From Roberto Canivel Vicencio comes this post: The weekend of the 16 and 17 November was supposed to be the preparation days for the coming CQWW CW contest. My freinds were chomping on the bit to get out of the starting gate. However, our plans got scuttled when Category 5 Typhoon Yolanda hit the Philippines. The Visayan area bore the brunt of the typhoons 300 kph gusts and sustained winds of over 270 kph. The Philippine Amateur Radio Association clubs stations and individual hams made preparations for the coming typhoon as early as 6 November when the Ham Emergency Radio Operations was put in effect and a constant watch was placed on 7.095 Mhz by hams all over the country. The affected areas of the Visayas region took shelter as the typhoon cut a wide swath of damage moving from the East, first affecting Guiuan in the Easter Samar Island and hitting Coron Island in Palawan as it exited the Philippines on the Western side. Hundreds of thousands if not millions were severely affected. Hams were able to provide the only means of communications right after the typhoon as DX5RAN, a club station came up on the air with DU1AOK, his wife DV5VIE, son Ian and DW5WTA taking turns for days passing emergency and official traffic to stations in Luzon for further relay to families of those affected by the typhoon. The devastation of Tacloban in Leyte was complete along with other cities and towns surrounding the area. Not other form of electronic communication survived the onslaught other than ham radio. Other clubs came up on the air too providing vital communications support to the population as well as the immediate population. Over a week after the typhoon, and with aid agencies in place, ham radio still plays a vital role in the recovery of the area. In the photo, 4F1BYN, Max Santos, in Antipolo City, Philippines, receiving message traffic from DX5RAN health and welfare message from Tacloban, Leyte. Philippines.
Posted on: Mon, 18 Nov 2013 02:37:41 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015