Hallam, NE Hit by F-4 tornado.
6/07/04 07:38 UTC (02:42 CST)
Lincoln, NE
On May 22nd, 2004, a small community in southwestern Lancaster county, NE called Hallam was hit by an F4 size tornado. The storm watch was activated shortly after 2000 CST when Lancaster County Emergency Management requested that storm spotters be activated and sent out into the county. It was aproximatly 2100 CST when the first storm rolled through Hallam, which then produced the devistating F4 Tornado. After officials at the Lancaster County Emergency Management office decided the threat was past, some of the Amateur Radio storm spotters helped out even more by turning over to the N0FER 147.240+ repeater and started relaying damage info to Reynolds Davis, K0GND and the Emergency Management office, K0EOC. The action was all over with by 0430 CST.
Then, the next phase started, clean up. Volunteers have been pouring into Princeton, NE to volunteer to help out, along with Amateur Radio Volunteers to assist with the communication needs. The ECV was moved into Hallam, where it established K0KKV. Then, they established a check point in Princeton with equipment volunteered by N7RVN Scott. Now, the clean up is almost over, almost two weeks ahead of schedule. The last day is expected to be Tuesday, June 8th. I believe that Lancaster County Emergency Management and the Lincoln Amateur Radio Club have proven that they are ready for just about anything that comes their way.
Whole hearted thanks go out to all the volunteers that have helped make this ahead of schedule clean up a success.
73's DE KC0PUW
John Charles II
