Ham Radios Make Contact With Disaster Zone

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Ham radio operators are making contact with people on the Gulf Coast and hearing desperate pleas for help.

With most phone lines down, ham radios have become an important way to communicate in the disaster area.

With 67 years of experience, Jettie Hill, of Roseville, has been scanning his ham radio listening to calls for help from the Gulf.

"The amateurs in most of these hurricanes -- and even fires -- provide nearly all the communication," Hill said.

Calls for help from amateur radio operators in the disaster area are relayed to amateur radio operators with the Red Cross, Salvation Army or other emergency services in the affected areas through a frequency reserved for emergencies.

What makes amateur radios so important in times of disaster is that they are very portable, they can operated with batteries and they don't require an infrastructure like cell phones or the Internet.

Ham radio operators from across the country have been sent to the disaster zone to use their equipment to help with communication in the Gulf region.