Disaster Management and Communication

During a natural or manmade hazard, emergency managers and the general public need both one- and two-way forms of communication, but the hazards' conditions can cause loss of electrical power and telecommunications and block travel, further endangering the public. With common methods of communications threatened, cities have turned to radio hobbyists and modern computer technology to ensure seamless communications during a disaster.

Landlines and Cell Phones

• A natural hazard, such as a hurricane or tornado, may knock out landline and cell phone service. When Hurricane Katrina made landfall in Louisiana on August 29, 2005, its rains flooded most of the backbone conduit for landline service and many central switching centers. Its winds knocked down cell towers. Many cities and towns lost electricity, so those switching centers that weren't flooded had to use backup generators or batteries. Of these, some were eventually flooded out, while others shut down when they ran out of fuel. Situations like this require the use of backup systems to ensure those at ground zero can remain in contact with those outside the affected zone.

Radio and Television

• Electricity loss during a natural or manmade hazard means loss of radio and television. Keep a NOAA weather radio handy with plenty of fresh batteries so you can keep up-to-date on weather conditions and receive emergency response messages.

Ham Radio

• Ham radios run on electricity but have two backup power options: generator or battery. FEMA depends on trained operators of these dependable units to disseminate emergency response messages. Members of the American Radio Relay League work with FEMA's Citizen Corps to support first responders and disaster relief organizations. Anyone can purchase a ham radio online or in local stores. The ARRL has free resources online to teach you how to use one.

WiMax Networks

• Heavy storms and manmade disasters can also knock out DSL and cable broadband, satellite, dial-up and Wi-Fi. The city of Brownsville, TX lost Internet access for 18 hours when Hurricane Emily made landfall in 2005. To ensure residents weren't cut off again from weather reports and Web communications tools, the city installed a security-enhanced world interoperability for microwave access (WiMax) system that provides wireless broadband. The constant wireless Internet connection means continuous Internet telephone and weather reports during storms, while everyday safety benefits include local police's wireless access to criminal databases. The WiMax base towers can withstand hurricane winds and provide a safer solution because they require no above-ground utility poles and lines that can fall in hurricane winds. Plus, the wireless network costs less than wired.

Virtual Applications Environment

• Hurricanes like Emily and Katrina can also hamper emergency management and regular city operations by creating an additional need for in-field operations and straining IT department capabilities to keep up with a demand for specialized software. To answer this problem, Brownsville designed a virtual applications environment that allows the IT department to deploy software to the city's computer workstations from a centralized network.

Backup Data Center

• To guard against records loss and provide continuous access, Brownsville replaced its 20-year-old computing infrastructure, creating a primary and backup data center with 35 IBM BladeCenter servers providing 50 terabytes of storage. The city located its backup data center 10 miles west of the primary data center, further inland, and powers it with natural gas and propane. Its 10 servers reside in a reinforced concrete safe room. Brownsville replicates its vital records and financial information and transmits them in real time to the backup data center via wireless and wired Internet. It batches less crucial data to the backup center daily.