Community support rebuilds Fulton County HAM radio tower
FULTON COUNTY, Ind. -- We know that the damage from severe weather doesn't disappear when the storms subside. Some in Fulton County are now finally back to the status quo after storms in March 2025.
While this year was a very busy severe weather season, Fulton County was without a crucial weather information relaying tool, amateur radio operators. Now, that problem is over and out.
“It knocked down the capacity of us being able to provide that Skywarn service throughout the county up until this summer, when we were able to get our new tower in place.”
That’s Brian Johnson, president of the Fulton County Amateur Radio Club, who says the radio tower being back up allows for more coordination across all Michiana counties.
“If we had a severe weather event like a tornado go through and take out a lot of communications capabilities, we can be up and running here at EMA in a very short time frame and provide those backup services or primary communications if needed.”
Amateur radio operators are an essential part of storm reporting, and the radio tower helps them assist the National Weather Service, and broadcast meteorologists, tell the public about various threats including a tornado bearing down on Knox earlier this year.
“That was actually called into the Weather Service initially by an amateur radio operator. So that right there was something that was crucial to give them a heads up on.”
Doug Garvison was a major part of rebuilding the tower and putting it back up. He says one of the most important reasons to get the tower back up was coordination between counties.
“If one county needs something that they don't have, a lot of times we can jump in on another county, and, and they'll supply us with whatever we need, whether that's equipment, whether it's manpower.”
Manpower was what it took to get the radio tower back and running this summer, a process that could have taken even longer, only shortened by community help, as Johnson says.
“We are here as a radio club to serve the community, and the community has been great supporting us.”
Local businesses, the Fulton County Highway Department and Rochester Fire Department all had a helping hand in donating materials or time to the effort to rebuild the HAM radio tower. Garvison couldn't be more appreciative of the community rallying behind the cause.
“You can have all the best intentions in the world, but unless you have the support and the materials to be able to put that together, you can't do it...We've got a lot of people that take a vested interest in what's going on around them, and they're always there to help.”
The new and improved radio tower has plenty of communication abilities, locally, regionally, and worldwide, but its primary purpose of being a backup communication system in an emergency event, is the top priority for everyone in the Fulton County Amateur Radio Club.