QUARTERLY FOCUS
1 July 2007

John Hetherington and Rod Evans vs Cyclone Larry

BUREAU of Meteorology technical officers Rod Evans and John Hetherington were this year awarded Australia Day Council Achievement Medallions for their actions and dedication during Tropical Cyclone Larry in March last year. The pair bravely journeyed to the Willis Island meteorological office in the Coral Sea, about 450 kilometres east of Cairns, to repair the bureau's weather radar as the now infamous Larry approached.

John’s urgent telephone troubleshooting had earlier indicated a transmitter problem in the radar, so in a race against Larry, John flew from the bureau's Brisbane office and Rod from the Townsville office to rendezvous in Cairns.

The pair rushed to pack equipment such as a magnetron, solid state modulator and high-voltage power supply into a boat, and prepared themselves for many hours of seasickness. Rod’s description: “You levitate — for 18 hours we flew in the air from the top of one wave to another.”

Rod and John arrived at the 8 hectare sand cay shortly after 10 the next morning and the world stopped bouncing. The skipper warned them that if they weren't back for the return voyage by 2:30 that afternoon they would be left behind with the building contractors who had elected to bunker down in the office, which was in the midst of an extensive renovation.

The pair soon started fault-finding in a very confined area within the radar building and found the problem was with the magnetron - a key component. It was replaced. The radar scanner which was rotating too fast was also fixed after the pair scrounged a fuse from the spares cupboard. Eating apples on the run, Rod and John made it to the beach for their great escape, but found the trip home not much better than the run out to the island. The boys were relieved to finally set foot on solid ground in Cairns.

The bureau's Regional Director (Queensland) Jim Davidson later said the information from the repaired radar was invaluable for the forecasters in the Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre in Brisbane. “It once again impressed upon me how important the Willis Island station is to our cyclone monitoring capability in the Coral Sea.”

Jim said Rod’s earlier back-to-back tours of duty at the island demonstrated his strong commitment to the station and the bureau. “He’s an adventurous spirit who loves the challenge of working in the more remote areas.” Jim also honoured John as a valuable member of the Engineering Services team. “Give him something to fix (especially a radar) and it’s always long odds on that he’ll do it, and without a great deal of fuss. He's someone we all respect professionally and personally.”

Rod and John’s heroics were formally recognised on 25 January this year with the joint award presented by Acting Deputy Director (Services and Systems) Dr Sue Barrell.

- Gabrielle Forman, Public Affairs Group

Quarterly focus is updated on 1 January, 1 April, 1 July and 1 October.

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