SARASOTA, Fla. — Over the past two years, Florida has been hit hard by two major storms. Some communities are still cleaning up from both Hurricane Ian and Idalia.
Hurricane Ian knocked out internet and phone service for about half a million people. More than 10% of cell phone towers were out of service.
The storm devastated Southwest Florida. It killed more than 150 people and caused more than $100 billion in damage.
"It was one of the most devastating storms I had experienced outside of going to Haiti after the earthquake there," said Jeff Martin with the Information Technology Disaster Resource Center.
Leaders with the non-profit rushed in after Ian and provided wireless internet devices to help get Sanibel and Captiva Island fire stations back up and running.
"Towers were down physically or without power. That was a huge challenge that forced us to look at a broader base of technologies," Martin added.
Many people were left with no connection to 911.
AT&T's Network Disaster Recovery Team said that's why it's been working to upgrade equipment used during storms, such as the Hydratek-tracked amphibious vehicle that can move between land and water.
"We feel like Ian was a successful recovery. We were quick to recover our network, but obviously, we lacked some resources and some experience that we felt like we needed," Travis Profitt, Director of Network Services, explained.
On Wednesday, the network's disaster recovery team put its newest equipment to the test. We're told it can carry up to 20,000 pounds of equipment like trucks, generators, and all-terrain vehicles.
"The ramp comes down in the front, and we are able to load a vehicle onto it. We can get any piece of equipment that we need to put on it, and we can take it to the island," Jim Salter, Lead Network Technology Support, added.
Both the non-profit and the disaster recovery team said they're learning from past storms and hope new technology will speed up recovery efforts and save lives.
"Our worst disasters come with water. So transportation and resources become an issue, and when our first responders can't get into areas to determine whether there's damage or fatalities, we need to be able to provide the service to those first responders," Profitt said.
