preparation

Hurricane Season 2025

NOAA has released their 2025 hurricane season (01 June to 30 November) prediction. they are calling for an above average season with 13-19 named storms and 6-10 to reach hurricane strength. Of those hurricanes, 3-5 are predicted to become major hurricanes.

As we learned last year, coastal states are not the only ones vulnerable to the havoc a hurricane can bring. Now might be a good time to break out the portable gear and give it a shakedown. Turn on those go-boxes and feed those portable antennas. Make sure everything is in working order. Take your gear out and go at least 20 miles from home. Why 20 miles? It’s a distance that is too far to go back home and retrieve a forgotten part or replace a broken piece of kit. Field Day (winter and summer) are good events to try your gear. Only if you use the same gear you would bring for EmComm and use the same power levels. The lesson here is don’t wait to get ready, get ready now. I try to keep myself prepared to deploy in 4 hours or less.

You can’t plan for everything that may go wrong. You can however, minimize the chance of failure by ensuring your gear is in the best possible condition. Remember Proper Planing and Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance (7P’s). Be THE guy, not THAT guy. 73 de Scott

Danger Will Robinson

We are under a Winter Storm Watch

…WINTER STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM FRIDAY MORNING THROUGH

SATURDAY MORNING…

WHAT…Heavy mixed precipitation possible. Total snow
accumulations between 1 and 7 inches with the higher amounts
north. Ice accumulations around one tenth of an inch possible.
WHERE…Portions of north central, northeast, northwest, and west
central Georgia.
WHEN…From Friday morning through Saturday morning.
IMPACTS…Travel could be very difficult. The hazardous conditions
could impact the Friday morning and evening commutes.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

Monitor the latest forecasts for updates on this situation.

For those in the northern states, this may not be a big deal. For us in the southeast it is. Mainly because a) most counties do not have a lot of, if any snow removal/sanding equipment b) folks don’t know how to drive in winter conditions and c) many homes are not constructed for the colder temperatures.

I was raised in the northeast and traveled to many cold climates. I have lived in/worked in everything from arid desert and subtropical, to temperate and sub alpine zones. When the weather turns wintry, I stay home. Not because I can’t deal with it, but because others can’t. If you live in the southeast, are you prepared. Did you go out and buy the requisite milk, bread and eggs? For those that don’t know, these are the first item to go prior to an event like a winter storm. What happens if the power goes out? This happens during a storm and it may be a while before power is restored. Do you have alternate heating. We have a fireplace and a lot of wood to burn. Our house is fairly well insulated and the fireplace place will keep the house warm, not toasty, but warm enough. If a tree comes down on your property, can you cut it up? Do you have a chain saw? Gas? Two stroke oil? A file to sharpen the blade? Do you know how to sharpen a chainsaw blade? You may not be able to get to a store to buy a new one, if one is open at all.

Do you have study, warm clothes to work outside? Temperatures in the 20’s and 30’s can drop to near 0 degrees F with enough wind. Do you have enough warm blankets? Enough to sleep in a cold house. Which brings us to electronics.

Do you keep your cell phone charged? Do you have a way to keep it charged if there is no mains power? It may be your only link to the outside world and maybe the only entertainment center for the kiddos. How about your radios? What if you antennas come down? Do you have spares? Do you have alternate power for your radios? Do you have gasoline for your generators? Do you have heating propane? I heat with propane and one of my 2200 watt generators can run the furnace.

Do you know what hypothermia looks like? Frost nip? Frost bite? How about immersion (trench) foot. It’s these middle temperatures where these injuries are likely to occur. Once frost bitten, you will be painfully reminded of your error in judgement each time that part of your body gets cold. Trust me on this one.

Take the time to get ready. Go to the store now. Fill up your vehicle gas tanks, get gas and oil for your chainsaw. Make sure you have adequate food in the house and alternates ways to keep warm. Most of all be safe. Think through your actions before you commit. Someone will probably die as a result of poor decisions during this weather event. Don’t let it be you or yours. God Bless, my thoughts are with you. 73 — Scott

I’ve Been Busy

Today is the second day of hurricane season for the United States. According to Colorado State University, this may be a busy season. For most of CONUS (CONtinental United States), hurricanes have little effect. For those of us on the eastern seaboard and gulf coast, it is time to keep a weather eye out.

It should be a time of preparation. Procuring materials to stormproof homes, purchase/maintain generators and check on fuel supplies, check the pantries for food and water storage, and ensure there are adequate medication and first aid supplies. In addition to this, is there enough cash on hand as with no power, there is no credit; cash is king. There is always the question of; should I stay or should I go? This is often a tough decision and the wrong choice could be fatal. If you are going, do you have a place to go? During Hurricane Michael, I was returning to Georgia from Virginia the weekend before the storm, there was storm related traffic up in Tennessee, people looking for a place to stay.

Even though I live in northwest Georgia, I can still be affected by a storm. High winds, heavy rains, tornadoes, flooding and power outages occur as a hurricane winds down as it travels inland.

Part of my preps, besides food, and water, etc., is making sure my communications gear is in order. Most of my gear gets used at least weekly with some of my portable gear getting use monthly. As I have said in past posts, my FunComm gear is mostly the same as my EmComm gear. I check to see that my radios are working and that my portable antennas are in good working order. I pull out my laptop and make sure all of my radio apps and OS are up to date and working. I especially check to make sure I can send/receive on my main digital modes. For EmComm I rely mainly on Winlink, PSK31, Contestia, and CW. I get on the air and send emails, check into nets, etc. I am also a Net Control Station for Phone and Digital, and I run those nets on a monthly basis. During a disaster is the wrong time to find out something doesn’t work. Been there, done that. And yes, sometimes, even though you checked, checked, and double checked, things can still go wrong, but at least you can reduce the probability.

My vehicles get serviced regularly, and I go over my little camper before each trip. My generators are checked and run on a regular basis. I also go through my Flee bag. I check to make sure everything in it is in working order, that there are no expired, expiration dates, and the clothes I have tucked in there still fit. Too big is okay, too small is not.

With all my gear squared away, I turn to me. Have I had a check-up recently? Are my meds current to my needs?, is there anything I need to get fixed before I deploy somewhere? From here I move to my skill sets. Can I use the apps/radios I need? Sometimes a big update happens that changes the app enough I may have to relearn it. Can I still copy CW? CW is not widely used, but it makes a pretty good backup when everything else is going to pot.

How is my fieldcraft? Can I cook and eat in the field, can I purify water, start a fire, clean myself, apply first aid, make repairs, navigate; can I improvise, adapt, and overcome?

Some of this is annual and some of it is on going. I should never let my skills and gear degrade to a point where they are no longer usable. It is bad voodoo to try to learn/relearn a skill during or on the way to a disaster.

How about you? Don’t wait until the last minute. It’s no fun waiting in a long line to get something you could have gotten a few months ago for half the price. And then to add insult to injury, the guy in front of you buys the last one. Be ready, do it now! Embrace the coming storm with a cup of coffee and the knowledge you have done everything you could to be ready. Or, you could be driving around white-knuckled in a panic trying to buy the same things everything else who has waited is trying to buy. I’ve done both and I like the first option much better. Think straight and stay safe. 73 de Scott