Phone networks struggle in Hurricane Katrina's wake

Wed Aug 31 03:42:06 UTC 2005

On Wed, 31 Aug 2005, Fergie (Paul Ferguson) wrote:

> I'll file that comment where it belongs -- in file 13.
>
> If a major catastrophe, albeit more human than network-related
> (although lots of network-related issues here, too), isn't on-topic,
> than I fail to see what is.

The danger here is that if real operational questions needed to be asked 
(like, "my router is under water, can somebody help get my network back 
online?" as a hypothetical example), they might get lost in the noise.

At the same time, there is plenty of information out there that makes it 
easier to operate networks, and it is useful if that information gets 
shared.  And, humans experiencing an unfolding disaster, or even watching 
from a distance, may be under a lot of stress, and asking them not to 
reach out to whatever communities they're part of is probably pretty 
futile.

The key is striking the right balance, and that means the usual request to 
list members to please think before you post.

So, for those of you who have infrastructure in the affected areas, is 
there anything the rest of us can do to help?

-Steve