North Carolina spent half a million dollars to install a satellite telephone system after Hurricane Floyd.
If Ophelia knocks down telephone lines, response crews will still be able to communicate with each other. Hurricane Katrina tested emergency response at all levels, a test many would say Louisiana failed.
By most accounts, response was slow and communication was non existent. Innocent lives were lost in the midst of chaos and confusion. North Carolina suffered some of the same problems during Hurricane Fran in 1996. Richard Moore says lessons learned and money well spent got us ready for Hurricane Floyd and a revamped communications systems, helped rescue crews save lives. "Because of the superior communications put into place there were dozens of small times we barely got people out of before the waters came up and they were rising as fast as they did in New Orleans."
Richard Moore led our state through 7 natural disasters and helped implement a new satellite telephone system. When phone lines are down, these phones transmit calls through a satellite, keeping state and local response teams in touch.
Governor Easley feels confident about the new system. "I don't know what happens in other states or what happened in Louisiana, but we have a different system here and I think you should have some confidence in our ability to communicate."
Confidence that if and when Ophelia strikes, she won't bring the communication meltdown we saw in Katrina. "Local officials and state officials in North Carolina are set up to be able to talk to each other."
There are satellite phones in all 100 counties across our state. Most of the field crews who respond to storms have them in their cars. They allow them to reach the Emergency Operations Center in Raleigh that coordinated rescue efforts and disaster response.
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?se...ral&id=3436372
If satellite phones work like satellite TV, then you won't have very good reception during the storm, but they will be working after the storm has passed.
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