Thursday afternoon Sept 1, 2011 I received an e-mail from the N2LEN Yahoo! group. It contained a snip from an e-mail from Pete N2YJZ, the ENY Section Manager, asking for help up in Green County NY. This area was hard hit by remnants of hurricane Irene. Prattsville was nearly erased from the map. Local media coverage here in NYC, never mentioned it.

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“While the hurricane has come and left, there are still a few counties that are in need of help. One of them currently being Greene County NY. Information below gives details on just what kind of help is needed and how to respond. I ask that you consider volunteering to people in need.

Please pass this information on to other radio operators, club members and ARES/RACES members. Everyone would appreciate it very much.

Thank you,

Pete Cecere N2YJZ

Section Manager

Eastern NY

- 20 to 25 operators are needed

- NIMS/ICS training is preferred but not required

- Operators will need dual band (2 meter and 70 centimeter) transceivers

- Expect up to three days deployment

- The county has insurance that will cover volunteers coming from out of the area

- Experience handling health and welfare traffic is a plus

- Talk in frequency is 147.150 + (no PL) and 449.025 – (PL 114.8)

- Point of contact for volunteers is Len Signoretti, N2LEN,518-653-1287

Anyone wishing to volunteer should contact Len to be put on a schedule and receive additional instructions. ”

A quick look on the web (Google "Prattsville,NY") revealed more than one cares to see. I've known Lenny, N2LEN for years. He was a member of the Kings County Repeater  Association (KCRA) before he transplanted to the Catskill's. I called Len and asked what I could do. I sent a quick email out to see if I could muster any additional help, and my wife started packing for me. Gary, KB2BSL volunteered to go with me and Friday after work, we left to meet Charlie, WA2GUG up in Cairo. Charlie had gone up Friday morning and helped set up a communications position between the Green Co. EOC in Cairo, and the Red Cross Shelter at Windham Ski Lodge which had a mudslide go through it.

I packed the truck after work with help from Anthony KC2VQH. We loaded up my 10x10 tent, generator, gas cans, and the usual Field Day gear. This was in fact, the reason we have Field Day every year. Gary and I arrived at Charlie's late Friday night and were at the EOC by 9 AM Saturday. A very tired looking Lenny greeted us and we started setting up  the ARES/RACES Trailer with John, KB2MPX and his son John (who is studying for his tech).

Lenny, N2LEN is the Green County ARES EC and RACES Radio Officer and Tom, WE2G is the Section Traffic Manager for ENY. After a quick briefing, we received instructions to go to the Red Cross shelter that had been set up at Windham Ski Lodge. We arrived and were met by Masa, NY2JA who had walked there from his home a mile or so away. The Red Cross folks, Bill, Rhonda and Sue KJ4QZP, told us the shelter was shutting down. After reporting this to the EOC, we were told to break down the equipment set up the day before, and take it down the road to the Water Treatment Plant in Windham which was being used as a distribution point by Red Cross. Richie, N2ZKX was to meet us there with 4 Verizon cellphones. A young Volunteer Fireman named Scott introduced himself and directed me to an Incident Management Team from Ohio and the Incident Commander, Dave. I introduced myself and explained we  were from ARES/RACES and could provide direct communications to the Green Co. EOC. The phones were declined as they had ordered a COW (Communications on Wheels) and we were told we could set up in the field by the Red Cross supply trailer out of the way.

Gary, Masa, and myself took 20 minutes to set up the site and check in to the EOC. The EZ-UP 10x10 Tent was set up with two tables. The Honda EU2000i generator ran the 35 amp NuMar power supply which kept a 90 amp hour pure lead battery charged through a West Mountain Radio Powergate PG40. A Bendix King EMV4990a 40 watt UHF mobile and Yaesu FT-7800 mobile radio used a Diamond Triplexer to split the RG214 feed line from a Diamond x-500 on the ladder racks of the truck. I had my IC-746pro on hand for HF if needed and a G5RV-jr to toss up.

A few uneventful hours later an ice cream truck pulled up and made our day. "Free Ice Cream!" yelled a boy from the truck. He and his father were driving around handing out frozen treats. Shortly after that a car pulled up offering peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Some curious people stopped to ask questions and we did our best to answer. Gary and I wished we had brought the banners we usually hang at events to better show who we were and why we were there.

Later in the afternoon A gentleman from Red Cross showed up and told us they were reopening the shelter at Ski Windham, It had been mistakenly shut down. We reported this to the EOC and were promptly ordered to close up shop and relocate back to Ski Windham. Gary and I went back and set up the antenna and feed line and were shut down for the night at 8 PM.

There’s an awful lot of dark out there in the mountains at night. After getting slightly lost, We carefully drove back to Lenny's house where his gracious family Fed, Watered and offered to put us up for the night. Gary had work the next day so we thanked the N2LEN Gang and headed south. We were back on Staten Island around 3:30 AM and unload the truck the next day.