On Thu, Sep 01, 2005 at 09:41:40AM -0700, jc dill wrote:
It is sometimes the case in disasters that people from inside can call out but that people from outside can't call in because the circuits into the disaster area become overloaded. This would hold true especially in the case where many people in the disaster area have no access to working phones, so those with working phones can easily get a free outbound circuit - meanwhile frantic friends and family clog up the incoming circuits trying to reach phones that are out of service or people who simply aren't near the phone and who can't answer but those calls still tie up circuits each time they are attempted.
It could also be deliberate; one comment I've heard in relation to emergency communications is that one message out can stop eight messages back in. If someone inside the affected area can speak to a friend/family member to say that they're ok, and they're in shelter X in town Y, that friend/family member can/will tell the others others concerned about the disaster victim this info, freeing up communication resources into the affected area. Prioritizing outgoing calls over incoming calls might help with this. Bob