Chapter Chapter 4
Section Federal Communications Assistance
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Federal Communications Assistance
Although the Federal government pushed assets into the Gulf Coast region to fill communication gaps created by Hurricane Katrina we could have and should have done more. FEMA had pre-positioned two of their five Mobile Emergency Response Support (MERS) detachments in the Gulf and quickly moved them to the affected areas in Louisiana and Mississippi soon after landfall.166MERS detachments consist of an array of vehicles and trained personnel and provide mobile communications, operational support, and logistical power generation assets—including satellite communications, dozens of phone and data lines, heating and air conditioning, power generation, fuel, potable water, and office functionality— to support the operations of Federal, State, and local authorities.167 Because MERS is a system of divisible assets and not a rigid unit, a single MERS detachment can provide limited support to multiple field operating sites within the disaster area simultaneously.168
Lessons Learned:
The Department of Homeland Security should review our current laws, policies, plans, and strategies relevant to communications. Upon the conclusion of this review, the Homeland Security Council, with support from the Office of Science and Technology Policy, should develop a National Emergency Communications Strategy that supports communications operability and interoperability.
The Federal government must keep some MERS detachments at locations outside the incident area in case there is another catastrophe or event, but additional MERS support should have been deployed to the Gulf when it became apparent that those pre-positioned were insufficient for an incident of Katrina’s magnitude. At the time, some key Federal officials both on the ground and back in Washington did not know that there were additional MERS available.
To augment FEMA’s efforts, DOD deployed available communications assets to the affected areas, such as its Deployable Joint Command and Control System.169 On August 31, National Guard Bureau Chief LTG Blum reported that DOD was “pushing every communications asset that we have.170 Further, the National Interagency Fire Center provided 3,200 radios, thirty-eight satellite systems, and several other communication modules in order to supplement the Gulf region’s damaged communication networks.
The DHS National Communications System (NCS) also contributed to communications recovery efforts following Hurricane Katrina. NCS linked the telecommunications industry with the relevant government agencies through the National Coordinating Center (NCC).171 The NCC coordinated with MCI and AT&T, as well as USNORTHCOM to identify and deploy mobile communication assets to the Gulf region both prior to, and following, landfall.172 Further, due to the destruction of the communications infrastructure, the NCS was required to perform new functions, such as providing interim Land Mobile Radio systems, used to connect two-way radio users to a central dispatcher, to first responders in devastated Louisiana parishes.173 By September 1, mobile communications systems were beginning to provide much needed telephone and two-way radio communications in Louisiana and Mississippi with additional systems en route to support the entire affected area.174
Contents
Prev
Next
Last
