Merrill Tornado
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- Category: Sample Data-Articles
- Published on Monday, 16 May 2011 23:17
- Written by David Levorson
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April 10, 2011 had Lincoln County ARES members busy for hours in the aftermath of an EF-3 that left extensive damage. The tornado started approximately 2 miles north of the Town of Hamburg in Marathon County and traveled 21.2 miles to Merrill in Lincoln County to just west of Gleason in Lincoln County.
Many of the hams in Merrill were already out spotting and immediately responded to assist police and fire with door to door searches and providing access on the roads that led to highly damaged parts of town. Tom Knospe, KC9NFJ was directing operations on the 145.430.
Dave Levorson, N9KNY, got the call from Good Samaritan Hospital requesting amateur radio assistance as they had lost communications to EMS and the Sheriff's Office. While enroute, Dave contacted Tom, and advised him of the request from the hospital and that a call for mutual assistance would be placed. Michael Martens, EC of Marathon County was contacted and asked for help from his hams, some of them doing damage assessment in northern Marathon County. Dave also contacted SEC Gary Sorensen, W9ULK, advising him of the situation and Gary placed the remaining calls for mutual assistance to Oneida, Shawano and Portage Counties. At least 5 hams from Marathon and 4 from Oneida responded.
Things could have gone better, as it seemed to take more time than expected to get communications established between the Hospital and the Sheriff's Office.
The good news is, a month prior members met with Good Samaritan Hospital's Emergency Services Coordinator, Misty Ward, who was very optimistic at the chance to set up a working relationship with ARES/RACES. Material for the hospital's radio station had been ordered with grant money, but not all of it had been shipped and delivered by the time the tornado hit town. We expect most equipment to be installed and operational by the time May's Vigilant Guard Exercise occurs.
We all learned a great deal both good and bad. Lincoln County will continue to work on the Hospital’s communication plan along with setting up the new radio equipment and communications EOC.