Katrina aftermath wireless proving ground
(AP) -- Hours after Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast and knocked out telecommunications across much of the region, Mac Dearman visited shelters in northern Louisiana to connect telephones.
Dearman doesn't work for a phone company.
He owns a local wireless Internet service provider, and the gear he set up doesn't need a traditional phone network. It carries calls -- as well as e-mail and other data -- over the Internet.
"In the first 24 hours after we plugged the phones in, there were 11 family members reunited," he said. "We got a hug every time we went into a shelter to make sure things are up and running all right"...
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