With Hurricane Ian bringing an anticipated storm surge, hurricane-force winds and heavy rainfall along the west coast of Florida with central and northern regions of the state being impacted, carriers have issued notices about their state of readiness. Earlier this week, President Biden approved Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ request for an emergency declaration. The declaration authorizes FEMA to support the state’s response efforts ahead of Ian, while the state has activated 2,500 National Guard members.
AT&T said it is ready for Hurricane Ian with an arsenal of disaster response equipment and personnel on standby to support impacted communities and public safety on FirstNet, which it dubs “America’s public safety network.”
AT&T’s preparation includes:
- Topping off fuel for generators.
- Protecting physical facilities against flooding.
- Staging other emergency response and network recovery equipment in strategic locations for quick deployment following the storm.
- Staging dedicated FirstNet deployable network assets for use by public safety agencies on FirstNet to request as needed.
- Installation of more generators at critical cell towers and switching facilities, and moving electronics essential to network operations above expected flood levels.
- Their Network Disaster Recovery team is being put on standby in Florida and prepared to deploy assets as needed.
“Customers and first responders rely on us, especially during major storms,” said Joe York, president, AT&T Florida. “That’s why we practice readiness drills and simulations throughout the year. And we do all we can to have our networks prepared when severe weather strikes. We’ve worked for the past few days to position equipment and crews and are ready to respond when needed. We’re also closely linked with Florida public officials in their storm response efforts.”
Verizon said its response team is readying to keep communities and first responders connected. Teams of Verizon engineers have been actively preparing by running emergency drills, testing fiber and cell site readiness, and ensuring recovery equipment is in place from the tip of Florida, through the Gulf Coast and up the East Coast. Verizon Frontline and the Verizon Frontline Crisis Response Team also stand ready to provide first responders on the front lines of response efforts with the mission-critical communications support they need.
The carrier said the use of battery and generator backup systems in critical locations such as macro cell sites, switch locations and network operations centers also serves to minimize the risk of disruption if commercial power is lost. 100 percent of Verizon macro cell sites have backup battery power and 78 percent have backup generators.
Verizon said its engineers have been preparing for the coming storm by ensuring fuel levels are high on all generators at cell sites, testing battery back-ups at network facilities, positioning extra equipment in case additional capacity is needed, and prepping emergency crews to respond quickly to any network issue.
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