Where were you and were you ready when you felt the quake?

[Les Snyder]

even though NYC is on the western edge of the storm, a stalled Irene at Cat 3 can push a lot of water

 

[sh00ter01]

I was at home when it shook us up. Being retired has it's advantages. Shook a few things off shelves, but no real damage.

One thing stood out though, the cell phones were absolutly useless. I couldn't call out to where the better half was, and she couldn't call home to see if all was well at this end. We'd done away with our land line years ago, rather than pay Verizon two bills a month. Now I'm questioning that cost cutting move. Weird thing was, we still had cable and the computer was still up, so I had e-mail capability. Weird. I'd have thought the cell phone towers were built better than that.

Verizon service was back on in about an hour.

Carl.

They weren't entirely useless; I, like you, couldn't place any calls for almost an hour after the quake, BUT I was able to text message everyone I needed too to check that they were alright.

Not sure how old you are, other then older (retired) but you should familiarize yourself and wife with text messaging; that way the next time calls wont go through you have a secondary option to quickly get a hold of your wife or whoever:thumbup:

-sh00ter

 

[ROCK6]

They weren't entirely useless; I, like you, couldn't place any calls for almost an hour after the quake, BUT I was able to text message everyone I needed too to check that they were alright.

Not sure how old you are, other then older (retired) but you should familiarize yourself and wife with text messaging; that way the next time calls wont go through you have a secondary option to quickly get a hold of your wife or whoever:thumbup:

-sh00ter

I agree. You can still get a pseudo land-line via your Internet/cable package however real "copper" land line is the most robust but all switches now converge, so even damage occurs chances are it will impact both. Cell towers, although a little more vulnerable are actually quite robust and easier to repair if damaged vice tracking damaged aerial or buried lines. Even the most austere third-world countries have very robust and extensive cell phone service/coverage...post major catastrophe, mobile communications will be much faster to restore. As to have text, it's a store-and-forward, half-duplex means of communication and much more reliable than voice...I would highly recommend adding it to your mobile phone service; it's not just for teens anymore

ROCK6