Every year, at the beginning of hurricane season, the emergency management agencies across the state participate in an annual exercise of emergency preparedness called Makani Pāhili (hurricane or cyclone in Hawaiian), testing the worst-case scenario – what if a category 4 or 5 hurricane made a direct hit on Oahu?

Amateur radio operators play an important role in the exercise, and from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on June 2, 2012, hams are asked to participate in the communications exercise by formulating and passing simulated traffic on the ICS-213 form. State RACES coordinator Ron Hashiro, AH6RH, has more details on his website. Also on his site is more information on passing ICS-213 traffic.

Participate, get involved, and be prepared – an emergency is not the time to be learning how to pass traffic.