Generators save communications during Hurricane Sandy

Backup generators helped radio communications survive the blow of Hurricane Sandy that raged across the east coast of the US in late October.

Communications are vital in times of disaster and according to Dave White, vice president of Motorola Solutions, public safety networks fared power outages by using backup generators over many days.

“The loss of power was the single biggest challenge during the storm and fortunately our systems across the region were hardened. We had generator backup power so there was minimal, if any, loss of two-way radio communications, which obviously was instrumental in allowing communications to continue throughout the storm.”

Over 400 Motorola Solutions employees were involved in the hurricane effort that carved a 1600 km-wide path leaving a trail of the remains of houses, carcasses of trees and a death toll of over 100 people.

More than 3000 portable radio batteries along with 550 portable radios were sent into New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

Although public safety agencies were able to maintain communications in the aftermath of the storm, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reported about 25% of commercial cell sites in the affected area were not operational.

“As significant as the hurricane was, with the wind and loss of power, a lot of our customers were working very diligently. Power outages and storm surges and flooding along the coastline produced a significant amount of work for our customers to make sure that most places were safe and if not, restoring those places as quickly as they could back to normal,” said White.

White believes that other countries, including Australia, can learn from the hurricane by having dedicated public safety networks which are designed to withstand severe events, supported by overlapping coverage and backup power systems.

“Public safety systems can be very expensive things to implement but when you go through a natural disaster or hurricane like this you really appreciate the money you invest to harden these systems to make them public safety capable,” he said.

“I can’t emphasise enough the ability to have a generator backup, plans to keep those generators running, fuel - all those things can sometimes seem very expensive when you are putting in that type of system but all you have to do is experience a natural disaster like Hurricane Sandy to realise that it is worth every dollar that is spent on it.”

The nationwide broadband network being implemented in the US may also help public safety communications in the future, said White.

“I think it is very important in any type of broadband nationwide network; if it is going to be used for public safety in these types of emergencies, I think it could be very helpful but it has to be hardened to that public safety level.”