Why?

2024+: Our cellphone systems have been compromised.  U.S. officials update reporters on its investigation into a massive and ongoing Chinese hack of multiple U.S. telecom companies. NBC News Justice and Intelligence Correspondent Ken Dilanian reports on how government officials are grappling with the breach. 

A U.S. government security official urges Americans to use encrypted messaging -- like WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram -- as major telecom companies struggle to evict Chinese hackers and their "advanced persistent threats" from our cellular networks. 

2024: Hurricane Helene devastates communities in NC, 40 counties experiencing communication outage. Several days after the event, FCC data showed 3,150 cell towers inoperable. 

Cherokee County Sheriff Dustin Smith says that from the middle of North Carolina to the west, communications have gone down, and there is no cell phone service. 

2022:  In the book  The Devil Never Sleeps, Juliette Kayyem --  an international leader in crisis management, disaster response, cybersecurity and homeland security -- lays the groundwork for a new approach to dealing with disasters. 

Presenting the basic themes of crisis management, Kayyem amends the principles relied on far too easily. Instead, she offers a new framework to anticipate the “devil’s” inevitable return, highlighting the leadership deficiencies. 

It’s no longer about preventing a disaster from occurring, but learning how to use the tools at our disposal to minimize the consequences when it does.

2020:  Grass Roots Radio Solves Rural Northern California Community's Disaster Communication Quandary. 

Residents living in one rural Northern California community were tired of feeling helpless during recent wildfires and public safety power shutoffs. They didn't have the ability to communicate with friends or loved ones because cell service, land lines and interest were all down. So, they took it upon themselves to solve the problem, at least for their own community. They gathered their neighbors, communications experts and first responders and came up with a plan. 

Their solution was GMRS: General Mobile Radio Service.  This short video report comes from the California governor's Office of Emergency Services. 

2018: On the heels of a false missile warning that alarmed residents of Hawaii, Peter Gaynor, then the director of the Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency (RIEMA), told a congressional sub-committee that he was concerned with over reliance on digital tools and mentioned  "GMRS" as an analog radio technology that merited consideration in order to build communications resiliency.   Gaynor later served as FEMA Administrator.