The Atlantic hurricane season officially began on June 1st. But the latest reports about Hurricane Erin have now reminded all of us of the dangers of hurricanes and the need to prepare for the worst proactively.
Of course, amateur radio operators have always been at the forefront of efforts to help maintain essential communications during hurricanes and other natural disasters. And Josh Johnson, the ARRL’s Director of Emergency Management, is reminding amateur radio operators to evaluate their options and make plans for how they can best support ongoing communications during Erin and the other hurricanes to come in the season ahead.
“These early storms remind us that now is the right time for amateur radio operators to begin thinking about how they can help, if and when these storms begin to ramp up and cause damage,” says Johnston in a recent article posted to the ARRL website. “We know that conventional communications can fail, and amateur radio will be there to fill the gap.”
Johnston’s advice to amateur radio operators is to check their equipment now, including radios, antennas, and power supplies, and also to confirm the local emergency frequencies to be used during communications outages. In addition, the ARRL posts weekly updates on the National Hurricane Center’s VoIP Hurricane Prep Net to provide operators with situational updates.
The ARRL article on amateur radio’s preparation for the upcoming Atlantic hurricane season is available at https://www.arrl.org/news/hams-prepare-for-forecasted-busy-hurricane-season.