Can Wireless Internet Service Save Lives?

Recently the United States was shocked when a massive tornado devastated much of Joplin, Missouri, a fairly large city located in the southwest corner of the state. One of the things that makes tornadoes so dangerous is that they can arrive with little notice and change course without warning. It's possible that in these and in similarly rapid-moving disasters, wireless Internet service may one day save lives due to its ability to communicate large amounts of information rapidly and quickly from almost any location.

In 2008, machine-gun wielding terrorists stormed many targets in the Indian city of Mumbai (Bombay), putting some of the country's most famous hotels under siege and killing dozens. The attacks on Mumbai lasted three days, during which time many people, both Indian and non-Indian, were effectively held hostage. During that time, it was widely reported that people trapped in the buildings and areas targeted by the terrorists used Twitter and other communications media through wireless Internet service to let friends and family know that they were safe (or as safe as could be expected given the circumstances) and to share information on the attacks which could be picked up by the law enforcement and military agencies who were combating the attackers. For many people, this brought to light the fact that there could be substantial uses for social media accessed over wireless Internet service in disaster response scenarios.

Back in the present day, so far 116 people have been confirmed dead after the recent Joplin tornado, making it one of the deadliest tornadoes in the United States in the last half-century. The town's primary high school has been completely leveled, and one of the area's two main hospitals has suffered severe damage. In all, roughly 2,000 buildings have been destroyed, according to latest estimates, which comprises up to 25% of the entire town. What is particularly shocking about tornado disasters is how rapidly they can form. While weather services can often release tornado watches and warnings several hours in advance of when conditions that might lead to tornadoes are expected to form, and the sky often turns a terrifying light green color when a tornado is nearby, there can be only minutes between when a tornado actually touches down and an entire town is effectively obliterated. In the example of Joplin, there were only six minutes between when the tornado first touched down near the Kansas state line and when it entered the city.

Being that social media services can be checked using wireless Internet connections every few minutes or even every few seconds, they are potentially an ideal tool to use during rapidly moving or rapidly changing disaster scenarios. However, an obvious potential flaw in the case of tornadoes is that tornadoes can obviously destroy the towers that broadcast wireless signals in affected areas. However, since mobile technology is always improving, it may not be long before we rely on our wireless services first and foremost to help us stay out of harm's way.

For mobile broadband service you can use to keep up on rapidly changing events, sign up at http://www.CLEARWIRELESSINTERNET.COM.