This is great to hear Nicholas. On Mon, Oct 2, 2017 at 5:55 PM, Nicholas Harland <nharl...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Sean, > > Thank you for all of your updates. I am just catching up on them because I > only recently got back from the virgin islands. I am one of those > volunteers working in the USVI. St John specifically. We are building out a > wireless network, and had our first hotspot up in Cruz Bay 4 days after > Maria, with connectivity to NPS/FEMA/Red Cross/St John Rescue/Fire/Police > just a few days after that. > > If there are technical minded and physically able bodied people would like > to join the effort on St John, even just for a 1-2 week rotation, I would > be happy to discuss what we need in terms of support and can make all > arrangements on the island for housing etc. Getting some relief and fresh > minds in would be a great help as our team is primarily St John residents > who have been on the island through both hurricanes and have had to deal > with their own personal situations while also trying to get internet up > where it's needed. > > St John was hit directly by Irma, infrastructure was completely destroyed, > but it's a very small island and so the humanitarian situation there is > much more stable than Puerto Rico, but many of the resources that were > assisting on STJ are now rightfully being diverted to SJU. You could expect > to sleep somewhere that has a generator running overnight, have access to > refrigeration/freezer (though cannot open fridge during day). Food/water > situation is fine there, we have a beach volleyball game on Sundays, more > generators are appearing on the island and some businesses are opening. > > Regards, > > Nick Harland > > > > > On Sun, Sep 24, 2017 at 2:13 PM, Sean Donelan <s...@donelan.com> wrote: > > > On Sun, 24 Sep 2017, Mike Hammett wrote: > > > >> There are a bunch of WISPs waiting to go rebuild, but waiting for the > >> clearance to do so. > >> > > > > I'm not sure what clearances they are waiting for. If they are already > in > > Puerto Rico, self-sufficient, and respect curfews and other emergency > > responders, they should be able to start local restoration and recovery > > activities. > > > > Several local ISPs and communication providers have announced open public > > WiFi hotspots outside their Puerto Rico offices during non-curfew hours. > > I've also seen reports from individuals volunteering on the Virigin > Islands > > setting up internet access. > > > > If they are not already on the island, most Puerto Rican airports and > > ports are still closed to non-military or relief activities. There is no > > U.S. mail or freight service. Only one airport was open for limited > > commercial flights. They will need to bring everything neccessary to > > support themselves, including food, water, shelter, etc. > > > > Managing volunteers who want to help is difficult in all disasters. > Unless > > they have training how to survive and take care of themselves in such a > > situation, letting in outside well-meaning volunteers sometimes become > > additional people who need to rescue. > > > > WISPs already on Puerto Rico or U.S. Virigin Islands, with resources for > > recovery and restoration of communications; can contact the FCC > Operations > > Center, (202) 418-1122, fccoperationcen...@fcc.gov > > > > http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2017 > > /db0920/DA-17-913A1.pdf > > > > >
