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Rescue, safety, recovery efforts were hindered<br><br>
By Laura Maggi<br>
Capital bureau<br><br>
BATON ROUGE – Practically from the moment Hurricane Katrina barreled
across the New Orleans area, state officials complained that one of the
major<br>
problems with rescue, safety and recovery efforts was<br>
the sheer inability to communicate.<br>
Lack of communication proved crippling<br><br>
Rescue, safety, recovery<br>
efforts were hindered<br><br>
By Laura Maggi<br>
Capital bureau<br><br>
BATON ROUGE – Practically from the moment Hurricane Katrina barreled
across the New Orleans area,<br>
state officials complained that one of the major problems with
rescue, safety and recovery efforts was<br>
the sheer inability to communicate.<br><br>
“Part of the big problem is the communications network is down,” Gov.
Kathleen Blanco said the day<br>
after the storm; cell phones, BlackBerries and land lines were useless at
the<br>
moment when coordination between the various branches of government was
the most critical.<br><br>
Local officials, including emergency personnel, often were<b> unable to
contact the state and even had problems<br>
communicating with each other within a parish.</b> Katrina’s
Category 4 winds certainly packed a powerful punch, <br>
but officials had warning that communications could be significantly
disrupted during a major disaster. <br><br>
(snip)<br><br>
Hurricane Katrina also sent many first responders in southeast Louisiana
back to a less technologically advanced time. In some of the rural
parishes, the major link to the outside world involved the old-fashioned
ham radio operators who volunteer their time at local emergency centers
and relay messages back to the state Office of Emergency
Preparedness.<br><br>
In Washington Parish, local officials reached the state through a ham
operator, who set up at the emergency center after the storm and worked
with other radio aficionados to help coordinate the evacuation of a local
nursing home. State Sen. Ben Nevers, D-Bogalusa, and Parish President
Tory Taylor also resorted to driving to Baton Rouge to ask for food,
water and supplies. <br><br>
Carl Taylor W9ZGU<br>
Hollywood, FL.</html>