Red Cross Asks For 50 Ham Radio Operators To Fly To Puerto Rico (arrl.org)
Bruce Perens writes: The red cross has asked for 50 ham radio operators to fly to Puerto Rico and be deployed there for up to three weeks. This is unprecedented in the 75-year cooperation between Red Cross and ARRL, the national organization of ham radio operators for the U.S. The operators will relay health-and-welfare messages and provide communications links where those are missing and are essential to rescue and recovery. With much infrastructure destroyed, short-wave radio is a critical means of communicating from Puerto Rico to the Mainland at this time.
Not really
Give up your cell phone for a week. See how insignificant it is for you to not have communications you've grown to rely on to organize your life and coordinate with your friends, family, and employer.
Now multiply that impact by 3 million. In a disaster zone.