For emergency communications, you don't need to have any license, just the right equipment. We've discussed this before, and ultimately, the most primitive seems to be the most reliable, although conversely the most difficult to use.

Home brew QRP (low power HF CW communications in this case) is going to be the cheapest, most reliable (assuming the equipment you buy/build is decent quality), and have the greatest effective range of communication, provided you take the time to do your part. It is like anything else; you can start a fire with a bic lighter, unless the flint wears out, or you run out of butane. You can likewise start a fire rubbing two sticks together, if you learn how to do it right. QRP HF CW can be had for less than $50, can reach over the horizon (five watts QRP CW will go around the world if done right), and can be deployed in rf environments not suited to other forms of communication. It is the fall back for the government when other forms of wireless comms fail. It requires that you learn morse code, have a working knowledge of rf electronics, and think a little about what you are trying to do before you actually start keying the radio.

In a SHTF situation, I could deploy my QRP rig when the cell phone, the pager, the wireless notebook, and even the land line phone have quit working. Sadly, I will have to converse with someone other than my loved ones, as I've failed to impress on them the value of learning such capabilities.

It is kinda neat to set up in the woods with the longwire slung up in the nearest big fir tree, the headphones on, keying the little switch on the project box with 4 AAs stuffed in it, then listening for the Aussie on the other end respond back.