Well, I can only give you one small example. In 1992, I was living in Lynchburg, VA when a vicious squall line with 80+ mph straight-line winds tore through the entire area one Friday afternoon. Power to the entire metro area, over 150,000 people at the time, was knocked out. Emergency communications were still partially functional, but the phone lines that connected the City of Lynchburg’s emergency operations center to the three surrounding counties were knocked out, so in the case of a major problem such as a fire, it would be difficult or impossible to call the other jurisdictions for mutual aid.
One ham had a 2m VHF repeater that somehow was still working. So when the local ham club’s representatives arrived at the Lynchburg EOC (as part of the city’s emergency plan), they were requested to send people to the surrounding counties’ dispatch centers, and use that repeater to pass any necessary traffic back and forth so mutual aid could be requested in a serious emergency. None was needed, as it turns out, and the phones were back working in about 6 hours. But the hams were deployed and on station less than 90 minutes after the storm blew through.
I’ve had an Advanced class license since 1992 and I’m not active right now. But remember that this is Field Day weekend, I think I’ll drag my little portable HF rig out and charge it up, and see if I can talk to a few people.
}:-)4
Don't give up that advanced! I have one and they don't give 'em out anymore, the main reason I won't upgrade to Extra:)