--Postbulletin
Radio operators and Civil Air Patrol aid efforts
8/22/2007 2:21:49 AM

By Edie Grossfield

Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN

In addition to first responders, the Red Cross, Salvation Army and National Guard, members of the Southeast Minnesota Civil Air Patrol and Rochester Amateur Radio Club have played significant roles in helping flood victims.

Perhaps not as well known among civilians as the National Guard, the Civil Air Patrol is an auxiliary of the Air Force and often is deployed for search and rescue operations and disaster relief support.

Patrol officers and young cadets, ages 12 to 21, have been deployed in southeastern Minnesota to help with disaster relief.

As rescue and relief operations continued, Ham radio operators in Rochester and Winona relayed critical information in areas where communication systems were down.

John Scott, a member of the Rochester Amateur Radio Club, which also provides storm spotting information to the National Weather Service, was one of many Ham radio operators helping during the weekend.

On Sunday morning, Scott headed to the Emergency Operations Center in Rochester "and took over for the poor guy that had been there for 20 hours," he said.

Radio club members communicated between the Southeast Minnesota chapter of the American Red Cross, located in Rochester, and the Winona Amateur Radio Club. "They were in the thick of it down there with all the small communities," Scott said. "In fact, some of our Hams went down to Rushford and set up a little command post to help provide communication to the Red Cross down there." Amateur radio operators from the Twin Cities came down to help as well.

Aside from getting out to monitor and report on river and reservoir levels, the radio operators helped people find out how their friends and family were doing.

"It was a lot of what we call health and welfare things. Relatives up here are asking the Red Cross if they could check and see if their loved ones were alive and well and dry down in Rushford and the other communities down there," Scott said.

[Submitted by KC0KVX]