When 911 fails

I use Katrina as my starting point for speculation and planning about things going horribly wrong in a natural disaster. Here's an article from way back when:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/07/AR2005110701334.html
When Katrina hit New Orleans, the 911 call center had to be abandoned because of the flood. They thought calls were routed to the fire department, but it was abandoned, too. Eventually calls went to Baton Rouge's 911 center without them being alerted to the fact - they had no clue where people were calling from and what any of the addresses meant. I consider this a total failure.

We live in the San Francisco Bay Area, so my assumption is that we'll have a major earthquake instead of a hurricane, but with global warming you never know. We have a landline at home, and we each have a cell phone on a different carrier in case one goes down, but the other survives. My assumption, though, is that all lines will either be out or so swamped we won't be able to get a dial tone.

Louise and I are ham radio operators, so we have plans on communications if landlines and cell towers are down. We have general licenses and two HF radios withbatteries and antennas, so we figure we can get hold of some hams out of the area of destruction.

We camp in Death Valley occasionally, and we rent a satellite phone, which has come in handy a couple of times (no emergencies). We can't afford to maintain an account, though, and I figure we won't be able to score a satphone after our major earthquake. :->

Any thoughts on communications if you can't get a dial tone? Something other than amateur radio? What am I missing?

Our goals are to let family know we're okay (they live out of state) and maybe get notice out of survivors' names -- health and welfare traffic. I don't think we'll be able to get any real help for emergencies from fire, police, or ambulance, but who can tell?

If something major scale events happens (Katrina or earthquake scale kind of event) the local responding units will be incapacitated or totally flooded with high priority tasks everywhere. Even if you could get through to them they probably can't help you.

Cell phone text messages are much more likely to go through if you have a bad signal or the system is bogged down by everyone calling at the same time. Ask your recipient to confirm the transmission.

Another option is using SPOT or a similar system, using the PLB satellite system to send a primitive pre-defined "I'M OK, this is my position" kind of email/SMS to your relatives. That is probably one of the easiest, fail-safe options in an "all-out" earthquake scenario, but the messages doesn't convey anything but the fact that you're alive. Of course you'd want to check that the service does not rely on any physical installations in California...

Usually, if any phone lines are operative, calls are routed out of the disaster area, rather than in, if I understand correctly.

Ham radio depends on relay towers, doesn't it? Aren't they subject to the same crippling effects that cell phone towers are?

After Katrina, sat phones were the ONLY things that worked for communications. Lt. Gen. Honoré said the only plans that Louisiana bureaucrats had made for that type of disaster included no communications problems! And every generator he saw was sitting at ground level in areas seriously prone to flooding.

I don't have any idea what would work for you under extreme conditions except a very long string with an empty can at each end, or a note in a bottle.

Sue

I think that if it is that bad in San Francisco every ham in the area not effected buy the problem will be on the radio searching for signals. You might check with the local ham clubs in the area as to the Freq s. they will be using. I am not a ham so I may be wrong on a lot of things.

Ham relay towers are small and simple enough that they can be made portable and not subject to some of the location restrictions as cell phone towers. It takes a bit of planning and work to replace a cell phone tower but a ham repeater that sitting in donated space has to be made to be easily removed in case they can't use that space anymore so its easy for someone to grab one and haul it down to the outskirts of a disaster area.
Part of the reason I got into preparedness was from a job where I would install the phone and computer systems used for e-911 and computer aided dispatching. I realized that the 911 operator and police are just like any other job, you have a few that actually are good employees, some that are average and some that are just there taking space. So don't get me wrong and think I'm down on any profession but since you can't choose whom answers that 911 phone your take your chances of getting one of the not so good ones. I decided then I want to have enough tools and gear and supplies should I need to rescue myself but also have to hopefully never have to.

Thanks for this topic. I'm an amateur radio operator also (General class) and have been nagging my wife for several years to at least get her Techincian Class license. I'm calling her in now to read this thread so she'll see I'm not the only one who thinks hubby and wife both having an additional means of communication during an emergency is a good idea.

I'm really interested everyone's ideas on this topic as it has been an area of concern in our planning.

Regards,
Michael

I suppose the best communication is to communicate your competence ahead of time: I lost touch with my father in Ft. Lauderdale immediately after hurricane Wilma in 2005. I wasn't particularly worried, because I know his capabilities. When I did get in touch with him, he complained that the biggest change in south Florida was the influx of whiners--that "this(no electricity, boil water, get your dinner out of the ocean)" is what it was like to live in Florida 79 years ago...

Susan,

In addition to Eugene's comments, many ham operators belong to local groups such as ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Services) and/or RACES (Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service) affiliated with the ARRL (Amateur Radio Relay League).

They (ARES) are all FCC Licensed Amateur Radio volunteers who get activated or deployed in crises large and small, including Kartina. Here's a link to see some of the support offered. http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/ares-el/index.html?issue=2005-12-21

For High Frequency (HF) (longer distance) communication, no relays are needed (but a good antenna is needed).

For VHF, natively it is basically line-of-sight, usually ran from a hand-held unit, but you are correct in that there are devices, "repeaters", that collect and re-transmit VHF signals over a wider area (such as a large city or county).

You are also correct that repeaters can be susceptible to disaster conditions, but almost all (at least in my area) are set up with automatic backup power supplies. Also, not all of these are necessarily in populated locations. I know at least one person in my county who host a repeater out of his home. Most that are in places such as downtown areas are high up in building (30 - 40 stories with the antenna on the roof) and would likely continue on emergency power in all but a direct "hit".

Yes, power backup for VHF repeaters would be for limited time but should last several days.

That's when amateurs make a move to HF. For HF, most all amateurs in ARES also have their own individual emergency power kits for their "rigs". We also have a nationwide fun/practice event as a group yearly in a weekend-long event called Field Day, where we compete for amateur contacts world-wide. A key feature of that event is that all stations must operate only on some form of emergency power (battery, portable generator, solar, etc).


Field Days are open to the public and I encourage you and everyone reading this to visit one and hope you will seek out a local Field Day site on Saturday/Sunday, June 26 & 27, 2010. Ask a ton of questions. Geeks like me love to think someone else is interested in our "hobby".

As additional practice we also help with communications for local events (usually the larger ones but small dispersed ones also) such as Charity races, local marathons, etc. We also support communications during large sporting events (100,000 spectators) for other non-profit groups.

When I first started learning about preparedness, this is one of the first organized groups I affiliated myself with, earned my license and started volunteering. Good people!
So, SAT phones were not the only means of communication. But, if by that statement you mean for the general person sitting at home when disaster hit then I’ll agree, that would have been about the only way to get a signal out. Becoming a “ham” does require preparation time, study and testing (though minimal).

One of the primary support activities amateurs provide during emergencies is passing message ”traffic” for individuals cut off (these “Traffic nets” operate daily, regardless of there being an emergency or not). It’s interesting that there are people in rural areas who know their local amateur operators and have long distance traffic passed regularly.
The obvious issue in an emergency is that someone cut-off from others and/or not using public shelters may not have a way pass a message to a disaster support person who could then get it to the amateur operator.

So, if you were not put to sleep by my long answer --

Remember one of the ARRL mottos:
When All Else Falis ... Amateur Radio

P.S. This is why I only have 61 posts, it takes me two hours to write them.

A CB radio can come in handy. Truckers can offer invaluable information on roadway conditions and alternate routes.

Howdy Everyone! As per All the above,What ever happened to Carrier pidgeons?Also,What part of a Radio is Delicious?Aside from communicating Reliably,Pidgeons are quite delicious!Of course I am referring to Carrier type/Country Pidgeons,& Not the Flying Rats that decorate our freshly washed vehicles,fences,windows,etc.YMMV

You were obviously just saving up in order to make a particularly good post. Well done.

I REALLY like this thought.

Communicating one's well-being is nice but if you don't make contact what can the others do about it? What does it mean?

Seems to me that giving them confidence in your ability to prevail along with intention to make contact *eventually* would be more comforting than frantically scrabbling with a radio wondering if lack of radio contact for half a day means disaster or not (and they still can't do anything about it). Sometimes family just has to wait.

I've used and enjoyed ham radio for better than 30 years (been licensed as Extra for more than 20) but it's not as simple to use for these situations as it first appears.

I was a Red Cross Responder to Katrina. Operated a communications van. Ham Radio was a valuable asset. Several repeaters were functioning within hours after the hurricane.

Gloria and I are hams. For our personal use, we have dual band (2m/70cm) HT's as well as several radios which can become instant cross band repeaters (D-700, TM-732 etc).

I frequently set up our crossband system and find it to be very easy to use, power efficient and provide very robust communications.

We let folks know when we are testing a crossband set-up and find that many hams had dual bands. After a brief learning curve they find the system easy to use.

We also have HF, but after being in several hurricanes, blizzards etc, we find that local communications are far more important than long range.

Rather that depend on others, we are working to provide service to the local ham community (wherever we are).

Nomad

Hello, 2 hints from the UK on mobile phones that may help.

1) Text messaging takes far less band width and can slip through when all you get is a network busy message with a voice call, though even these tiny SMS messages can be badly delayed.

2) Your own local Govt. may have a contract with one/more mobile operators that give them priority bandwidth during a crisis. If so it would probably be best to avoid that particular provider.

Cheers

For a large regional disaster, your communications methods will be limited, and I believe that you've covered them all.

I think your best asset will be HF, because you can reach long distances outside of the affected area. Really, for huge disasters/catastrophes, HF is the only way to go.

For emergencies, you want to get your message to the highest operating level of government so they can pass it down. Hopefully, it doesn't get lost.

Keep local 10 digit numbers handy in a reference. Include every level of government. ( don't forget the U.S. country code for those you might reach outside of the U.S.)

I would also keep handy phone numbers for Federal Government agencies that normally coordinate with Law Enforcement, including:

[list]
[*]U.S. Air Force Rescue Coordination Center
[*]USNORTHCOM
[*]DHS
[*]Local 911 Centers (out of area, perhaps for you some place like Los Angeles!)
[*]State Division of Emergency Management
[*]Disaster Information Lines
[*]etc., you get the idea.

They may be annoyed you're calling, but they should be able to point you in the right direction.

I absolutly agree with having a list of 7 digit numbers of places to call (of course depending on if the service availible). Being a 911 dispatcher I can tell you that for our agency we serve around 800,000 residents. For those residents we have a grand total of 16 911 lines. Even in large local events those lines can fill up very quickly. If an event were to affect all of our residents I am certain that you would be lucky if you could even get a busy signal.

Sounds like you have got about as much covered communications wise as can be expected.

Some possible additions though,

An external high gain directional Yagi antenna for your cell phone. This may allow you to connect to cell stations which aren't damaged or taken out.

Solar PV power device to keep your cell phone working without worrying about the battery drain.

Learn all that there is to use functionality wise on your cell phone. Voice calls might be unavailable and there might be considerable delays to SMS. You may find WAP communications are available to send and receive email through a WAP portal.

http://mail2web.com/wap/

Cable DSL might still be functioning. The main problem here might be the lack of ability to power your DSL cable modem/router. Therefore a UPS might be very useful to power this kit. A 3G capable router or USB dongle might provide an additional comms link. VOIP telephone calls may well then be possible using various Ethernet adapters.

A foreign emergency service telephone number might be useful, such as the UK Coast Guard. You might get a higher priority if the call comes in from a 3rd party and there is some diplomacy, PR, international relations, news media etc at stake especially if you happen to be a NATO general visiting his Grandma on his day off and you are buried under some rubble, ahem...

Also it might be an idea to find out when your telephone twisted pair land line cable goes from your property. The break may only be a few metres away in an earthquake. It should be easy to duct tape a spare POTS hand set to the end of the break.

One unexpected problem I ran into last weekend: I recently purchased a small back-up UPS for my Cable Modem and Router. When I went to test it, my interal home router ran fine but the Cable modem won't run off of the back-up. Talked to the cable company and it seems the frequency generated by the battery back-up may be outside the tolerance (to far outside of 60Hz) the cable modem wants to see. (I probably didn't say that technically correct, but in short, they don't work together). I've read that more expensive units may do a better job and I believe a few even come with guarantees.

So, like any piece of our equipment, be sure to test it before you need it.

Regards,

Michael

True. The issue in New Orleans, though, was that the 911 call center was under water - it was uninhabitable, inoperable, and had no outside connectivity, so attempts to transfer operability failed and callers didn't know it. Eventually calls to 911 in NO were routed to Baton Rouge, but no one told Baton Rouge about it, and the onslaught of callers was unexpected.

We've got portable repeaters in one of our ham clubs, but I'm expecting things to go bad for longer than emergency gas and batteries for repeaters will last, if we have an NO-style earthquake. My hope with HF radio is that we can communicate with the outside world, pass some health and welfare traffic, and maybe get some attention when search and rescue people can actually get here.

Yes, Louise and I volunteer regularly for the bike-athons, run-athons, and walk-athons hosted by the several lung/diabetes/cancer organizations to raise money and awareness, sometimes as net controls, sometimes as rest stop hams, sometimes as comm bosses. Being known among the hams is a good point to raise. When we have our big earthquake, those who are known will be given opportunities first. Having a license plus experience is the key.

This is from a few years ago when there were still analogue cells. This guy's old cell phone was three watts, and he could hit a cell tower from where we were camping in Death Valley. We're on the peninsula side of the bay, so we could probably hit undamaged cell towers in the East Bay. The issue is whether they'd be overwhelmed, of course. shrug - won't hurt to try.

Excellent advice I've learned several times, and I'm sure I'll learn it again. :->

We had a power outtage some time ago, and I learned that all my stuff works on my UPS, but it sucks power like a pig. I'll turn off my desktop and monitor and switch off the WiFi unit, plug the little EEE PC into the ethernet port on the modem and use that for any internet access I can get.

Buckeye, thank you for the additional information.

When I talk about communication failures, I am almost always not referring to hams, simply because they all seem to be more resourceful than most people, disaster or not. Before sat phones, they were often the ONLY communications available for the first few days of any disaster.

My repeater question was due to my ham father's problems when he lived in Las Vegas, which is in a bowl surrounded by mountains. The repeaters were up on the mountains, and he said without them, a ham would need a much taller antenna than he had to get out of the valley.

I've never seen a ham repeater tower, so I was wondering if they are very susceptible to earthquakes? By your post, I am assuming that if they did fall over, some hams could put them back up, or do what needed to be done.

One advantage of hams relaying messages is that one operator in a disaster area can pass messages to other hams more or less in line-of-sight, to others who are in a less damaged area, until the messages reach a ham in an area can then make a regular phone call to the intended receiving party.

If Philip, for example, was in SF during a major quake and could get to a ham, a message might be relayed north or south (probably not east) to one who had an operating phone line, and that person could call Philip's relatives in Colorado Springs.

Hooray for hams! No one thinks of them except if they interfere with someone's TV, until a disaster strikes. Then they tend to be quite popular!

Sue

Sue..i'm listening to a HAM right now on a old 1946 shortwave radio,a guy named Berne in Ohio,i'm in Minneapolis and he's coming in loud and clear.from what i understand by reading some of the HAM blogs and sites is that the towers are no more that those over sized TV style antennas you see in back yards,i read someplace that a Slinky pulled out to it's max size could be used!

Yep, most any type of metal wire will work. However, it works (propagates) better when it is roughly a multiple (such as 1/4 or perhaps 1/3) the length of the wavelength you are transmitting on. Distance above and relative to ground (and several other factors) are key variables also.

Reception across a much wider range can be achieved by a much more generic antenna.

Follow some of the ham groups and you'll find there are people who spend a good deal of their time modeling expected antenna performance and have discussion on difference of opinions about antenna design and performance as heated as anything else.

Yah, a lot of lower quality UPSes don't provide clean power.

Another gotcha with UPSes is that a number of them will not allow you to turn the UPS back on after you turn them off. This can be problematic if you are trying to conserve your power.

Also, make sure your unit has the ability to silence the power outage alarm. Of course, you can open the unit and physically disconnected if you are comfortable doing that.

-john

Wouldn't your slinky have to be vertical for this use? Need a skyhook to hold it in place... Or a helium balloon.

Sue

Sue..i thought this was goofy when i first heard about it also.then i did a search and found many places that were selling them.two pull out from a central pole to form a "T",there is more to it than that but i don't understand the other electronic bits where the two join a main cable to the radio.on radio blogs they say you can hang them across a attic on a rope for pirate radios so the antenna does not show up outside your house.
our poster who had the rig on the bed of his truck would know more.

> I've never seen a ham repeater tower

Lots of photos here from one repeater group:
http://www.carlaradio.net/community/pictures/gallery/

Two example photos (not necessarily typical :->)



> one operator in a disaster area can pass messages to other hams more or less
> in line-of-sight

That's true with VHF/UHF frequencies; that's what the repeaters are for - to increase the line of site. But with HF frequencies, you've got truly worldwide communications from your station if you have a good antenna. We've got a portable antenna that mounts on our van, and from the San Francisco Bay Area, we get all the way to the east coast without repeaters - and with a not good antenna. Here's a photo of it on our van in Death Valley:

As you can see we're surrounded by mountains, but we had chats with a guy in Berkeley and one in Santa Cruz.

In an emergency, I would expect to be able to reach other hams outside California without having to rely on repeaters or other hams in line of sight to get our messages out of the zone of damage. We regularly check in to a net in Reno from our house, the other side of the Sierras.

HF is great stuff, and I recommend that people get their general license (minimum license required for HF), an HF transceiver, and practice using it.

Thanks for that info! I guess amateur radio electronics have improved considerably since the last contact I had with it in 1986!

That's really nice to know. I didn't realize you could pick up east coast signals with just a vehicle antenna. WOW!

Sue

Oh, you've seen LOTS of photos or reapeater towers - Ever seen a picture of the Empire State Building? The Chrysler Building? The World Trade Center (There were 4-5 ham radio repeaters up there)

Most times, Ham Radio Repeaters as "piggybacked" onto other commercial sites - be them on water towers, tall buildings, etc. Remember, a LOT of broadcast/Commercial Radio Techs are hams

Sounds like they had some more people and protocol issues in NOLA. All the 911 systems I've worked with the telco provides a dry line and the PSAP provides power back, that way a failure can be detected easily and immediately. The telco should have routed to the backup site as soon as the primary went down, but even before that someone in charge should have done some notification early on.

Do satellite phones ever suffer from congestion problems after events like Haiti or Katrina?

Any phones do, cell, satellite, land line. When they design any phone system they plan on not everyone making a call at the same time.

> but even before that someone in charge should have done some notification
> early on.

Yeah, it was a FUBAR all the way around. The "someone in charge" transferred 911 to the local fire station that was also under water, I guess without checking. Why it took so long to get transferred to Baton Rouge is a mystery; so is not letting them know.

The vital information here is that this did in fact get totally screwed up, and I can expect total screw ups in a major earthquake. Murphy's Law abides.

I've never heard. I'm not sure where to find that information.

WikiPedia says yes"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellite_phone
but I never know whether WikiPedia's got exactly correct information of someone's best guess, which might be right. Or not.

I expect news services to tie up satellites, too, in a big emergency as they use satellite phones and modems to stream video back to HQ.

They generally DON'T use the same kind of birds that sat phones use, they have birds up in geosync orbit for most of their stuff, which is why you see fairly large ground station trucks

I used to work for one of the major TV networks (laid off 2.5 weeks ago) and some of my software was to monitor one of the downlinks