Amateur Radio Operators Respond to the Effingham County Tornados and Severe Weather

The Springfield and Rincon areas of Effingham County suffered the effects of two EF2 tornados on March 15, 2008. At 9:34 PM, the first tornado touched down northeast of Springfield and traveled southeast for approximately 7 miles, injuring five people, destroying three mobile homes, damaging between two dozen to three dozen homes, knocking down fifteen high voltage transmission towers, destroying or damaging approximately twenty vehicles, and destroying numerous outbuildings. This tornado was ¼ mile wide at its widest point and was rated an EF2 with wind speeds between 110 to 120 mph. The second tornado touched down northeast of Rincon near Georgia Power’s Plant McIntosh, traveled through the plant and lifted just southeast of the plant at 9:44 PM. It destroyed one of the plant’s water cooling towers, damaged another water cooling tower, knocked down two high voltage transmission towers, uprooted several dozen trees, and damaged other plant equipment. Initial estimates indicate that Plant McIntosh suffered $2-3 million in damage. The tornado was approximately 100 yards wide and was rated an EF2 with wind speeds between 120-130 mph.

Certainly those who were injured and those whose property was damaged may not agree, but providence shined upon the Savannah area on the night of March 15, 2008. Many thousands were out in the open in downtown Savannah while attending the St. Patrick’s Day Festival. If the tornados were to have continued toward Savannah, there could have been a great disaster. As it was, the widespread power outage caused by the tornados caused enough confusion by throwing downtown Savannah into darkness and rendering traffic lights inoperative.

During the night of March 15 and the morning of March 16, Skywarn Nets were activated on the Effingham County 146.745- (CTCSS 97.4) repeater and the Amateur Radio Club of Savannah 146.970- repeater. These nets were used to collect information for the National Weather Service in Charleston, SC and to ascertain information for Memorial Health University Hospital in Savannah. These reports were beneficial because power was knocked out in a five county area and some areas also lost phone service. Approximately fifteen amateur radio stations checked into the nets, making reports on weather conditions, electrical power status, and other pertinent information. Additionally, the net passed weather bulletins being issued by the National Weather Service; the net was able to compare the actual reported weather situation with NWS bulletins. The net also was able to pass information on conditions and damage gleaned from monitoring public safety communications and commercial media, keeping those whose power was out informed as to what was happening around them.

Greg Tillman, N4VAD, acted as net control station and reports that all stations did an excellent job of maintaining frequency clearance and net discipline, allowing information to flow both to and from their stations and net control. Stations were responders as opposed to reactors; instead of screaming “the sky is falling,” they maintained their calm, listened, provided the pertinent information, and handled the situation at hand. It is important to remember that the stations were not storm chasers. They took cover when necessary and returned to the net when it was safe to do so, reporting on damage and letting the net control station know that the operators and their families were safe and sound.

Greg also passes on some important lessons learned from the tornado related radio operations:

1. It is important to train and drill on a regular basis so that you can be ready to operate during emergencies rather than learning what to do on the fly. Training will make you a much more effective and capable operator.

2. Check your equipment regularly to make sure it is in proper working order. An emergency is not the time to find out that your equipment is inoperable or functioning improperly.

3. ALWAYS have if not one, two deep cycle marine batteries charged and ready for operation. You never know when commercial power may be lost or how widespread it might be.

4. Keep extra antennas, accessories, and supplies prepared so that you can deploy from your residence or replace storm-damaged antennas.

5. Maintain receivers for monitoring public safety, portable TVs and radios, flashlights, a generator if possible, and other supplies to keep you informed and sustained during an emergency.

6. Never take any county or area out of your emergency plans; you never know when you will need to get information into or out of that area or when that area will be doing the same for you.

Sources:
The ARRL Letter, Vol. 27, No. 11 (March 20, 2008)
Greg Tillman, N4VAD
National Weather Service Charleston, SC Public Information Statement (March 22, 2008)


Mac McCormick, KF4LMT
kf4lmt@comcast.net