Ham radio fills need after the storm

By Scott Sloan - ssloan@herald-leader.com

As phone service faltered last week in Western Kentucky, the state's army of another age emerged.

Ham radio operators ventured to Red Cross shelters and emergency operations centers and drove the roads to connect family members, direct supplies and just keep communications up and running, replacing cell phones and traditional land-line phones.

In Henderson County, a ham radio operator spent four days at the emergency operations center providing supplemental communication for police, fire and emergency medical personnel.

"He was instrumental in helping out," said Kenny Garrett, communications officer and resource coordinator for Henderson Emergency Management.

Sixteen members from the Kentucky Colonels Amateur Radio Club in Western Kentucky brought their equipment and relayed messages around the Bowling Green area, said Henry Cantrell, better known as call sign W4HTB to members of the group he's known for more than 25 years.

Cantrell said group members set up at a main shelter in Bowling Green and then fanned out to nearby Brownsville and Smiths Grove.

The amateur radio enthusiasts helped shelter occupants find and locate family members at other shelters, some as far west as Paducah.

"They have been very helpful," said Bill Schlicht, emergency services director for the state's South-Central chapter of the American Red Cross.

Schlicht said their efforts "kind of ignited a fire in the spirit of the group," and people are now putting together radio kits to keep in their vehicles for future emergencies.

The group also connected with state Homeland Security officials in Frankfort to relay the number and status of area shelters, Cantrell said.

But the priority, he said, was directing cots, generators and other supplies.

"It was a relief to the county emergency management directors to let them know there was communication help if needed," said Chris Shaw, a local representative of the national group Amateur Radio Emergency Service. Shaw drove around Henderson and nearby counties offering service as communications remained down.

In fact, on Monday, his cell phone was still dropping calls as he was interviewed about his reliable ham radio.

"It looked like a tornado had come through," he said of the devastation he witnessed last week.

Closer to Central Kentucky, ham radio operators were ready to assist as they did in the 2003 ice storm, but found little to do.

"There wasn't much movement out here," said Bill DeVore, secretary for the Bluegrass Amateur Radio Society and a member since 1979.

"But we were ready in case anybody needed us," DeVore said, noting that more than 40 amateur radio operators volunteered around the clock in 2003 to provide communication at area shelters and to assist Kentucky Utilities.

Society member Wilson Wells traveled last week to Versailles to help at a Red Cross shelter set up in a seniors center.

"This was awful to say, but my radio was in my suitcase the whole time because our telephones were working," he said.