What we’re doing here
September 7th, 2005The wireless networking community here is putting emergency communications infrastructure (Internet connection, plus VoIP - voice over IP - the ability to place calls over the Internet like its a regular phone) so that evacuees can call their family and let them know they’re alive and where they’re at, so they can file FEMA reports for relief, so they can put their names in “find me” databases.
Where have all these people gone? They’re primarily in shelters spread throughout mid-to-northern Louisiana and Mississippi, in very rural communities: towns of 100 people are sheltering 200 evacuees in the local Baptist church. These places are lucky to have one plain old telephone system line, an Internet connection is unheard of. Wireless ISPs have towers throughout this flat country and can beam network connections over many miles into these remote communities. An antenna and wireless radio on the roof of a shelter can bring several VoIP phones and provide enough bandwidth for a half dozen laptops to use webmail and browse for updates on news websites.