].

I have received the names of the ARES members helping in Greensburg. Robert
Haneke has done a great job securing the support from the ARES to fill in on the
assignments that remained open. These are the ARES members who have been there
this past week and provided great support to our operation:
Jim Zeltner, WB0OAO (ARES), Pratt, KS
Carl Anderson, N0ORS (ARES), Great Bend, KS.
Mike Tibbetts, N0FEK (ARES), Pratt, KS
Steve Walz, K0UO (ARES), Kiowa, KS .
Dwayne Gobin, KB0FJI (ARES), Hutchinson, KS, operator for Brian Carroll with the
Salvation Army
Lyle Brewer, KC0ZFM (ARES), Hutchinson, KS, operator for canteen
Harry Bartel, N0HQZ (ARES), Hugoton, KS, operator for canteen
Vic Lyczak, AB0UO (ARES), Russell, KS, operator for canteen
Charles Hirst, KC0GZM (ARES), Russell, KS, operator for canteen
I have not received any word from Godfrey Flax, KC0AUH our SATERN County
Coordinator for Kiowa Co. Last I heard he was working in Colorado and has not
been available due to his work requirements.

We are still trying to maintained 6 operators daily, Thursday & Friday got
covered due to the great response we got from our plea sent to our ARRL Leaders
and to "Larry's List" maintained by Larry Staples W0AIB which broadcasts emails
to 700+ hams in our area.

The Kansas Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters [KSVOAD] members who
gathered in the meeting last Tuesday morning for planning have now organized
their volunteers and started arriving in Greensburg on Friday. Due to the
influx of all these volunteers the parking has become a nightmare... and will
become worse in the next weeks as more volunteers enter the area. The good news
is that FEMA has setup a Base Camp and has been serving some absolutely
delicious food -- heard last night they had BBQ chicken!! Our operators report
the are being feed very well!

The Kansas SATERN Division Net Coordinator, Larry Gunther N0MTC has planned to
continue with our three daily 75m nets through Sunday, May 13th at the request
of George Rainsbarger WB0VLB from Lyon county who has been our primary HF net
control in Greensburg. As of Monday May 14th we plan to forego the 3 PM net as
propagation has been too bad to get much done on that net. The traffic and
information being passed last week has slowed down and we feel the 9AM and 9PM
nets will now suffice our needs. We will always add a special net if needed to
handle emergency traffic. SATERN members John Strobel K0PAL from Barton Co,
Assistant Division SATERN Coordinator, Rich Britain N0ENO, Larry N0MTC and
George McCarville WB0CNK have been diligently keeping these 3 nets going for the
past week.

Our mobile HF station setup there in Haviland, by George Rainsbarger WB0VLB from
Lyon county on Monday has continued to make contact on every net each day. He
has finally received some relief due to having Joe Krout available since
Thursday. George has a flooded basement at home, so he has decided he must go
and deal with that. We certainly have been blessed by his presence in
Greensburg on behalf of SATERN -- he has been a point of contact for our
operators arriving and has done a fantastic job of keeping us informed of the
status in Greensburg.

SATERN member Lynn Grimes KG0WQ from Sedgwick county arrived last Tuesday and
has also experienced a "one-in-a-lifetime" event -- Ken Kopp forwarded me a link
to the FEMA photo file, which contained this photo of President Bush talking
with Lynn wearing her SATERN T-SHIRT!! How great was this!!! We are very
honored to have Lynn as our member, she is very active in her county. Photos
have been requested from our operators on duty -- hopefully when I return from
Dayton I can gather all the photos and make them available for everyone. The
links to FEMA photos:
http://www.photolibrary.fema.gov/photodata/original/29758.jpg   photo of Lynn
http://www.photolibrary.fema.gov/photolibrary/photo_search.do?SCategoryComboId=1
-8   FEMA disaster photos

Dee reports there is a new TSA IC in place as of last Thursday, Chuck Cook the
Capt of Pittsburg KS Corp. Chuck is an avid supporter of ham radio. In the
past he has served in Leavenworth KS where Doug Thomas KC5VKG lives. His mother
worked with Chuck there at TSA. The plan is to rotate a new IC every Tuesday
serving for one week.

In a human interest level ... our SATERN member Kay Banks heard while on one of
our HF nets about the needed supplies being requested. She began gathering her
own supplies together to take to the victims. Her friends heard of this effort
and it became a "big" operation for Toronto, KS in Woodson Co. She started
receiving money to purchase more supplies from friends and donations from
businesses in her town. I will send a more detailed report later on the final
count of her "SATERN CARE PACKAGE". She was driving to Western Kansas on Friday
to celebrate her fathers birthday and decided she could deliver it directly to
Greensburg. Some of the supplies were needed immediately by some of our
operators and she saved the day with this delivery of goods. We feel she has
exhibited the "true spirit" of The Salvation Army by her gracious efforts.

Rich Britain N0ENO, my Division Assistant SATERN Coordinator will continue
providing support this next week. Without myself and Robert to help this coming
week, Rich has a huge load to carry while he awaits word any day of a new job!
He has continued to serve SATERN above and beyond that which could be asked or
expected. He has been working with our HOLD Roster we built from volunteers
last week. Due to the transition of the operation from myself to Rich, I will
let him report the operators on duty from Thursday through Saturday. I feel my
list is incomplete at this time. With the offer of hams in Colorado we will try
to cover all the assignments through next weekend. I believe the SATERN support
will officially end next Sunday May 20th.

My mother is 87 this year and today since it is Mother's Day, we will be
attending church together along with my sister. My Son will be coming today and
handling the BBQ for a steak dinner tonight!! I fail terribly at the "BBQ" so
he knows what a real treat this is for me!

See you in Dayton!

June Jeffers KBØWEQ
KS & Western MO Division S.A.T.E.R.N. Coordinator
KS ARRL DEC - Liaison to The Salvation Army

May 16, 2007

SATERN volunteers continue to provide communications and logistical support to the Salvation Army. SATERN volunteers are monitoring the movement of supplies, loading and unloading activities and tracking canteens. This is important work as the Salvation Army continues its vital mission of feeding the residents/victims, along with the large numbers of volunteers and other workers in Greensburg, KS.

There are two (2) roving Salvation Army canteens at Greensburg. There are also two (2) stationary Salvation Army canteens on site. One of the stationary canteens is located at the Kansas Department of Transportation Center on the east side of Greensburg and the other is located at the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) at Greensburg. A SATERN volunteer is generally available to cover each canteen. One SATERN volunteer is normally stationed at the EOC in Greensburg and another at the Haviland Salvation Army Service Center located at Barclay College.

Joe Krout, W0PWJ, from Wyandotte County SATERN, is our primary contact for new arrivals. He has advised that SATERN volunteer morale is very good. The SATERN volunteers are finding the work meaningful and rewarding.

At present, communications are working fairly well on 70 cm through the 444.125 repeater at Haviland (which was moved from Isabel, KS but is still listed in the ARRL Repeater Directory and on a Kansas Repeater Directory as being in that small town). It has been difficult to bring up the repeater in nearby Haviland on a handi-talkie from Greensburg. Nonetheless, the resourceful SATERN operators have found a mobile radio, using the cigarette lighters in the canteens, and a mag-mount antenna on the cab of the vehicles, has worked well. However, this has not always been the case. At times, operators have had difficulty reaching the repeater and communications have been held on 2 meter simplex.

Tests have been performed with Family Radio Service (FRS) devices which could be used by non-licensed volunteers. While one test on the weekend showed satisfactory performance for local communications in Greensburg, another test on Tuesday, May 15, 2007, demonstrated the band covered by these radios to be overloaded by non-Salvation Army volunteers/workers in the area by approximately 10 a.m. This made the use of these type radios unsatisfactory at that time.

High frequency (hf) communications from the Salvation Army Service Center has improved since the receipt of a dipole antenna from SATERN member Jim, K0NK. The antenna is on a military tower belonging to SATERN member George, WB0VLB, which has a height of approximately 30 feet at center. It is being used as an “inverted V.”

KS SATERN continued to have three daily hf nets, at 9 a.m., 3 p.m. and 9 p.m. through May 13, 2007. Since Monday, May 14, 2007, we have eliminated the 3 p.m. net as it was not working well due to propagation issues. George, WB0CNK (before his deployment), John, K0PAL and James, KC0NYK have been net controls for those hf nets since Saturday, May 12, 2007. We have been able to contact the Haviland Service Center on each of those nets from across the state of Kansas.

Recruitment of amateur operators for the mission has been challenging. We have staffing requirements of six to seven operators each day. We have made requests through various resources. We have been assisted in our search for operators by the Kansas ARRL Section Manager, Ron Cowan, KB0DTI. We were able to avert a mini-staffing crisis on Mother's Day, Sunday, May 13, 2007, through the help of three SATERN Operators who agreed to, when contacted by telephone late Saturday night, change their personal schedules, and, in at least the case of at least two operators, drive almost 280 miles to provide assistance to the Salvation Army. We have had extremely good staffing levels (up to approximately 10 operators) since Monday, May 14, 2007, which should continue (without an unforeseen difficulty) through Saturday, May 19, 2007. We were greatly aided by the Colorado ARRL Section Emergency Manager, Ben Baker, who assisted us in the recruitment of five amateur radio operators from Colorado for deployment to Greensburg. We also have received a request from one operator from Oklahoma to work on site. We are still looking for operators beginning Sunday, May 20 through Saturday, May 26, 2007. At present, we have four operators who have voiced interest from Montgomery County, KS; one from Olathe, KS and one from Wichita, KS for deployment from the beginning of the week through approximately Wednesday, May 23, 2007. We have had no offers from volunteers to cover the rest of the week, at present.

Rich Britain
N0ENO
Assistant Division SATERN Coordinator
rbritain1@kc.rr.com
n0eno@arrl.net

To: Patrick McPherson WW9E - National SATERN Director
   cc:  Dee Smith - EDS Divisional Director
          Richard Scott - EDS Divisional Assistant Director
          Rich Britain N0ENO - Division Assistant SATERN Coordinator
          Ron Cowan KB0DTI - ARRL Kansas Section Manager
          Bob Summers K0BXF - ARRL Kansas Section Emergency Coordinator
          Robert Haneke WG0Q - ARRL ARES District Emergency Coordinator

FIFTH REPORT........Reference the Tornado touchdown on Friday, May 4, at 9:55pm
in Greensburg, KS located South Central Kansas in Kiowa County. This report covers SATERN activity from Thursday, May 17, 2007, to the present.

SATERN volunteers continue to provide communications and logistical support to the Salvation Army. SATERN volunteers are monitoring the movement of supplies, loading and unloading activities and tracking canteens. SATERN staffing has ranged from a high of ten operators to a low of seven operators during the time-frame covered by this report. Two of the operators presently on site have been previously deployed in Greensburg and are therefore familiar with the operations there. The SATERN volunteers from Kansas have been aided by ARES volunteers from Colorado, Missouri and Oklahoma.

Volunteers, both SATERN and ARES, have been voicing how meaningful the work has been. As an example, a non-SATERN amateur radio volunteer who assisted SATERN at Greensburg noted he was inspired with how great the Salvation Army had been in feeding the Greensburg community (citizens, volunteers and other workers). He went on to state how well organized the Salvation Army was logistically. This gentleman, like many others who have been at Greensburg, was truly impressed by the work performed by the Salvation Army.

The Salvation Army has received Alltel cellular telephones for use on the canteens at Greensburg. As a result, Salvation Army Disaster Services recommended requesting no further SATERN volunteers be scheduled after May 23, 2007. It is anticipated the telephones will be tested today, Monday, May 21, 2007. Based upon the receipt of the telephones, and contingent upon the viability of communications between the units, it is anticipated SATERN operations at Greensburg will cease effective Wednesday, May 23, 2007, at approximately 6 p.m.

Joe Krout, W0PMJ, was the on-site contact for new arrivals at the Salvation Army Service Center at Haviland, KS. Mr. Krout also acted in a leadership capacity at Greensburg and Haviland before leaving on Sunday, May 20, 2007, after approximately one and one-half weeks on site. During his tenure at Greensburg, Mr. Krout established liaison between SATERN and various governmental groups. As a result of his efforts, he was able to forge a meaningful relationship with a Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) Emergency Response Supervisor. The KDOT had Communications on Wheels (COWs) on site. The vehicles had various types of interagency/interoperability radio gear on-board. Mr. Krout loaned the KDOT his personal antenna analyzer so that the KDOT could do some work on one of its radio systems. The KDOT supervisor was impressed with the knowledge and skills of the SATERN volunteers. Joe Krout was given a tour of one of the COWs. He learned that the COWs each contain a pair of Icom 706 amateur radio transceivers.

KS SATERN continued to have two hf nets each day on, or about, 3.920 Megahertz. The nets have met at 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. James Tuggle, KC0NYK and John Strobel, K0PAL, have been the net control stations.

A list of amateur radio operators who have been deployed at Greensburg will be released when the operations on site have been discontinued. SATERN appreciates the support it has received from its members and the assistance it has received from the Amateur Radio Emergency Service.

Rich Britain
N0ENO
Assistant Division SATERN Coordinator

SATERN Member Lynn Grimes KG0WQ and President Bush at tornado site

Dee Smith Salvation Army EDS Director with President Bush at tornado site

SATERN volunteer Dan Stark N0CRD provided the following excellent video links showing hams, volunteers and others assisting May 13 through 16

Click on the web addresses in blue or copy and insert in your Internet browser

Part 1 The Amateur Radio SATERN group http://www.gracetime.com/movie/greensburg1.html

Part II More about the Greensburg staging areas... http://www.gracetime.com/movie/greensburg2.html

Part III Slide Show of Ground Zero... http://www.gracetime.com/movie/greensburg3.html

It is hard to relate the reality.. But perhaps the videos will give you a taste..

Lest we forget.