During hurricanes, emergency officials turn to ham radio

VERO BEACH, Fla. — Operators of amateur radios, also known as ham radios, play a vital role in the gathering of information during hurricanes like Irma.



“We take for granted our communications,” said Etta LoPresti, emergency management coordinator for Indian River County.



“But when you have something catastrophic like they do in the Keys and in the west coast of Florida, where you’re not going to have communication, these amateur radio operators take care of things for us.”

In Indian River County, Paul Bartoszewicz and Willie Thompson work 14-hour shifts during Hurricane Irma. They’re part of the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) — a group of licensed radio operators who help with communication during storms.

They work in a small room off the main area inside Indian River County’s Emergency Operation Center.

Bartoszewicz, 66, and Thompson, 61, do hourly calls to fellow amateur radio operators at each of the shelters in Indian River County.

“Are there communications such as land lines? Are they still up and running? Is their electrical up and running or down?, " Bartoszewicz said. "Then we notify either FPL (Florida Power & Light) or City of Vero Beach because we have to get these shelters back up online. They all have generators; sometimes the generators fail.”

Irma is Bartoszewicz’ second hurricane since moving to Vero Beach six years ago. He also worked during Matthew last year.

Thompson moved to Vero Beach in 2004 — just in time for hurricanes Frances and Jeanne.

“I started (amatuer radio) way back in the day,” he said. “I enjoyed the hobby and then I started doing emergency communications. When I was in the army I was able to travel a lot and got to work in Texas with ARES there and then Oklahoma, so I got tornado experience and then I got hurricane experience here.”

The hours are challenging — 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. – but Bartoszewicz and Thompson feel a special responsibility for people in shelters.

“(The days are) long,” Bartoszewicz said. “But it’s rewarding to the fact that we are in charge of over 1,200 clients at our shelters that are located here.”

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