ARES/RACES
The amateur radio service of the United States of America has always been at the forefront of emergency communications, and through the experience of their operators, the RACES and ARES communications nets have been established to provide stable communications when no other option is available, as well as provide accurate reports for rescuers.
The RACES net got its start as the Wartime Emergency Radio Service, the name that the FCC gave to the Amateur Radio service after it was silenced during WWII. The idea behind the service was to provide early and accurate warning of attacks against the United States. Although the service did not get much use, the idea of having an emergency communications network that could operate in times of crisis caught on.
In 1952, the United States Congress and the FCC , in cooperation with the Amateur Radio Relay Leauge, (ARRL), established the Radio Amateur Civil EmergencyService, or RACES. This organization, consisting of licensed radio operators who had previously registered with the local governments, was supposed to provide the communications for said government when the War Powers Act was invoked and all other Amateur Radio operation would be silenced. The RACES net has never been activated.
The ARRL, in the 1930s, long before talk of the RACES net was even considered, saw the need for a North American emergency communications network, to service not only the governments of North America, but also relief organizations, like the Red Cross, and provide accurate accounts of disasters, as well as aid in the relief effort. This network, originally the Amateur Radio Emergency Corps, included operators in the United States as well as Canada.
To date, the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) has activated on numerous occasions, aiding in natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina, and man made disasters such as the attacks of September 11, 2001, often suffering losses of its own as operators try to get closer to the disaster to help out. The ARES net also consists of a hurricane and tornado tracking unit, SKYWARN, that operates along the southern coast of the US, as well as in Tornado Alley, to give the inhabitants faster, more accurate information than is available on TV, as well as provide assistance after the disaster has occurred.
Both of these organizations operate under the guidance of the Federal Communications Commission, or FCC, and all radio operators must have licenses before joining. The local emergency communications net for Happy Valley is on the 146.85 MHz repeater system, and is a combination of ARES and RACES. It is hosted by the Nittany Amateur Radio Club. More information is available through Penn State's Amateur Radio Club, at http://www.clubs.psu.edu/k3cr/.