Hurricanes are events that are preceded by a long warning phase so the intent of the exercise is not to respond to a surprise emergency. The intensity and path after landfall is less predictable so there will be some surprises in this exercise.
This simulated storm will be hitting the coast of the Carolinas as a Cat 4 Hurricane with sustained winds of 158 MPH and will still be maintaining wind speeds of 69 MPH when it enters Canada. This will give you an idea of what the winds will be like as it crosses the Commonwealth. While over open water it will funnel up 15 million tons of water per minute, and will be laden with over 108 billion tons of water as it makes landfall. In Virginia it will be preceded by heavy rainfall over the previous 3 days so the ground will already be saturated. The storm will have hurricane force
winds extending out over 125 miles as it enters the Old Dominion. Heavy rainfall will be covering all of the state. The central path of the storm will be a little different than the original Hurricane Hazel in order to equalize the impact over much of the state. The size and intensity of this hurricane will be identical to Hurricane Hazel that hit Virginia in the middle of October 1954. No area of Virginia is immune to the path of such a storm striking their jurisdiction.
The National Weather Service office in Blacksburg will be writing the bulletins for this storm and it will be read over Skywarn repeaters and will also be sent to the "Virginia Resource Center" (Substitude for the VEOC) during the drill via Winlink for reading on HF. These bulletins will have "THIS IS A DRILL.........THIS IS A TEST " as a lead and at the end of each bulletin.
We will be incorporating the SALTT system into one of ICS-213 forms for requesting resources. This will allow the form to be more compatible with WebEOC software.
During the early stage of the exercise, reports will be needed from all across the Commonwealth. Simulated rainfall amounts, barometer readings and wind-speed readings or estimates will be needed for Skywarn nets. As the storm proceeds, simulated building damage and utility outages will need to be reported. This would also include simulated road, and bridge closings.
Weather related reports may continue to be submitted throughout the exercise. Tactical and resource nets will need to be activated beginning around 0900 hours and continue through 1400 hours. Situation reports should be sent to the VEOC from local EOCs or other agencies if the local EOC is not being covered by Amateur Radio. Situation reports may be requested by the VIrginia Resource Center from critical areas from time to time.
If you are the sole operator from your jurisdiction, your operation will still be worthwhile and if you register for participation. You will receive outgoing traffic to send and traffic will be sent to you. You may also want to have another ham or non ham to assist you with note taking. If you are operating Winlink and you don't have typing skills it would be helpful to bring someone with you to do your typing for you. The person would not need to be a ham. You would cntinue to be the control opeator of the ham equipment.
To prepare for this exercise, give thought to all the things that can happen as a by-product of such an event. If you are in the right quadrant give thought to what things that you might encounter and be prepared.
