Hamnet posted some photographs on the Facebook website about all the snow we had in South Africa this week and the response was interesting – especially from our friends in the USA where snow in winter is a ‘natural’ experience!
To us, snow in all 9 Provinces, in one fell swoop, I think made history this week! I cannot recall ever that a cold front moving across our country has caused so much excitement, misery and traffic snarl-up – ever!
Hamnet received at least 2 warnings on Monday, the 6th of August, that what happened in the Karroo 10 days earlier was but the prelude to what is coming this week. For the first time, those warnings were very accurate!
Hamnet sent out an advisory to selected operators, especially in KZN, to be available to run a net on 7,110MHz on Tuesday and possibly Wednesday. The net on Tuesday was well supported with as many as 23 stations checking in during the day. I also wish to commend all the stations on frequency for maintaining good radio procedure!
Jannie, ZS4JR sent us many reports of what the situation was on the N3 Toll Concession and his daughter Annette sent us some amazing photographs of a traffic backlog that stretched back to Warden for about 30 kilometres, simply because the van Reenen Pass was closed and from there to Howick, the N3 was a no go area!
Fortunately, the Defence Force stepped in to ‘dig out’ stranded people and that almost included Ambulance personnel trapped in their vehicles responding an emergency on the lower side of the N3. The personnel were rescued but the Ambulances had to wait for the road to be opened up later.
A good exercise again from many points of view! Immediate response to the call-out, good communication and good adherence to radio procedures. However, the 30M band or 10MHz band was again not used and tests showed us that during the day, the shorter distances, despite poor working radio conditions, we were able to cope on 40M. The distances for the 30M band were just too short in this instance!
What also transpired was the rapid loss of electrical power, telecommunication connections via Telkom lines and cell phone communication in the affected areas!
As we speak, Cape Town Disaster Management and the National Sea Rescue Institute issued warnings on Friday of rain, snow, wind and rough seas along the Western Cape coast, inland and Southern Cape Coastline.
This again proves, that when all else fails, amateur radio, its preparedness for emergencies and good operating procedures, is vital for getting that message through! We will again be operational on 7,110 MHz for the next few days!
Reporting for Hamnet, this is Francois Botha, ZS6BUU.
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