Are You Prepared With Winlink?

This last winter storm caused many messages like the one below to flow through the Winlink system. Are you a ham without Winlink capability and skills? Might be a good idea to get into it, just in case...

This is amazing to read - but more so the fact that Winlink is doing
exactly what it’s supposed to be doing in a situation like this.

On Sun, Dec 25, 2022 at 08:43 [edited] wrote:

> Dear [edited],
>
> **Please share with the group**
>
> Hope everyone is having a good xmas day, R: hope you got pics of the
> kiddos face lighting up!
>
> We've lost all cellular, internet, power, and even the ham repeaters are
> off the air. The hydro outage is more extensive than I thought.
>
> We're hobbling by on a thirsty generator, we've got enough essentials, but
> its like gonna be 16C indoors at most if we're lucky .... but yeah, it's a
> hot mess out here.
>
> The following is from [edited] who just returned from Huntsville being sent
> home from [edited].
>
> -------------
> de [edited]:
>
> This is a full grid-down scenario, at least for Dorset.
>
> Power is out for us and thousands of other homes. Huntsville appears to
> have power in most places but between here and there it's spotty.
>
> The stretch of 35 and 60 between here and Huntsville has finally been
> plowed, but there are multiple abandoned cars in ditches along the way.
> There is an abandoned *SNOW PLOW* blocking the intersection of 35 and 60.
>
> Huntsville is a wreck. The King William St which is the main drag has
> been partially plowed but there are still lots of people spinning tires.
> The highways are basically fine. Hydro One trucks are crawling around
> everywhere. I saw a Hydro One tech *snow shoe* down a road to reset a
> high-voltage breaker earlier this morning. All of the high-voltage and
> medium-voltage in-line breakers from here to Huntsville are visibly blown
> open (when they are tripped they contain a small explosive charge similar
> to a shotgun blank that pops them into an open state).
>
> There are only two gas stations open in Huntsville. None on the way from
> here to there. One of those stations is currently only accepting cash due
> to their debit/credit machine not working.
>
> Absolutely none of the McDonalds/Tim Hortons locations are open. The main
> McDicks in town forgot their drive-thru shutdown so when you drive through
> it, it gives a welcome message but nothing else.
>
> There are multiple abandoned vehicles at various gas stations.
>
> People are walking in the streets in Huntsville because the sidewalks are
> impassable.
>
> I got lodged in a snow drift on my way to work (Bell Tech Solutions) and
> got pulled out by a kind passer-by and a Hydro One truck. The Hydro One
> guy told me I was lucky because CAA wouldn't have come out for hours or
> days.
>
> All of the cell service in Dorset is down. Cell service here is provided
> by a handful of providers, but the Bell tower is actually a micro-cell near
> the bridge. All phone lines leave the town through a fiber line which is
> strung across the channel in the center of town, so I suspect all landlines
> are down as well, though I have to go confirm this.
>
> We're out of fuel, and we're on our last piece of hard-tack. Wolves took
> the neighbour last night, and now they have the taste of human blood.
> We've converted a couple of old super-soakers into flamethrowers but we're
> not sure how long we can keep them at bay. I can hear something trying to
> dig into the foundation of the house under the deck, and I'm not sure it's
> human *or* animal. Pray for us.
>
> ----------------
>
> I can be reached at this email [edited]@winlink.org ...all other means
> useless until we're restored.
>
> Happy Xmas boys!
>
> Cheers,
> [edited]