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Without a doubt, the severe weather season of 2005 was one of the more serious on record. Hurricanes Rita and Wilma followed closely on the heels of their sister Katrina, and the number of significant storms increased to the point that there were insufficient familiar names to call them. New England suffered major flooding that resulted in millions of dollars in damage and the relocation or evacuation of thousands of people. In the Midwest and Southeast, tornadoes - normally associated with the springtime - made deadly fall debuts. In short, wherever you were in the United States, you were often in the neighborhood of a disaster.
Obviously, the fire service played a major role in responding to these disasters. However, the widespread damage and destruction caused by this rash of extraordinarily severe weather placed significant burdens upon the public safety infrastructure. Dozens of fire stations were damaged or destroyed, firefighters and their families displaced, and entire geographic regions devastated. In the wake of these storms, numerous "adopt a department" programs sprang up, in an attempt to help our own, and the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) began serious discussions about the need for a national mutual aid program.
Throughout this, however, little mention has been made of the role of communications systems and communications personnel in dealing with these issues. Of course, 911 and radio dispatching functions need to be maintained under the worst of conditions. This means robust equipment and sufficient personnel to provide uninterrupted service. However, in the face of these recent challenges, additional attention must be paid to what was once considered to be adequate planning.
As is often the case with transportation emergencies, no singular failure is normally to blame for creating a communications crisis. It often takes multiple concurrent disruptions for a problem to occur. The storms of 2005, however, provided all the necessary ingredients to test even the most robust networks and facilities. Numerous radio towers were damaged by high winds, and commercial power was lost for days. Other utilities such as sewer and water were compromised, and dispatch centers and transmitter sites were flooded. Downed trees and collapsed roadways severed redundant telephone circuits and isolated entire communities from the outside world - and from 911 service.
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