Cindy Lemcke-Hoong wrote: >Mobile phone depends on antenna towers. Towers toppled >easily with such strong gusts of wind. That has always >been the weakest point of mobile/wireless technology. >Even if you have satellites, you still need to beam up >and down. > > Still, SMS messages can sometimes still get through.
>And with all flooding surrounding New Orleans, you >cannot send in mobile antenna Van units. That can be >one of the fastest way to restore some communications. >Althought I don't see why it cannot be done in the dry >areas? > > Exactly. Wireless antennae could be placed in dry areas - in fact, on top of buildings - but they require electricity. The more power they get, the more range they get. And on your first note - Hummers can go into the water. They are equipped with snorkels. They are actually built for that sort of thing; I used to drive Hummer Ambulances. In fact, I have fond memories of New York City during a blizzard, where Hummers were the only ones on the road. :-) The equipment is available, though what specific equipment is available within a certain time frame from the beginning of the disaster plays a large role in what is used. The 'assets on the ground' should have included Hummers, Navy ships (there is a port in Louisiana), Coast Guard SAR (which is there), etc. The fact that SEAL teams are out there says a lot as to the *effort* being expended - but I'm really surprised that there aren't more assets that were planned for. I remember standing on alert in Orlando, FL as a first responder when hurricanes hit the Carolinas. We were ready to go within 1 hour. I never went, but we were on standby. This could easily lead to other questions, but we're trying to focus on the disaster itself. Right now - and I don't mean to be critical - the technology that activists are using on the internet aren't to help the people affected, but to help identify for friends and relatives who has been affected. In the grand scheme of things, it has nothing to do with what is on the ground - it's news. I applaud those efforts, of course, because they fill a need. But we have to also understand that these are two separate things we are talking about. When flooding hit Georgetown, Guyana last year - where I presently am - it took 2 weeks to get concrete assistance from CARICOM countries, and by then the water had receded naturally. Blogs were started for the same reason, but Iraq and the tsunami still had the majority of donations. The hospital I am staying at was mostly under water - it's been painted since, but in some places you can still see the water lines. The reason I bring this up is so that people realize that no matter how horrible things are, things go on. Georgetown itself is about 6 feet below sea level. New Orleans is averaged at about 10-14 feet below sea level. Telecommunications in Guyana did function, though there were black spots. What is especially interesting, though, is that people in Guyana aren't as reliant on technology as those in the U.S. that are affected. Maybe there is a lesson here where *using* technology and understanding how it works have to be closely aligned so that when bad things do happen, people know what to do. -- Taran Rampersad Presently in: Georgetown, Guyana [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.knowprose.com http://www.easylum.net http://www.digitaldivide.net/profile/Taran "Criticize by creating." — Michelangelo _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
