Harden the Cell Towers! Love the Hams!
The Almost Total Loss of Communications Was a Major Complication in the Response to Helene in Western North Carolina LOOK OUT, HERE COMES MILTON! - 60% to 80% of the Helene outages were caused by direct damage to the cell towers. - We know how to make them hurricane-proof. (Tougher structurally, backup power, backup network connections) - Right now the hardened towers are only in the areas threatened by hurricanes in "normal" times. - Since America has become hugely dependent on cell phones for primary communications, we must invest in protecting cell service even in the most catastrophic situations. Especially in those times. - Catastrophes that can wipe out cell service go far beyond hurricanes. Wildfires are a biggie. Earthquakes, or a major solar storm could do it. A nuclear explosion, even one in space, would zap the electronics. - Hardening against all these threats will seriously bump up our survivability score. Only government mandates will move the big cell pr