Helene Aftermath Update: Tree Removal, Road Improvements, and a Community Radio Network (Saturday, October 19, 2024)

Good Saturday Morning, Friends,

For those who haven’t followed my previous posts, we live in a rural mountain community in Swannanoa, NC, and were hit hard by the unprecedented destruction caused by Hurricane (later Tropical Storm) Helene. I’ve been sharing regular updates to chronicle our recovery efforts and, naturally, to highlight the vital role amateur radio has played throughout.


Let me say that it’s a comforting feeling to no longer have a tree leaning against and pinned to the roof of our home. It’s nice not to hear the creaking sounds of it rubbing against the metal roof every time the wind blows.

I’m incredibly grateful to the arborist crew that removed the trees from our vacation rental house and QTH. I mentioned that earlier this week the original arborist team we’d scheduled had informed us that they couldn’t remove the tree because they couldn’t bring a crane up our dodgy road.

Our new crew worked without a crane— which, of course, took more time— but they skillfully removed the tree using ropes, pulleys, and a solid understanding of physics. True pros!

We’re so thankful for their efforts.

This same crew ended up removing trees from several other homes on our road. They’re doing incredible work.

More Road Improvements

Our two-mile-long, steep, and curvy road has been getting a lot of attention from the Kentucky Department of Transportation this week. Even though Kentucky is two states away, crews from all over the country have come to help. This particular road crew has been amazing.

The road is now mostly two lanes again. While it’s not paved— and likely won’t be anytime soon— it’s passable by nearly any vehicle. We are all so grateful, and it looks like these improvements might even hold up against future weather challenges.

Improvements and Challenges

Now that our mountain community has electricity (and water), a stable and safer road, and access to every home (except one with a particularly long and mud slide-damaged driveway), life is beginning to normalize.

We’re feeling stable enough here to plan a visit to my father in Hickory this weekend. We’ve postponed visiting him for three weeks because of how unstable things were here, and we’ve kept all our travel within half an hour of the QTH.

After speaking with many neighbors, I feel like their experiences are reflective of everyone in WNC right now. Some are back to work, especially those who can work from home with satellite internet. Some want to work, but their employers— many in the tourism industry— were hit hard by Helene. One friend who works as a solar installer said that literally all of his company’s inventory was destroyed in the flooding along the Swannanoa River.

Tourism, the biggest industry in the mountains, has ground to a halt. A friend mentioned that many people he knows under 30 are now unemployed. For instance, the Grove Park Inn, one of our largest resorts, laid off all of its employees. They hope to reopen soon, but I imagine many guests have canceled for the rest of the year.

Helene couldn’t have come at a worse time, as the fall leaf-peeping season is upon us. Many businesses (including our vacation rental)  make the bulk of their income during this period.

The counties shaded in red are discouraging tourism while the ones in green are welcoming them.

While some WNC counties are still open for business, others— like Buncombe County— are discouraging tourism. I can’t imagine tourists descending on the area right now, as they would only get in the way of recovery.

A Neighborhood Radio Network

In the background, I’ve been exploring the idea of creating a robust off-grid radio communications network for our rural, remote community.

As mentioned in previous posts, we’ve been using amateur radio (VHF) to communicate within our community. While most operators aren’t licensed amateurs, in times of emergency, that’s not an issue.

As things return to normal and our mobile phone network is fully restored, I want to find a long-term, off-grid communications solution.

In an upcoming episode of the Ham Radio Workbench Podcast, I’ll be discussing this in more detail.

I recently spoke with my friend George (KJ6VU), who has gone through this process in his own neighborhood. He provided insight based on experience and I’m most grateful.

While I’d love for everyone in my community to become licensed hams, I know that’s not realistic. That said, I think we’ll gain a couple of new hams after my evangelizing! For now, we need off-grid communication options that are more accessible and use something more akin to channelized radios. Here are some options I’m considering:

  • FRS (Family Radio Service): These radios are surprisingly effective but have low power output, and you can’t replace the built-in antenna. This won’t work across our entire two-mile road, especially with the 900-1,000 foot elevation change. This is really the option of last resort for us.
  • GMRS (General Mobile Radio Service): This is a more viable option. GMRS radios are more robust, you can replace the antennas, and there are even 50-watt mobile/base options. The downside is that each family would need to apply for an FCC license ($35) and use the same family callsign. There’s also a lot of GMRS traffic, so even if we standardize on tone and channel settings, interference could be an issue. We could install a repeater for better coverage.
  • PLMRS (Private Land Mobile Radio Service): This option would require more paperwork and upfront costs, but it has benefits. A frequency coordinator would find unused frequencies for our region, and if enough households sign up, the cost per household would drop. We could standardize on channelized DMR units, and interference from outside users would be minimal. Households wouldn’t need individual callsigns, and we could opt for a repeater if necessary.

I’ll be sorting through these options in the coming weeks and reaching out to neighbors to gauge interest. There are already enough people interested to make this a reality—it’s just a matter of deciding which service to use. At this point, I’m leaning toward PLMRS. If you have any experience or advice, feel free to comment!

Thank You

99.9 FM has been a local channel completely devoted to community information and news post-Helene. A part of my morning routine was to turn on this C.Crane radio and listen in the mornings.

As always, we are deeply grateful for the kindness and support we’ve received. If I haven’t had a chance to respond to your emails or comments, please know it’s because I’ve been focused on helping my family and neighbors during this challenging time.

A huge thank you to Vince (VE6LK) and all the fantastic contributors on QRPer.com! I’ve read every comment and message but haven’t had the time to respond to each one. My time on the internet is limited, as most of my energy is going into normalizing life.

You are an amazing community and support network. Thank you so much!

Wishing you all the very best!

Cheers & 72,

Thomas (K4SWL)

26 thoughts on “Helene Aftermath Update: Tree Removal, Road Improvements, and a Community Radio Network (Saturday, October 19, 2024)”

  1. Thomas,

    Don’t forget about MURS (Multi-Use Radio Service). It’s licensed-by-rule just like FRS but it’s VHF with 2 watt power limit. Repeaters aren’t allowed but external antennas are up to 60ft above ground. Data is allowed too.

  2. I applaud you for not only your efforts in the face of a terrible storm but the desire to make things better for the future of your “community”.

    No matter which RF option you choose it will likely cost each member near two hundred at the least. The options that work all require a license, training, a radio, antenna, cable and so on. While some require only an application and money the Amateur Radio option gives the largest bang for the buck and actually can use the local established facilities, from the get-go.
    The Technician exam is simply not that difficult and, in my 60+ sessions I have not had a single failure to pass. You must have other qualified Hams in the area willing to hold a few classes, explain the rules and hold VE sessions in your neighborhood. Heck, I would even consider making the trip from WCF as a VE Examiner if necessary. There are just too many benefits of AR to not put it at the top of the choices especially if you have a few already willing to try. Those that don’t want to try or they try and fail can still use the current options that you have in place as long as it’s a true emergency.

    Take care and best wishes to you and your neighborhood.

    John
    KK4ITX

    1. Hi, John,

      Oh man…I would love it everyone got a ham license, but I’ve surveyed a number of neighbors and there’s little interest in that for this specific purpose. Keep in mind that folks are trying to put their lives and businesses back together so they can’t even get their minds around anything other than that at present. Many would just stick with FRS and then use ham radio in times of emergency. There are two people on my road of 44 households that have expressed an interest in amateur radio, though!

      The options we’re looking at would likely cost $80 for the radio and $10-20 per person for the licensing for 10 years. When the license is renewed in 10 years, it would be closer to $5-10 per person (we wouldn’t be paying for the up-front costs) depending on the number who contribute.The renewal would be every 10 years.

      Thank you for your kind comment and feedback (and willingness to do VE work) John!

      Cheers,
      Thomas

  3. Regarding MURS, we’d have to do some testing to see if it would cover our full road. Our main obstacle is the elevation change and the fact that it’s heavily wooded here. We’re trying to look at something that would have at least a portable repeater option especially if the wider community adopted the idea.

    I do love the fact it allows for external antennas, but I know some homes would like the option of a much higher power mobile or base station. Some have land formations which block their line-of-site to the rest of the community.

    I’ll need to find someone with MURS units and do some testing. 🙂

    Thanks for the feedback!

    Cheers,
    Thomas

    1. MURS use similar frequencies as Ham Radio VHF and UHF but low power and think only HTs. But could do testing with Ham rigs. As for repeaters either commercial which is expensive licensing and commercial freq coordinator. GMRS offers a lot of flexibility like higher power rigs and repeaters. For a repeater a Motorola GR300 or GR500 repeaters are easy to get on ebay. License is on same form as Ham licensing and cost the same $35/10 years. Radios are reasonable.
      73, ron, n9ee

    1. Yes, actually it is a good application. I pitched it to some in the community this week, but they preferred the idea of a radio and system that’s not tied to a cell phone or tablet.
      I think, though, I’m still going to promote the idea to some in the community who are slightly more adventurous tech-wise! 🙂 Why not both, right? Meshtastic is so affordable.

      1. In that regard, it looks like there’s continuing open-source work on supporting MeshTastic text services from self-contained devices. This blog post explores how it’s not quite there, but I expect that that will advance quickly given its current state: https://www.jeffgeerling.com/blog/2024/realizing-meshtastics-promise-t-deck

        Good luck with implementing a communication plan with the community! Something “TXT” based means you can operate more asynchronously and with longer range. Certainly keeping functional FRS radios for live PTT voice communication is a good baseline.

  4. Thomas,

    Glad to hear things are progressing more quickly than originally anticipated and that you are OK. I don’t know how useful it would be for your neighborhood off grid communications plan, but local area Arden mesh networks are popular in CA and folks in my club (Endless Mountains Amateur Radio Club) in Tunkhannock, PA have begun testing with them for exactly this purpose. Not sure about licensing or usefulness of the systems, but it is worth looking into.

    Prayers and 73
    Shawn WS0SWV

    1. Yes, I just mentioned to AE5X that I’m going to promote Meshtastic too. The neighbors want a radio-based system–they saw so much value in our simplex nets. But I think there’s still a place for Meshtastic!

    1. I did propose this, too, but it was shot down. They wanted something with less general traffic.
      I think everyone should have a CB, though. Not a bad device in times of emergencies!

  5. +1 for Meshtastic: cheap, can run without a license, self-healing network, and once set up, works just like texting. You might also want to test FRS in your area before dismissing it. It’s the lowest common denominator.

    1. We did try FRS and it worked fine on the upper part of our road. It did not work well bridging the upper and lower parts of the road, however. I’m definitely pushing to see if I can get a few people to agree to set up nodes on the road. I think it would coincide nicely with a radio network.

  6. I wish you well in your recovery and getting back into Ham Radio activities although I am sure this is the least of your concerns.. Here at my QTH in Florida 8 miles from the Gulf we did well, little damage. Both Helene and Milton pretty much passed us by, lots of rain and wind for short time. 73, ron, n9ee

  7. w/re Off-grid communications – a good source of info on this is Julian White @ OH8STN .org . He has a website that features many topics concerning grid down operating. Julian and his wife live in Finland north of the Arctic circle.

  8. Thanks for the posts as they are very helpful. It’s a great way to deal with stress
    As a firefighter and a Critical Care EMT since 1952, I can’t tell you how important it is to off load stress every way you can.
    Hope you got to see your dad and he is OK and that you found a little time for a fast activation.
    72
    Joe WA2SPL/1 NW VT

  9. For a local comms system you might want to look the Meshtastic concept of LORA nodes each of which can be accessed by a phone app connecting by WiFi or Bluetooth directly with a nearby node.

    The advantage of the system is each node is part of a mesh so the system is extended by each additional node added. Here in Europe it generally operates on 868MHz, might be different in the US.

    The nodes require very little power and can operate with a small (12″) solar panel.

    No radio license required.

  10. So glad things are on the upswing in WNC.

    We have an extensive Meshtastic network here in the San Francisco Bay area. Bear in mind that it may not propagate well in forested areas.

    There are also GMRS repeaters on some of the inter-valley ridges, although nothing as extensive as the ham clubs-maintained vhf/uhf repeater systems that surround the Bay.

    Some repeaters provide digital modes which allow wider geographic access provided you could hit one that still has internet access.

    There is a critical mass of techies (and also the topography) around here to keep all this going which sounds like it might not apply to your situation.

    Be very interesting and important for the rest of us to see what emcom system you come up with.

    Best of luck.

  11. From afar it does seem that the ability to utilise a resilient repeater with a footprint that extended beyond your immediate area of damage was materially significant in your circumstances (regional reach out). I guess only a few people need that wider level of access for coordination at strategic points if they can tie into an effective ‘swivel chair’ message transfer process that picks up on the pertinent lower tier/tech simplex traffic which might be a blend of pre-arranged business traffic and GMRS…..but that needs rehearsal as does prior promulgation of schedule, channels etc.

    Perhaps not surprising is that it was your local/regional comms on VHF/UHF that made all the difference and HF was an irrelevance. There are a few YT channels etc out there that might benefit from taking that message onboard and rethink their approach…….

    Lots of lessons for us all to learn. Thankyou for your valuable insight.

    1. Personally, I’d like HF to be something I explore, but in the emergency respose situation from MY perspective, 2m is king. It does, however, seem valuable for some type of situation where HF operators monitor 2m and possibly move traffic to HF for longer distance comms – welfare check reports, etc. It’s a very complex thing to boil down to a “single solution” from what I’ve seen happen when – literally – 911 dispatchers can’t even communicate with the highway patrol.

  12. Hello, Thomas 🙂 Fellow WNC guy here who has felt the fear descend when the realization that I couldn’t contact ANYONE truly sank it. The “Internet” isn’t just about Facebook and Tweeter and Google; a huge number of people actually have no other connection to the world if their cell systems go down. I think you have cable TV, but in our area (Haywood), that isn’t always the thing. I like your “network” idea, but I think there’s also a need for more robust Haywood / Buncombe ham networking to use the 146.91 repeater and even figure out what to do with 146.760 and 147.39 so that more folks monitor (and keep them powered in bad times…) That said, simplex is king and I’d like to see simplex nets on VHF so that battery powered handhelds have value when Duke goes down for 2+ days.

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