HAMS RESPOND TO HISTORIC FLOODS IN HAWAII

Our top story takes us to Hawaii, which was slammed with two so-called "atmospheric river storms" that brought heavy rains and high winds, flooding all the state's islands and sweeping many houses off their foundations. ARES and RACES hams were activated, providing realtime ground reports for weather and field information on Oahu and Maui. ARRL Pacific Section Manager Alan KH6TU/AD6E told Newsline in an email that VHF linked repeater systems carried individual voice reports sent to EOCs. Meanwhile, federal emergency ICS-213 forms were transmitted carrying messages and incident reports over peer-to-peer Winlink via VHF or on HF.

As emergency crews cleared landslides and repaired communications and power lines, hams continued to update road and weather conditions, assisting with coordinated communications. As Newsline went to production, recovery continued after what was being called the state's worst flooding in two decades.