Highlands Today
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Amateur Radio
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Published: August 23, 2008
In the flurry of news articles on Tropical Storm Fay, one group has not received deserved attention. As the emergency coordinator for Highlands County Amateur Radio Service (ARES), I would like to publicly commend the volunteer members of ARES for the work they did during the storm.
ARES provided communications for the four shelters opened during the storm. We used amateur radio equipment and frequencies to communicate between the EOC and each shelter. Fortunately during this storm the only messages were hourly shelter reports to the EOC. We were there, however, in case emergencies arose.
Several ARES members spent up to 24 hours in the shelters and the EOC. We also were prepared to provide emergency communications outside of Highlands County if necessary.
We are an unpaid volunteer group that has chosen to use our hobby of amateur radio in public service. Members spend hours in training and receive certification in emergency communications from FEMA and the American Radio Relay League.
In addition to the work done by ARES, the Highlands County Skywarn group collected weather information that was passed by amateur radio to the National Weather Service in Ruskin. This group was activated because of the potential threat of tornadoes during the storm.
Randall M. Payne
Sebring
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