FCC Seeks Status Reports from Hurricane-Affected Communications Providers

Posted on August 26, 2011 by Peter Tannenwald

 The FCC has activated its Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS), to enable it to monitor damage to broadcast and telecommunications facilities during Hurricane Irene. 

 If you are located in the North Carolina counties of Beaufort, Bertie, Brunswick, Camden, Carteret, Chowan, Craven, Currituck, Dare, Gates, Hyde, Jones, Martin, New Hanover, Onslow, Pamlico, Pasquotank, Pender, Perquimans, Pitt, Tyrrell and Washington, or the South Carolina counties of Beaufort, Berkeley, Charleston, Georgetown, Horry and Marion, the FCC asks you to log into https://www.fcc.gov/nors/disaster/ and to provide contact information and report the status of your facilities, including whether you are remaining on the air using emergency power.

If you lose internet access, several FCC staff members involved in disaster preparedness have published their cellphone numbers:

   Jeffery Goldthorp (202) 418-1096, (202) 253-1595 (cell), jeffery.goldthorp@fcc.gov

   Julia Tu (202) 321-4399 (cell), julia.tu@fcc.gov

   John Healy (215) 847-8094 (cell), john.healy@fcc.gov

   Michael Caiafa (202) 418-1311, (202) 277-5690 (cell), michael.caiafa@fcc.gov

   David Ahn (571) 232-8487 (cell), (202) 418-0853, david.ahn@fcc.gov

   Jane Kelly (202) 418-2832, (202) 503-0398 (cell), jane.kelly@fcc.gov

If you are in the path of the hurricane but are not in any of the North or South Carolina counties listed above, check the FCC’s home page, www.fcc.gov, for further additions to the list of reporting areas.  The FCC’s first request for reporting is at:  http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-11-1464A1.doc.

Satellite earth station operators needing to operate emergency facilities may apply electronically at http://licensing.fcc.gov/myibfs; or if they cannot access that system, they may apply by letter, e-mail, and even by telephone.  All requests should provide the technical parameters of the proposed operation and a contact point.  Requests not made through myibfs should be re-filed through that system as soon as possible.  More details are at: http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-11-1465A1.doc.

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It's Hurricane Season: Who You Gonna Call?

Posted on August 30, 2010 by FHH Law

The FCC’s DIRS wants to hear from you.

As this is being written, we have two hurricanes (Danielle and Earl) already formed, and at least one other storm system heading in that direction (next name up: Fiona) – and it’s still August. All of which means that it’s a good time to remind broadcasters of the FCC’s Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS) – and to encourage them to update their contact information with DIRS regularly (if they’ve previously enrolled in the program), or to get with the program and sign up now, if they haven’t already. At last count nearly 800 broadcasters nationwide had enrolled in DIRS, which appears to leave a significant number still standing on the sidelines.

DIRS enables the FCC to keep tabs on which stations are up and running during, and immediately after, a disaster or large-scale emergency. It also enables the Commission to move quickly to help broadcasters get back on-air if they’re knocked off by the emergency conditions. In emergencies and disasters, obviously, it’s in everybody’s interest to have broadcasters up and operating so that they can provide emergency-related information and updates to the public.

If you’re a communications provider (a broad universe that includes broadcasters), you can sign up for the program online here.  You give the Commission some basic contact information, and you get a user ID and user password. When emergencies occur and the FCC activates the system (participants will be advised by email of any activation), you can then use the system to alert the FCC to the status of your operation – and, if you happen to need any help from the FCC, you can let them know that as well. (FEMA and FCC emergency response personnel use DIRS reports to coordinate needed assistance – including such necessities as fuel and generators – in the aftermath of natural disasters.)

Participation in DIRS is purely voluntary. Even if you sign up, you don’t necessarily have to submit reports. But experience (think Katrina, for one unfortunate example) indicates that when disaster strikes, it is at least helpful, if not absolutely crucial, to have a common point for the collection and dissemination of information about what’s going on in the stricken area and its environs. And don’t forget, the DIRS is available for all kinds of emergencies, not just hurricanes.

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Now's the Time to Reason with Hurricane Season

Posted on July 14, 2009 by Frank Montero

An FCC reminder about important emergency contact information

With the Fourth of July fading into the past and Labor Day looming ominously just beyond the horizon, hurricane season is upon us. Lisa Fowlkes, Deputy Chief of the Commission’s Public Safety & Homeland Security Bureau, has asked us to pass along to our clients and readers some important FCC contact information in case Mother Nature turns nasty in the coming weeks and months.

The link to the FCC's emergency contacts page, including its 24/7 Operations Center, is http://www.fcc.gov/pshs/about-us/contacts.html.

Also, the Bureau continues to encourage communications service providers – particularly broadcasters – to register with the Commission’s Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS) and to participate in DIRS if the system is activated.  The link to the DIRS login page is https://www.fcc.gov/nors/disaster/Login.cfm.  FEMA and FCC emergency response personnel (ESF-2) use DIRS reports to coordinate needed assistance (e.g., fuel, generators, etc) in the aftermath of natural disasters. (“ESF-2” is FEMA-speak for “Emergency Support Function #2” – the governmental system that, among other chores, supports the restoration of the communications infrastructure and coordinates Federal communications support to response efforts during incidents requiring a coordinated Federal response.)

Thanks for the reminder, Lisa. We all hope that none of us will need to call on the guv’mint to “restore communications infrastructure”, a notion which conjures up images of worst case scenarios.   But the unfortunate truth of the matter is that Big Storms are beyond our control. This is one of those cases where a timely ounce of prevention is clearly worth a pound of cure.

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