ARLA/CLUSTER: Radioamadores auxiliam na procura de sobreviventes do Furacão Harvey

[João Costa > CT1FBF]

Radio hams help trace Hurricane Harvey survivor

KMOV St. Louis describes how amateur radio operators helped a Metro
East woman find her son in Harvey

Since the start of Tropical Storm Harvey, Lurlene Williams has been
trying to get her son, Jimmie, to come home, but she couldn't get in
touch with him.

"This lady was doing absolutely everything, given the numbers and was
yet not able to contact her son," said St. Clair County Ham
Coordinator Eugene Kramer WA9TZL.

But Williams wasn't going to quit until her son was found.

In an age of instant communication, one of the old school forms of
communication proved to be best.

"My office received a call from Mrs. Williams, who said her son was a
resident of Houston, and she was unable to get a hold of him," said
St. Clair County EMA Director Herb Simmons. "We have our emergency
operation plan and part of that is our ham amateur operators.

"(Kramer) was able to reach out with the radios to Houston with
information in Mrs. Williams son."

Several hours and several calls later, local ham operators were able
to track down Jimmie.

"He didn't have no food, no water, no nothing," said Williams. "He
lost everything."

Watch th TV News report at
http://www.kmov.com/story/36276900/ham-radio-operators-help-metro-east-woman-find-her-son-in-harvey