During Hurricane Ian, the Voip Skywarn Net took reports for the National Hurricane Center.
During that event, the net relayed a number of reports. Along with those reports, the net received about a dozen calls for rescue. Those were also relayed to rescuers.
Some came from radio. Most came from social media, i.e. Twitter and Facebook.
Just like Katrina, the net received calls for rescue that were truly heart breaking. For example, during Katrina, a quadriplegic was abandoned by her caregiver. In Ian, one individual and family was unable to find care for the loved one on hospice.
While you might be inclined to blame the Citizen, those two issues are clearly local government, and specifically public health, items to address. While the planning clearly is the individual to consider, the local government, when they call for a mandatory evacuation, must have plans in place to address special needs populations.
It's not even close to right to have amateur radio operators deal with failures, regardless of cause, when the issues could easily be addressed by local government.
As for the net, BUSY was the right word. The Sunflower system in addition to the dozen calls for rescue, reported 157 items matching Skywarn criteria to WX4NHC at the National Hurricane Center.
About 20 of the stations were on Allstar, with an additional six on Hamshack Hotline, four on Dstar, P25, and Fusion each. There were even one or two on M17. Of course, those numbers don't include the Echolink and IRLP connections on Weather Talk.
Just remember, your disaster communications plan should include amateur radio. It may be the only way you can call for help.
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