Today is a day that most people would rather not have to mark on their calendars. Today is the first day of the 2009 Hurricane Season. It was four years ago that Louisiana faced one of the worst storms in their history - Hurricane Katrina. many of us had seen other storms on television and even in person but Katrina just seemed to raise the bar to show how bad a storm could really become. I was like others who watched the horrors that the people of New Orleans had to endure. I had the opportunity to witness first hand the devastation of Hurricane Andrew as a part of a response team working to help the people in the affected area. Then in 2003 many of us in the Tidewater area lived through the affects of Hurricane Isabel. I was without power for almost 2 weeks and I know others who went longer than that without electricity. I was fortunate enough to have family and friends to fall back on for some of the needs that I had during that time. But too often when something of the caliber of Katrina strikes many of our "Plan B" people are just as devastated as we have been. Circumstances like those have made it a pleasure for me to serve on the Disaster Relief Committee for the Norfolk Area Baptist Association. Over the years we have had the opportunity to respond to the needs of folks locally as well as those in other parts of the country. As an amateur radio operator (NS4CM) I have been interested in the communications aspect of disaster relief work. When a hurricane pushes its' way through an area many times a persons' contact with the "outside world" is completely cut off. With the help of my brother Barry Moseley and the gracious financial contributions of individuals, clubs, churches and the NABA we have developed a communications unit that is very much a Godsend to those who have just lost contact with others as a by-product of a storm. Imagine not being able to use a cell phone, landline phone or even being able to send an e-mail to let someone know how you're doing. The NABA communications trailer is equipped to accomplish all of those things in the event of an emergency. Most recently the trailer was used in a public service event in cooperation with the Virginia Beach Amateur Radio Club. The trailer was used as special event station W4S during the 26th annual Pungo Strawberry Festival. It was our privilege to have a part in that event but we do those types of events as a way to prepare ourselves for that day when the next big storm will strike.
Here is a video and pictures of the NABA trailer in action at the Strawberry Festival. (Click pictures to enlarge)...
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