Amateur Radio Plays Vital Role in Disaster Response

Joshua Tucker, APRN – Anchorage

In Alaska, Amateur Radio operators have played a critical role responding to disasters in the past. After the ’64 earthquake phone lines were down. People in  Anchorage had no way of communicating with Homer, Seward or Kodiak to see if the to see if the towns had survived. It was Amatuer Radio operators who re-established contact, reporting back that the towns were not gone – just badly damaged. Since then, members of Alaska’s Amateur Radio Emergency Service have built up more resources on their own to respond to disasters.

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