Hurricane Katrina
Friday's state of telephone service after Hurricane Katrina
I promise I’ll have some other news this weekend. Meanwhile…
Satellite phones are all the rage these days. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, when both the wired and wireless telephone infrastructures in New Orleans almost completely failed, thousands of people are turning to satellite phones.
John Dark, senior marketing manager for satellite-calling provider Globalstar, says his company is overrun with orders for phones in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Globalstar has signed up 5,000 new customers over the past three days, about 20 times normal volume.
“We’ve seen an absolutely astronomical demand,” Dark says, highlighting an unintended consequences of what’s likely to end up as one of the costliest natural disasters in U.S. history. — Business Week
Cingular and Verizon Wireless are offering free calling, cell phone charging, and support at their retail stores, where they are able to open. SBC has set up phone and computer banks for evacuees arriving in Houston and San Antonio, providing free calling and Internet access.
All of the major wired and wireless carriers have pledged support, in the form of cash, prepaid phone cards, use of facilities as staging areas for other companies, and more, to hurricane victims. The aid is going to the American Red Cross, which is expected to distribute the phone cards to shelters from Alabama to Texas.
Subscribers can also text “give” (Sprint Nextel) or “help” (Verizon Wireless) to 24357 to make a $5 donation directly to the American Red Cross. The donation will appear on the monthly phone bill. Cingular is sending its subscribers text messages asking for donations; just reply to it to give.
However, it’s not likely to be enough. The infrastructure in New Orleans lies, if not in ruins, then underwater. Very few communications links of any type in the city are working. Landline and wireless phones are out of service, long distance service throughout the region is spotty, and even Internet service has been disrupted.
A memo from Homeland Security calls the telecommunications infrastructure “a total write-off.”
As the evacuation of New Orleans progresses, all who will remain in the city are the workers who will try to empty the city of water and begin the rebuilding, dodging potshots from the looters.
