Nueces County, Texas, ARES
What is ARES?
ARES stands for the Amateur Radio Emergency Service. It is a part of the American Radio Relay League (ARRL). It is comprised of FCC licensed hams who like to get together to discuss and plan for emergency communications operations. Being in Texas we are familiar with what a Hurricane can do (Katrina, Dolly, Ike). Regular modes of communication require a tremendous amount of infrastructure in order to keep running. Because of this dependence on infrastructure cell phones, public service trunking systems, the Internet, and satellite systems can be out of commission for weeks after a disaster. Amateur radio requires very little infrastructure and can be operating after a disaster occurs within minutes, and can provide life and death priority communications until regular communication modes are restored. Among the clients that we support are the Red Cross, the Baptist Men's Kitchen, the Salvation Army, the Governors Department of Emergency Management, the Texas State Guard, the DPS, the Corpus Christi Emergency Operations Center, various hospitals, FEMA, and the NTIA.
Any ham can join ARES, If you are not a ham, it is easy to become one. All it requires are a few weeks of casual study, and passing a simple locally administered examination.
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