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<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Hi Folks:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Three weeks ago tomorrow, my area of the
Northern Catskills, a mountain valley about 35 miles west of the New York State
Thruway and 50 miles southwest of Albany, was hit by the heavy rains and winds
of Tropical Storm Irene. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Some 14 inches of rain fell inside of ten hours
during the early morning hours of Sunday, August 28th. The storm
surge overwhelmed spillways, culverts and the single creek that feeds
the New York City Watershed system. The single waterway, known as the
Batavia Kill, runs through five mountaintop towns and hamlets, Including
Windham and Prattsville - two of the hardest hit areas situated along
the Batavia. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Through the early morning of August
28th, incredible amounts of runoff and debris quickly filled
the creek bed. The water kept coming, and by 8am we had a quarter
mile-wide four to eight foot river that engulfed homes and businesses
along its path. Two homes collapsed and washed into the creek.
More than 70 trailers were washed away. One woman was killed when her trailer
split in two and she was pinned against a tree with 70mph waters
and debris.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Propane tanks, lumber, cars and even construction
equipment were swept away in a matter of minutes. That's how fast
this water rose.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>I'll never take flash flood warnings lightly
again..</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>My apartment is above a three car garage on the
banks of the Batavia Kill in Windham. Had I not left late Saturday night
for the radio station with a suitcase of clothes, my meds and a few necessities,
I would have been stranded inmy apt until Monday
morning. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>I'm writing here because I am sorry to report all
of my boatanchor transmitters and receivers were inundated by the floodwaters
and silt for over four to five hours. They were all sitting on a pallet in
my garage. I had no renter's insurance or flood insurance.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>FEMA's inspector took pictures and an inventory,
but informed me that the agency has "one price" for radios when it comes to
renumeration for loss, so there might as well have been clock radios on that
pallet.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>So - before sending these rigs to the junk pile, I
will offer them to anyone in this group who feels they might find a home with
someone who might even be able to restore them, for themselves or pay it forward
to a ham or JN in need.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Some of the gear includes a National NC-300
receiver, A Johnson Viking Valiant, a TRL Globe Scout TX (cherry before the
flood), two Johnson Rangers (one in need of a TX/wafer switch, the other a parts
rig, a Heathkit Apache Rx, and a Hammaulund SP-600 JX-17 (military) that had
been completely re-capped by the OM up in Pomfret Center CT years back (Antique
Restoration). Most were in boxes and overwrapped but I have not moved
anything or inspected anything since the waters engulfed
everything.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>One caveat is that the silt left behind on and in
theis gear is not something you want to handle with bare hands. I moved a
couple of items with my bare hands for the FEMA inspector and my hands burned
and itched for two days. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>So - discuss among yourselves if you want to decide
who gets what or who will be a responsible party to at least give these rigs
some attention before deternining their fate. I go back with Tom
(Pipe), Bob UJS and Rich for some years and despite only having limited 2M
simplex QSO's from my fav spot over in Westerlo with the loop stack, I know we
have a great group of hams here.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Gotta scoot - that's the latest from the
Mountaintop.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Jay</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>N1UJT</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Jay Fink<BR>Vice President & General
Manager<BR>WRIP-FM 97.9 & 97.5<BR><A
href="http://www.rip979.com">www.rip979.com</A><BR><A
href="mailto:jay@rip979.com">jay@rip979.com</A><BR>518-734-4747
(ph)<BR>518-734-9147 (fx)</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>