Technology Responds to Hurricane Katrina

Technology Responds to Hurricane Katrina

Only once in a lifetime will a new invention come about to touch every aspect of our lives. Such devices change the way we manage, work, and live. With catastrophic events such as September 11th, the Tsunami of 2004, and now with Hurricane Katrina technology has advanced greatly to assist in the relief of such disasters.

In the article, "Technology Responds to Hurricane Katrina," it explains how "high-tech companies and Web surfers are using technology to help people find victims of Hurricane Katrina and to assist public safety officials and rescue workers in communicating" (Hellweg, 2005). The first way technology has helped with Hurricane Katrina is with the use of internet web postings. During the evacuation of people from New Orleans many families were separated, with some being sent to different states. With no way to contact lost family members there has been a stream of postings of missing persons all across the Internet, blogs, and websites such as Craigslist. These postings bring hope of reuniting those still missing their loved ones.

Another way technology helped with the challenges of Hurricane Katrina was it provided communication. Many hospitals and rescue workers were lacking information that they need to continue working. One company, Freedom4Wireless, brought in a team of its workers to build wireless networks. "The networks provided the rescue workers with voice-over-Internet protocol-based phone networks and police radio capabilities" (Hellweg, 2005). The equipment they brought in was solar and batter-powered, so it could provide communication where there was none.

The third way technology helped with the relief of Hurricane Katrina is it brought in mesh networking. "Motorola has designed a system called Motobridge, an Internet-based system that distributes control on a network, so if one node goes down or loses power, the entire communications system won't fail" (Hellweg, 2005). The system is used to monitor areas that are vulnerable to looting. Instead of placing a dozen police cruisers around a certain area prone to looting, the mesh-network-connected video cameras were positioned around the lot. This system would then free up other officers for more imperative concerns.

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