AMATEUR RADIO NEWS FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY:

The next Technician class test question pool will become effective on July 1, 2010.  The committee that works on this

is already reviewing the current questions and revising the test.  Take your test before that date if this concerns you!

==> OKLAHOMA HAMS WARN OF ONCOMING TORNADOES

A rare winter tornado struck Oklahoma around dinner time on Tuesday,

February 10. According to various news reports, Oklahoma officials

credited Amateur Radio operators with spotting the tornadoes and

relaying the information to the National Weather Service.

ARRL Oklahoma Section Emergency Coordinator Charles Goodson, KC5UEG,

told the ARRL that the Southern Oklahoma ARES group (SOARES)

and other Amateur Radio operators from the

Ardmore area served as SKYWARN storm spotters. "After the tornado passed

Lone Grove and Ardmore, several hams went back to the Lone Grove area,"

Goodson said. "One ham went to the Red Cross building and set up a

communication command post from the Red Cross radio room. It was amateur

operators who had the first visual contact with the tornadoes. They

started reporting the tornado to Neil Mayo, KC5AMX, the Emergency

Coordinator for Murray County and our Net control for severe weather

events; he in turn reports to the National Weather Service in Norman via

Amateur Radio."

The town of Lone Grove, population 4600 and located about 100 miles

south of Oklahoma City, bore the brunt of the storm, with the Oklahoma

Department of Emergency Management (ODEM) reporting eight deaths and

more than 100 homes destroyed. Two other tornadoes hit the Oklahoma City

metro area and the north-central Oklahoma region late Tuesday. No

serious injuries were reported in the Oklahoma City storm, but at least

six homes were destroyed and businesses were damaged there, ODEM

officials said.

ARRL Oklahoma Section Public Information Coordinator Kevin O'Dell,

N0IRW, told the ARRL that his Ardmore home survived the tornado, but

they are without power, water and other services. Other homes in his

neighborhood were completely destroyed. Oklahoma Gas and Electric

reported about 6000 customers are currently without power, with 3461 in

Lone Grove.

Well-known contester Tim Duffy, K3LR, told the ARRL that he lost 40

percent of his home as a tornado blew through his town of Edmond, a

suburb of Oklahoma City: "We lost all the doors and windows in the

house, all the power, just everything. The damage is amazing. The cell

phone system is still 'on tilt' with emergency services taking most of

the channels. We're making big progress on getting things sorted out

here. We will rebuild and make it better than it was before. With the

house in complete disrepair, we'll be staying in a hotel for a while."

Duffy said that National Weather Service officials told him that the

wind speed at his home was more than 150 MPH. While the family dog, a

golden retriever, made it through the storm okay, Duffy said their pet

cat is still missing. According to emergency management officials in

Edmond, six homes were destroyed in the storm.

This storm took many by surprise because even in tornado-prone Oklahoma,

February twisters are rare. According to the NWS, since 1950, only 44

twisters have touched down in the state during the month of February.

The Lone Grove tornado was the third to cause multiple fatalities in the

state since March 2007, when a Panhandle couple became the state's first

tornado deaths in almost six years.

given to The ARRL Letter/American Radio Relay League".

http://www.soaresss.org/

"Material from The ARRL Letter may be republished or reproduced in whole

or in part in any form without additional permission. Credit must be

given to The ARRL Letter/American Radio Relay League".

Credit is hereby given!  Thank you ARRL for all you do for us!