Brownwood Volunteers Work Behind The Scenes During Disaster
By: Brendaliss Gonzalez
Updated: June 19, 2012
You may depend on them more than you think.
"Go out to the power grid and flip the switch- everybody's in the dark. Oh no what do we do now?" said Mike Isbell, a volunteer ham radio operator.
They work behind the scenes- their voices can be heard by thousands .
"That's the convincing factor right there when you don't have any power," he said, "You're going to have to depend on somebody to communicate for you."
Members of the Brownwood Amateur Radio Club work around the clock ensuring their city and surrounding areas have someway of calling out for help.
"If there's a problem, a disaster, you know they can't get the communications going you know were twenty four hours a day seven days a week," said volunteer Jerry Wetherholt.
They work through storms, and other disasters to provide communication for anyone needing assistance.
All of their radios and equipment can even be used without the need for electricity.
"It's very crucial to get your equipment out there and get it working as far as emergency power because anybody and everybody is gonna wanna need it," said Wetherholt.
It's using alternative sources of energy like wind and light for power.
Which can provide crucial assistance in times of disaster.
"We can set up a tent outside we can house them out there we can provide power for a refrigerator for medications, anything that is vital the temperature," said Wetherholt.
Many of the volunteers have daytime jobs, others are retired, but to them its all about serving their community and the opportunity to reach out to anyone anywhere.
"We can talk all over the world, you meet different people and you just find out how other people live in other parts of the world," said Isbell.
The group will participate Saturday, June 23 in the national Field Day at the Red Cross in Brownwood where they'll communicate with people around the nation using only solar and wind powered radio systems.
They'll also provide a special testing session for anyone wanting to become a certified ham radio operator.
"Go out to the power grid and flip the switch- everybody's in the dark. Oh no what do we do now?" said Mike Isbell, a volunteer ham radio operator.
They work behind the scenes- their voices can be heard by thousands .
"That's the convincing factor right there when you don't have any power," he said, "You're going to have to depend on somebody to communicate for you."
Members of the Brownwood Amateur Radio Club work around the clock ensuring their city and surrounding areas have someway of calling out for help.
"If there's a problem, a disaster, you know they can't get the communications going you know were twenty four hours a day seven days a week," said volunteer Jerry Wetherholt.
They work through storms, and other disasters to provide communication for anyone needing assistance.
All of their radios and equipment can even be used without the need for electricity.
"It's very crucial to get your equipment out there and get it working as far as emergency power because anybody and everybody is gonna wanna need it," said Wetherholt.
It's using alternative sources of energy like wind and light for power.
Which can provide crucial assistance in times of disaster.
"We can set up a tent outside we can house them out there we can provide power for a refrigerator for medications, anything that is vital the temperature," said Wetherholt.
Many of the volunteers have daytime jobs, others are retired, but to them its all about serving their community and the opportunity to reach out to anyone anywhere.
"We can talk all over the world, you meet different people and you just find out how other people live in other parts of the world," said Isbell.
The group will participate Saturday, June 23 in the national Field Day at the Red Cross in Brownwood where they'll communicate with people around the nation using only solar and wind powered radio systems.
They'll also provide a special testing session for anyone wanting to become a certified ham radio operator.
