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Torrance, California, 12 August 1996
When the lights went out on August 10, all over Los Angeles County, there wasn't any point in trying to phone home. Both wired and cellular phones were immediately saturated, and generally unable to complete attempted calls. Within minutes, however, ham radio operators throughout the area were following practiced emergency procedures, on the air and giving public safety agencies detailed reports on the developing situation.
In the South Bay area (between Los Angeles International Airport and Long Beach), members of the Los Angeles County Disaster Communications Service and the Torrance Amateur Radio Association activated a pre-planned emergency channel, which is tested three times a week with regular drills -- as well as being used for public service events, such as communications support for the Armed Forces Day parade. More than a dozen stations checked in to that emergency network, providing minute-by-minute reports on power and water service in various communities, along with eyewitness confirmation on the containment of the discharge at the Mobil oil refinery.
The South Bay net control station monitored both broadcast stations and the county's emergency center transmissions, relaying this information to the local hams. In turn, the local reports were fed to the county's station, which gathered reports from every part of the county in a systematic procedure. More than 50 different stations checked in with the county's information center, using everything from hand-held radios and mobile units to powerful home stations with battery backup power.
Regular drills and major annual events, such as the amateur radio Field Day each June, keep ham radio operators ready for situations like this past weekend's. The proof, however, only comes in a real-world unscheduled test. Ham radio and the Disaster Communications Service demonstrated once again that Los Angeles County has communications that it can count on.
Info: Peter Coffee, AC6EN
Public Information Officer
L.A. County Disaster Communications Service
3440560@mcimail.com
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