Rainy River council looks at back up HAM radio system in case of disaster

By Ken Johnston
Editor

Have you ever wondered how emergency services would coordinate their efforts if a major disaster knocked out traditional methods of communication?
Well last Tuesday, Rainy River Town Council discussed just that when Sioux Narrows resident Woody Linton visited their monthly meeting.
Linton is Fire Chief and Emergency Measures Coordinator for Sioux Narrows but most importantly he is an Amateur Radio operator; or HAM Radio Operator as they are more commonly known.
Linton explained to council that when cell and traditional phone networks are damaged or power for them fails, it is often HAMs that step up to the plate. “We were used during 911 and more recently at Hurricane Katrina when all other systems jammed up or failed,” explained Linton.
A group called the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) are volunteers who are highly trained amateur radio operators. They are prohibited under federal regulations from charging for their services. ARES members are enthusiastic, skilled volunteers who are interested in serving their community.
Linton said he was not sure if there are any HAMS in Rainy River, but he noted that in the event of the need for ARES members a call would go out and operators in nearby communities would step up.
Linton suggested that the Town of Rainy River set up either one of two systems or both. He showed them a small hand held unit called an IRLP (Internet Radio Linking Project). He said they are very affordable ($180-$400 each) and very flexible. They would be linked to a node, likely at the Emergency Operations Center in the community. The node would utilize the internet to communicate.
In the case of the internet being knocked out by a disaster Linton showed council a High Frequency radio. He noted that they are more money but a basic and highly effective system that can be put up for about $600. Top end units can run as high as $10,000.
Another important type of radio Linton said he would not be without is a hand-held weather radio. They tie into local weather warning systems and when a major weather event takes place they beep and issue the type of warning.
Linton said they are very affordable and are available at The Source by Circuit City locally. “They are so affordable every house should have one, but even if emergency officials were the only ones, they could, at the very least, issue a warning to the public.”
Amateur radio has been around for more than 100 years and Linton said it is the only fail safe communications system in the world that allows people to communicate around the world.
He said he would help council get a system up and running and told the Record Friday that he would be willing to help get a course going to get some local people licensed.
Town Clerk Veldron Vogan was the one who initially told council about the HAM back up system. Council was very interested and they invited Linton to make his presentation.
Vogan said Monday that it sounds like council is going to put a system in place and hopefully at least one member of the town’s staff will get licensed. Otherwise if there are people in the community who are already licensed and willing to volunteer they should call the town hall at 852-3244.
Councillor Marilyn McAlister said that she was very concerned two years ago when a tornado hit Warroad, MN, just 30 miles from here. There was no local warning system in place and people said the storm was heading towards Rainy River. She and council seemed very interested in Linton’s presentation.
“We need to be prepared,” concluded McAlister.