New Statewide Emergency Communications System Opens

After Hurricane Katrina lines of communication between emergency responders were down for weeks, but as MPB’s Phoebe Judge reports a newly opened statewide emergency radio system is working to make sure that never happens again.

The new $221 million dollar emergency statewide radio network will operate through a system of brand new towers built to withstand hurricane force winds, placed all over the state. The framework for the radio network was approved by the state legislature before Hurricane Katrina hit, but it took that storm to prove just how critical it was to obtain funding for the new network. Katrina almost completely wiped out all forms of communication between emergency responders creating a serious problem says Harrison County Emergency Management Director Rupert Lacey,

“We needed resources from out of the county, we needed resources from North Mississippi we couldn’t get them. We could not communicate with those people.”

Mike Womack, executive director of the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, says a modern survivable communications system is critical to handling a major disaster,

“Without that ability of communication we are not effectively able to use the personnel and equipment that is provided by other states or other parts of the state, if we have an incident such as a hurricane or something like a 9/11, or any type of large scale event. As the population of our state grows it becomes more and more important.”

All new tower sites are up and operational in South Mississippi, making lines of communication on the system now open from Jackson to the Gulf Coast. Mike Womack says he hopes the whole state will be connected within the next 18 months.