Rain Season Has Arrived and 2025 Great Shake Out

Our rain season arrived this week with over an inch of rain in one day. We can expect road closures and power outages as the first storms of the season will bring down branches and trees across our roads, power and phone lines. While the rain has damped fuel enough that we can worry less about fires caused by lightning or downed power lines there’s increased awareness of chimney fires as we move back into heating season and people start burning wood again for heat. It’s a good time to remind ARES members that monitoring the repeater on CMD31 (146.730 MHz, – offset, CTCSS 114.8) is an excellent way to stay on top of local conditions and also helps your neighbors if they need assistance and can’t use their phone. You can also help your community by reporting road conditions as you find them. Remember in an emergency to call 911 first, but if there’s no phone service there’s ham radio.

This week is also the anniversary of the 6.9 magnitude Loma Prieta earthquake which left some 3,000 to 12,000 Californians homeless. To mark the occasion SC4ARES participated in the Great ShakeOut on 10/16 at 10:16. We live in a seismically active area and earthquakes can happen at any time: Another reason to maintain your emergency equipment in readiness and monitor your radio in case someone needs help. For tips on how to prepare for the next big earthquake, visit https://www.shakeout.org/california/