Critical Connections: Satellite’s Role in the Wake of Hurricane Helene

This year’s hurricane season in the United States has been especially rough, with devastation from Hurricane Helene making an impact across the Southeastern part of the country.

The Category 4 hurricane made landfall in Florida on Sept. 26, but the hurricane caused intense damage and disruption in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee — communities far beyond where the hurricane made landfall.

It is reported to be the deadliest hurricane to hit the mainland U.S. since Katrina in 2005. Weeks later, many are still dealing with the impact on their homes and communities.

In situations like Hurricane Helene and other natural disasters, satellite communications are a critical part of emergency response to restore communications when cellular networks are out of service.

For AT&T, satellite communications is a tool in the toolkit when mobilizing in the wake of the storm. JR Wilson, vice president of Tower Strategy and Roaming for AT&T, tellsVia Satellite that AT&T has a fleet of more than 750 deployable assets, many of which are equipped with satellite terminals. During the recent storms, satellite technology allowed the telco to maintain communication services despite damaged infrastructure.

“Our network teams worked hard to restore communications in some of the hardest-hit areas following Hurricane Helene. So far, Helene has been one of the largest mobilizations of our disaster recovery assets for emergency connectivity support,” Wilson said.

AT&T supports first responders directly through FirstNet, a public-private partnership between the U.S. government and AT&T that operates a wireless broadband network designed for first responders. This includes a dedicated fleet of over 180 land-based and airborne portable cell sites, deployed at the direction of public safety officials.

Satellite technology is used in these assets like SatCOLTs — satellite cell on light trucks, which are vehicles equipped with mobile cell sites that connect via satellite and do not rely on a commercial power supply. It also includes CRDs — compact rapid deployable, which is a portable cell site that connects to the network via satellite.

Wilson describes part of the response in Wheeler County, Georgia, which was without power for days after Helene. He said the county asked FirstNet for added connectivity and the response team deployed a CRD. This helped first responders communicate and set up their emergency operations center before regular service was fully restored in the area.

He reported that public safety agencies on FirstNet have made more than 220 requests for emergency connectivity support across Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia in response to Hurricane Helene. AT&T worked with Intelsat to optimize satellite capacity to support these activities.

“These efforts were essential to maintaining connectivity for our customers and first responders during this critical time,” Wilson says. Satellite, he adds, “is a very important tool we can deploy after a disaster, especially if the mobility or wireline network is damaged in any way. We do not have to wait for repairs for first responders and customers to have lifesaving connectivity. This makes satellite services a uniquely reliable tool especially during disaster response.”

LEO and GEO as Part of the Response

UltiSat was called into action to enable satellite connectivity in the wake of Hurricane Helene and the runup to Hurricane Milton. UltiSat is the Speedcast subsidiary focused on the U.S. government and humanitarian relief.

CEO David Myers tells Via Satellite the company delivered 500 Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) terminals to a major federal relief agency in October to be pre-positioned for Hurricane Milton’s landing, and others to help with the recovery for Hurricane Helene.

“For those who are in the immediate response, people have been pleased with the quality of the connectivity. It's not dependent on any local infrastructure, so people can get internet access again. It’s not just for basic communication — the agencies themselves are using them to connect back to their enterprise applications, to manage supply chains, track inbound supplies and personnel, and collect data for assessing the damage,” Myers says about the response to LEO connectivity.

UltiSat has relationships with a number of federal agencies across the Department of Homeland Security, including Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Veteran Affairs, as well as NASA, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and other federal agencies. It works with them to provide networking equipment both before and during natural disasters and emergencies.

The company is one of the few companies authorized to integrate Starlink for the federal government and is also an integrator for Eutelsat OneWeb capacity.

“These kinds of rapidly deployable communications become essential. In some of the locations where it's being deployed, cellular services are spotty at best or not available at all. Satellite becomes a very critical element of the response effort,” he adds.

UltiSat, for example, provides all of the IT infrastructure including satellite antenna, modem, computers, etc. that is integrated into 200 mobile clinics that are pre-positioned around the U.S. for disaster response by a large federal agency. These mobile clinics can be dispatched after a disaster to help people access insulin or oxygen or other medical supplies.

Myers explains many of the pre-deployed systems predominantly use Geostationary Orbit (GEO) connectivity.

“They're set up in order to provide a secure, private network. We can provide security protocols and private bandwidth dedicated just for that customer with a GEO network,” Myers says. “That takes preparation. That's something that has to be set up and pre-deployed around the country.”

With more satellite options available and the ability of software-defined networking to route these different solutions, emergency managers can build communication plans with the concept of PACE in mind — primary, alternate, contingency, and emergency. Customers are now less focused on finding the least expensive single way to be connected and asking for more resilience, he says.

“What's the most resilient way that I can provide connectivity? How can I leverage multiple technologies so that if one of them is compromised for some reason — because of a disaster or because of a cyber incident —how do I guarantee connectivity?” Myers says, relaying the questions he hears from customers.

Hughes Network Systems also worked with state and federal agencies and partners to help provide broadband communications in the impacted areas after this year’s storms. The company has always worked with GEO but is in the early stages of deploying LEO as a managed service provider of Eutelsat OneWeb.

James Clevenger, director of Government Sales for Hughes Network Systems, says the company recently showcased its flat panel, electronically steered antenna (ESA) at the APCO 2024 conference in August, an event geared toward public safety communications. LEO has generated a lot of interest in the public safety community and questions about how to incorporate it, Clevenger says.

“I don't think there's anybody more aware of the need for real-time access [to connectivity] than this community. They're very aware of the need and they want to look at what's out there,” he says. “They really value reliability. It has to work when they need it.”

Clevenger sees budget and purchase models as some of the biggest challenges to greater adoption of satellite solutions. He says as antennas become better, smaller, and lighter, it will drive adoption.

“Budgeting is hard because you're trying to prepare for every single ‘what if’ on a shoestring budget,” Clevenger says. “I'm always amazed at how state agencies and federal agencies do so much with little they're given. It’s almost like insurance — you can never have enough, but you can only afford what you can afford.”

Directly in the Hands of the Public

Beyond equipping governments to respond to disasters, satellite has now reached the threshold where everyday people have access to it as they deal with disasters.

The news this hurricane season was full of guides explaining how to use satellite messaging on newer iPhone and Google Pixel phones, and T-Mobile and Starlink received special temporary authority from the FCC to operate direct-to-cellular service in areas affected by Helene and Milton. There were firsthand accounts in the news and on social media about how this helped people get in touch when it really mattered.

Others went out and purchased Starlink terminals for a quick-deployment broadband solution when service was out. SpaceX reported that it delivered thousands of Starlink kits in the hurricane response, and is offering the service for free through the end of the year in affected areas.

One nonprofit aid organization, Operation Recovery, made Starlink part of its response. The nonprofit supports veterans and first responders, and made a number of deliveries to communities in North Carolina and Tennessee, delivering truckloads of supplies.

Ian Patterson, executive director of Operation Recovery, drove a truck of supplies from Texas to the volunteer fire department in Roan Mountain, Tennessee, a small community in the Appalachian Mountains that was hit hard by flooding from Helene.

Along with generators, food, water, animal feed and other supplies, Patterson’s truck carried five Starlink terminals. The organization saw the need and quickly purchased Starlink kits off-the-shelf at Home Depot. “Let’s just grab them and go,” Patterson says, recounting how quickly it came together.

Operation Recovery also assisted in Asheville, North Carolina, with the intent of setting up places to coordinate search and rescue, supply requests, and let people communicate with loved ones.

“If you can't communicate, you can't tell people what you need. Now these people can communicate with friends and family and let folks know that they're okay,” he says.

Patterson is a veteran and was deployed in Afghanistan in 2008. He remembers using a satellite phone to call home and marvels at how far the technology has come. Now, people who don’t have a background in satellite or network management have the ability to establish communications when networks are down.

“We've never had a domestic ability to deploy ‘over-the-counter’ satellite technology. It is an absolute game-changer moving forward, both on the aid side as well as for those who are in need,” Patterson says.

A Critical Lifeline

Globalstar provides the satellite connectivity that supports Apple’s satellite messaging. But the company also has a niche in disaster communications with the SPOT messaging devices that are known for affordability and reliability to send short-burst messages.

Jake Rembert, vice president of sales for SPOT explains that thousands of the devices are used by state and federal governments but also consumers who buy the devices on retail and use them for boating, backpacking, hunting, and more.

These devices are often used in search and rescue operations — quick check-ins that include GPS locations.

“Where we shine is the ability to send messages quickly. You don't have to point your antenna or wait for a long time for a message to get through,” Rembert says. “There’s lots of broadband options out there, broadband wouldn't work for these needs. It takes too long to set it up. There's no power, it's heavy trees. This real time [messaging] is very helpful to people in the field.”

Globalstar’s management team gets an email every time a SPOT product is used to save a life, and Rembert says it's the best thing to wake up to in the morning. He has personal experiences with hurricanes — the top floor of his Louisiana home was blown off by Hurricane Delta in 2020.

Satellite provides a critical lifeline in these situations.

“Nobody wants to go through anything like this, having been through it myself. You can understand when you get a power outage for a day you're upset —much less weeks and months of devastation,” he says. “Globalstar is very proud to be involved in this and be counted for every hurricane.” VS

Lead image: Damage caused by Hurricane Helene in Florida, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Photos via Shutterstock