Typhoon Hugapit

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Typhoon Hugapit

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GEM was activated for the Typhoon Hugapit that rolled through the Philipines.
We activated up to Level 2 and rolled it back to level One. The event was well managed by PARA/HERO as they learned with the Typhoon a year ago and made a lot of changes to their response procedures. GEM stayed on stand by until we were no longer needed to stand by.

We received an email from PARA thanking us.

Van: Thelma Pascua [mailto:  [email protected] ] 
Verzonden: Montag, 8. Dezember 2014 08:44
Aan: Mike Koopsen
CC: PARA
Onderwerp: Re: Emergency Typhoon Hagupit (Ruby)

Hello Mike, PC1MK / DD4MK,

I could not help but notice that you are a PARA Lifetime International Associate Member (LIAM). Thank you for believing in the national association for the amateur radio service in the Philippines – PARA.

Please tell Ray, KA1AAA and the rest of the responsible and civic minded individuals and entities in GEM that we are sincerely grateful to the offers of support and their willingness to relay traffic for us.

As you probably know Mike, the Philippines is an archipelago of more than 7,000 islands. Our need for stable communications is driven by geography but unfortunately, our local government units have unequal levels of development and growth. For example, internet is quite sufficient in Metro Manila but in the poor provinces of Samar, it is woefully inadequate. For this reason, most of our public service activities during emergencies, especially the linkages between the serviced area and the HERO network, are done on purely RF. If cellular signals are available in the affected areas, then it lightens our load and HERO is terminated immediately after the relief and other agencies have began their work. Local clubs usually refocus their efforts to local matters once HERO is stood down.

What we need is a robust network that can link to the internet at all times. Also, we noticed how helpful even a small weather station kit is in provinces

Thanks and regards.

73

Thelma C. Pascua, DU1IVT

PARA Chief Operating Officer