Community Wireless Networking: Lessons from Hurricane Katrina

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Community Wireless Networking Lessons from
Hurricane Katrina

• Sascha D. Meinrath
• Free Press Champaign-Urbana Community Wireless
  Network (CUWiN)
• Correspondence Sascha Meinrath
  sascha_at_cuwireless.net [phone]
• 202 S. Broadway, Suite 1
• Urbana, IL 61801
• U.S.A.
• Presented at the MuniWireless Conference in
  Atlanta, Georgia March 6, 2006.
• Available Online http//www.saschameinrath.com/p
  ubs

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How it All Began

• FCC Call
• CNT Call from Paul Smith
• A Small Advance Team
• The Rayville Staging Area
• The Houston Staging Area (Astrodome)
• Ponchatoula
• Algiers
• Bay St. Louis

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Non-Profit Partners

• Champaign-Urbana Community Wireless Network
  (CUWiN)
• Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT)
• WISPA/Radio Response
• Canadian Communications Relief Project
• Prometheus Radio Project
• Free Press, Inveneo, many, many others.

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For-Profit Partners

• Maximum Access (Mac Dearman)
• Cisco
• Intel
• Trango
• ThinWires
• The WISPs of WISPA Part-15
• ...and many, many more.

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Sample of N. Louisiana Work Done

• Delhi Civic Center, Delhi, LA, 60-200 evacuees
• Mangham Baptist, Mangham, LA, 70 evacuees
• Rayville Baptist, Rayville, LA, 70 evacuees
• Baskin First Baptist, Baskin, LA, 35 evacuees
• Grace Fellowship, Baskin, LA , 80 (special needs
  population)
• River of Life Church, Winnsboro, LA, 160-300
  evacuees
• Tallulah Community Center, Tallulah, LA, 160
  evacuees
• Parkview Baptist, Richmond, LA, 30 evacuees
• Richmond Civic Center, Richmond, LA, 60 evacuees
• Kings Camp/Mer Rogue, 80 (special needs
  population)
• Richland Baptist Encampment, Alto, LA, 60
  evacuees
• Antioch Baptist, Rayville, LA, 15 evacuees
• Archibald Church of God, Archibald, LA
• Ramada Inn (kiosk phone in lobby), Rayville, LA

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Example Infrastructure for Geeks
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Example (Human Readable Form)
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The Post-Disaster Disasters

• The Houston Astrodome, KAMP LPFM
• Joint Information Center
• The Canadian Border
• Border Guards the American Red Cross
• Algiers Welcome Home Kitchen
• City Government
• NOLA Telecom Relief Efforts Site Access
• FEMA

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In the News

• BoingBoing (first major press -- 09/05/05)
  http//www.boingboing.net/2005/09/05/update_on_wir
  eless_k.html
• Wired News (09/07/05) http//www.wired.com/news/h
  urricane/0,2904,68779,00.html
• New York Times (09/18/05) http//www.radiorespons
  e.org/wordpress/?page_id22
• AP (10/04/05) http//radioresponse.org/wordpress/
  ?page_id46
• CNN (10/06/05) http//edition.cnn.com/2005/TECH/1
  0/03/mac.dearman/
• Free Speech Radio News (11/11/05)
  http//www.fsrn.org/news/20051111_news.html

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Lessons Learned

• Fast telecommunications set up in hours and
  days multi-state network within weeks.
• Cheap Community Wireless Network Emergency
  Response Initiative had a budget of 25,000.
• Dynamic could respond to changing situations
  and on-the-ground conditions.
• Effective didn't just work well enough are
  being used today as primary communications
  systems.
• Preventive(?) had these systems been in place
  before Hurricane Katrina, many post-disaster
  disasters could have been ameliorated and perhaps
  avoided altogether.

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More Information

• www.cuwireless.net/katrina (early history)
• www.radioresponse.org (continuing efforts)
• Sascha D. Meinrath
• sascha_at_cuwireless.net
• [phone]
• Presentation online at
• http//www.saschameinrath.com/pubs

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• March 31-April 2, 2006
• St. Charles, MO (right outside St. Louis)
• www.wirelesssummit.org