Chestercopperpot?

[3bailey3]

Any of you guys heard from him? He lives in the mountains just west of Asheville Nc. I texted him last night and haven't heard back from him. Guys please keep him in your prayers!

[Paulmyr]

Sounds like cell service  and all communications for that matter are down in many areas. Might be a while before some areas get service restored.

[Tail Feathers]

I hope he made it through OK.  Yeh, comms are down and cell service is mostly gone.  Having a fair amount of training and experience in disaster response, that's a big hurdle to overcome.

[zelmo1]

Hoping that our brothers and all who are affected are doing ok.        Z

[Tom007]

Amen, prayers for Chester and all that are effected.....

[greentrout]

Chester has been out of the country and appears to be safe and sound. But his area absolutely has been hit hard by Helene.

[ChesterCopperpot]

So sorry if you've texted and I haven't gotten back. As someone said, I'm in France on business and don't have cell service, just internet. As for home, my home survived well. Jackson County was incredibly lucky. We took the direct path of the eye of the storm so those most devastating outer bands hit the next couple counties east much worse. We had around 26" of rain over a 48hr period at my house, but I'm high and so far all has survived. My friends and family are safe physically but some have lost everything. Home, vehicles, all belongings, everything. It's Katrina level destruction in a landscape that will require ten times as long to rebuild. One of the men I love most in this world was rescued from drowning by boat. The one thing I will say is that everyone is alive, but alive doesn't mean unbroken, and in this instance the people I love most are salvaging rubble. I'm here in France until late October but I can't imagine what it will be like when I get back to my mountain. It will be a place irreparably changed.


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[Tom007]

Glad to hear you are safe! Prayers for all affected......

[Sir-diealot]

Glad to hear you are safe Chester, prayers for all those that are not.

Just to throw this out there if any of you know a Ham radio operator (Amateur Radio Operator) they are excellent for communicating in disasters, we have been doing it for years and I have had the privilege to pass a message myself as I am a ham radio operator as well. We are often up and running when the newer more modern forms of communication are not. I would try to find a local ham radio operator (Amateur Radio Operator) in your area or the local Ham radio operator (Amateur Radio Operator) club in your town and ask them how to proceed in the event of an emergency. These guys volunteer there time, have battery and solar operated power they own themselves, I even knew I guy that powered his by bicycle. They have their own form of internet that is often used and was the precursor to the internet we know today called Packet Radio and does not need all the stuff the internet needs to communicate and some will let you talk to your relatives/friends on their radios if a connection can be established to let you/them know you/they are safe. When I was getting into it 20 some odd years ago the guys could fit almost their entire setup in a milk crate box except their laptops and I know they can fit the laptops now. Just a thought for all of you and sorry for hijacking this thread, considering the circumstances it seemed very important to mention. They can be found running with all forms of disasters.

[Greg Massey]

Prayers for everyone and glad to know you're doing good.... 

[Tail Feathers]

Glad to hear you are safe Chester, prayers for all those that are not.

Just to throw this out there if any of you know a Ham radio operator (Amateur Radio Operator) they are excellent for communicating in disasters, we have been doing it for years and I have had the privilege to pass a message myself as I am a ham radio operator as well. We are often up and running when the newer more modern forms of communication are not. I would try to find a local ham radio operator (Amateur Radio Operator) in your area or the local Ham radio operator (Amateur Radio Operator) club in your town and ask them how to proceed in the event of an emergency. These guys volunteer there time, have battery and solar operated power they own themselves, I even knew I guy that powered his by bicycle. They have their own form of internet that is often used and was the precursor to the internet we know today called Packet Radio and does not need all the stuff the internet needs to communicate and some will let you talk to your relatives/friends on their radios if a connection can be established to let you/them know you/they are safe. When I was getting into it 20 some odd years ago the guys could fit almost their entire setup in a milk crate box except their laptops and I know they can fit the laptops now. Just a thought for all of you and sorry for hijacking this thread, considering the circumstances it seemed very important to mention. They can be found running with all forms of disasters.

Our EOC always included a couple of HAM operators.  Those hard hit areas look like they may need an operator with each search and rescue team.  Cell towers, radio towers and phone lines go down and comms get real challenging, especially in such a large affected area.