One of the things I do for my customers is design redundant Internet connectivity. Most of the enterprise-grade options are probably not available to you.

Some people I know get service from two providers (phone and cable) but that might be too expensive. I'd also want to find out how reliable the two providers have been in your area during storms.

Satellite Internet (as suggested by duckear) is very reliable, except when there's a lot of water between your antenna and the satellite. Very heavy rain or snow can temporarily keep it from working. The latency and bandwidth are also pretty poor.

Cellular is more reliable where I live than landline service, but that didn't work for you.

A local wireless ISP may be your best bet. You'll likely need an external directional antenna, if service is available in your area.

so why was the cell service out, I have been without power and land line many times but cell service has never gone out.

My experience down in hurricane alley is that a wind storm can easily damage a cell transmission tower. If that does not get it, many cell towers are only equipped with a minimum level of backup power via standby batteries. Once the main line power is off, you may only have a few hours (or minutes) of cell phone service in the effected area depending on the maintenance schedule of the batteries in a particular tower. This was seen as a failure point in Florida in 2004. Now many towers here do have adequate backup power via automatic generators and the like, but if your area was not seen as needing such measures, you likely do not have it.

If I might add another suggestion, I am an amateur radio operator. The very best information I obtained during the 2004 hurricanes was from my neighbors operating relatively short range 2 meter radios. Amateur radio is by far the most dependable means of communication in a disaster.

I'm working on that. Thanks for the suggestion!

I hear some people have been able to send/receive messages to the internet via ham radio. Probably about as efficient as a dog walking on two legs, but maybe I can get out that Facebook update...

Da Bing

After you lose your Internet access, the feelings of loss will subside after about 2 weeks depending on the level of dependence.

Facebook will seem trivial and pointless and the idea of sending an email will fill you with dread let alone an IM or that even that Twitter obsession. You may even feel the need to once more write a letter by hand and possibly feel the warm feeling of retro behaviors such as playing a vinyl record as you ponder the immense waste of human activity and time that the Internet represents.

Without the internet, how am I supposed to check in with you guys on my 12 Step Program out of internet addiction? Don't I need to take pictures of the new survival gadgets I bought, upload them, do a show-and-tell, etc.? You can't do tough survival man stuff without the internet. Besides, the internet is the only girlfriend I've got. Indeed, the internet is at the core of the definition of manliness for the 21st century!!!

Da Bing

It's called packet radio. It's pretty cool as a tech demo and awesome for email when the ISP is down, but it's not something I'd use for casual web browsing.

I've heard the Internet dubbed as the best means of communication since the beginning of mankind. I guess that means outside of a grand-scale natural disaster. However, I will say Internet access is steadily becoming more and more reliable.